Neighbors and teachers.

A few weeks ago I was sitting alone on our blue picnic bench and a neighbor walked over and stopped. It was sunny and Saturday. Usually when I see this neighbor he's off to work or busy doing something helpful like tending to a tree pit with our block association. Today he was idling. And I was happy he stopped because though I don't know him well, his gentle and kind demeanor always makes me want to.

He shared his wife just started to work on Saturdays and his youngest just started University. And although he appeared in no way distraught, I could tell he was engaged in a thing that was new and open and he seemed curious and undecided.

We started talking about hobbies. He shared that he plays piano. This interested me because a few months ago I also started playing. Lately I've been wanting to do nothing else. My neighbor seemed somewhat private about his piano playing, but shared that he has a piano at home and a teacher who he's been with for a long time.

But how can you play without a teacher? My neighbor asked incredulous. You need a teacher. This I knew, but had been avoiding. Is that even a thing, a piano teacher for a grown up? It seems stupid now, but that's what I was thinking.

Ok, I said, what about your teacher? He laughed and looked away, telling me his teacher is - he paused looking for the right word - quite strict and doesn't really take new students. I was intrigued. And having no other leads I chose to be brave and asked if he could ask if she would be willing meet.

He said sure and then left and I felt that I did a thing. Or maybe did nothing but have courage for a few seconds.

A few days went by and I passed my neighbor on our block. He was on his way to work. He smiled telling me his teacher would meet me, and I gratefully put her number in my phone.

Then I got nervous. What if this teacher somehow destroys this new thing I find so joyful? Taylor be brave. I stayed up practicing later than usual for a few nights, hoping any progress would at least give me courage. Then I accidentally split the tip of my thumb on a sharp metal shelf in the fridge. I delayed for a few more days.

Around a week later, my wounded thumb fresh with new skin, I rode the subway into the city to an appointment. And for whatever reason felt bold. I opened notes on my phone and crafted a short message to the teacher, proofread it more times than necessary, pasted it into messages and hit send. A few hours later she sent me a warm and friendly - not strict or scary - reply telling me she would be happy to meet.

In our first meeting, she explained that some people would say she is strict, but it isn't that. She really just cares about the material, about piano, and finds it so interesting and important and beautiful in a way that is serious. So she expects her students to also care in that same way. In my experience as a teacher, I related to this so much. And I liked her so much. And for myself, I couldn't think of a more perfect teacher.

The days before my first official lesson were filled with excitement and anticipation of getting to have a teacher again. This made me realize neither me or CW have had a teacher in over 10 years. And even though we routinely spend time exploring new interests, learning happens mostly with google or books or in the most rewarding moments with friends. Noticing this felt like a revelation. Maybe being so occupied lining up schools or whatnot for our kids caused me to not even consider the teacher void in my life as a grown up.

Last night was my first lesson. We talked, and I listened and observed with humbling awe. It is such a pleasure and privilege to be a pupil again.

Numbered Edition PTC drop.

This one is a 90 volt cyan faded to a 105 volt green. Orders are open until Monday to get a Numbered Edition from this first batch. Hello wizard.

GREEN + CYAN NUMBERED EDITION

Green is up there on the harder colors to anodize. Above 100 volts, things start to heat up and get iffy. Whenever I see those green fancy double walled snowpeak titanium mugs in person in a camping shop, I'm always keen on inspecting them. Even at a large scale like that, anodizing can be trickstery. So it's cool to know that its a hard thing and see the variance among the different pieces.

We recently tuned a few steps in our anodizing process to help get these green. One small tune is giving the parts a double bath in distilled water after the multi-etch step. That second bath is a holding tank. We found that making sure there really is no multi-etch in there if they sit a while, helps keep everything tidier and more uniform. We also give them a good clean with a towel after the double rinse, because it seems that some residue coats the pens after the initial multi-etch etching.