After a very busy summer (including an amazing trip to the Somerset Harp Festival in New Jersey) and anticipating an equally busy upcoming late fall/winter… I had an unexpected break in my schedule. So what did I do? I had hand surgery. As you can imagine this is generally not something that a harpist wants to do in her downtime. Especially since I had surgery on both hands.
This was a good way to get out of doing dishes for several weeks but I still don’t recommend it. Luckily, my harp roadie husband is the real angel in our duo.
The last few years I have developed fibroid lumps on my knuckles and sometimes they do bother me while I play. A few years ago I had one taken off the middle finger on my left hand. This time I had one removed from the ring finger on my left hand and my right pinky. Pop quiz…. If a harpist has a ring finger and pinky out of commission, how many playing fingers does she still have? Seven! Harpists don’t use pinky fingers while playing. Aren’t you glad you know that?!
Recovery on this surgery has gone better than expected and my fingers are quickly getting back up to speed. Actually, it was a lovely break and I enjoyed letting my serious bookworm side have free reign for a while. After the stitches were removed and I was further along in recovery mode, I did some concentrated work for the Folk Harp Journal. Typing is excellent exercise for the fingers.
Also, as they say “absence makes the heart grow fonder” and while I didn’t think I could be any “fonder” of my harps, it is true. I’m very excited about being back to work! I have some exciting new material that I am working on, lots of weddings coming up, and concerts planned. My fingers are stronger, better, and up for the challenges.
I look forward to playing for you soon!