Life etc.: Not a day for mascara

I went to Cremona (again) for the day for a more specific reason than sight-seeing. This was a trip to start the search for a new cello. Why, you ask? Here's where the sad story begins.

About a month ago, my cello was tragically crushed. It was accidentally backed over by a car. If you are a fellow instrumentalist, you will probably understand the pain that results from any suffering of their instrument. The person responsible for this is obviously heartbroken also. I can only imagine how much more safely they'll guard their own instrument for the rest of their life. Sad that it was at the price of mine though.

In Cremona yesterday, I didn't expect to find anything but I played a French cello that was so beautiful I could change careers back to the path of being a professional cellist and play it until I died. It was so very wonderfully lovely. One (slight) problem. It was about $80,000. Ha. So yeah, that's not happening (unless someone with extra dough wants to donate some money to the 'Elizabeth-needs-a-new-cello' fund lol) I played it for a while and then had lunch and returned to play that same cello just for kicks and giggles. It was fun to be able to still have some ability to play even after months or even years of steady practice.

$30K, $120K, ?, and $80K respectively

For non-musicians, buying a cello isn't as easy as going to your local string shop. Each cello is handmade by a specialist for months and each has a different sound. I met another luthier while I was in Cremona who was in the process of finishing a cello he had been working on for 5 months. It's definitely a vocation requiring patience. Anyway, the way you play the instrument can change the sound also. So buying a new instrument is really a combination of both the sound capability as well as the individual player's touch. It can take years to find the 'right' instrument. When I found my violin, I played it and just knew it was the one. Another side note for non-musicians - a good professional cello can easily run $20-30K with the world's best cellist's instrument worth about $2.5 million.

Playing a street player's cello in Germany '07

I realize that being so attached to an immaterial object is not healthy. I've had quite a chance to think about the implications of the possibility of losing my cello and why I have been intermittently emotional about it. Part of this reason was that it was one of my outlets for emotional strain during a very difficult time in my life quite a few years ago. I was able to express how I felt through my cello. Those moments that I lost myself in a piece were calming and restorative to my heart. I know that God is the one who was behind it all but He used my cello and it is therefore a symbol of perseverance and the ability to find joy even during times of difficulty.