EMBERS

He had a book and a small, dying fire.

The embers weren’t bright enough to read by, so he tore the cover off the book and threw it on the embers.

It smoldered for a moment then burst into flame.  The flame lasted just long enough for him to read the first page.  And give him a little warmth.

When the flame died down he tore off the page he’d read and threw it on the fire. Burning it gave him just enough light to read the second page.

The second page gave light to the third, the third to the forth, and so on through the whole book.

Each bright burning page gave light to the next, until the last page had been consumed.

And by then the dawn had come.

Donald Duck turned me on to classical music

It’s true. When I was six or seven I saw the Disney cartoon of Donald Duck taking a trip down the Grand Canyon Donkey Trail.

As he sat on the donkey, ready to go, the guide, or maybe Daisy Duck, took his picture. The donkey’s eyes went from giant black pupils to tiny pinholes. And off Donald went, on a blind donkey, down the harrowing trail, to the music of Purdy Grofé’s The Grand Canyon Suite.

Every kid the theatre laughed hysterically as Donald screamed and the donkey wandered precariously near the edge.

Over and over Donald Duck and the blind donkey veered to the edge, closer and closer each time. That afternoon I went home humming the Grand Canyon Suite. And the joy of that cartoon and the music never left me. Many early cartoons were scored with classical music and I loved them all. I was hooked on the music. The cartoons, not so much.