Time and Place...

The piano is moved! I repeat...The PIANO is moved! And, moved without weeping or gnashing of teeth, and without the need for back surgery! Granted, one of the wheels is now missing, the previously cracked piano leg is now fully broken and I'm missing some decorative pieces from the music stand, but the PIANO IS IN! Now we just have to wait for the piano tuner to make their annual visit to Bethel. Yes. I said ANNUAL! Seems like someone local should learn how to perform this job. I guess I'll add it to the to-do list...maybe there's a Piano Tuning For Dummies book out there...

Well, looky there...There is a Piano Tuning For Dummies (sorta) here! It's a free e-Book copyrighted in 1907 and the preface starts like this:

"For some years past a lack of competent men in the profession of Piano Tuning has been generally acknowledged."

"...competent men..." Uh oh...The feminist in me is freaking out right now! I find it amusing how quickly my attitude about something will change when I come across sexist language (or most other "-ist" language for that matter). What's interesting is that whenever I hear someone ranting about the language in a book (The Bible comes to mind!), I always have to remind them about the book's setting. We all remember learning about "setting" as the time and place a movie/book was written, but equally (and sometimes more) important should be the actual setting the author composed the work in/during. When my "Piano Tuning for Dummies" book was written, of course the author used the words "competent men" because in 1907, only a man would perform such a task. A failure on our part to consider the setting will frequently result in a misunderstanding of the purpose the author intended. Once we've misunderstood the author's reasons for writing, then the effectiveness of the material is compromised and people are able to twist the material around to fit their personal agenda regardless of the author's best (or otherwise) intentions.

So, maybe I will download that piano tuning tome from 1907 and see if I can teach myself a new skill. Next up...Veterinary Science For Dummies!