I'm Like My Cat

This week I made salt dough ornaments for my music students.  I'd love to give them more for Christmas, but funds are really tight right now.  I decided to get creative and make them something for a change.

In the midst of the floury mess, with rolling pin in hand, and socks on my feet, I noticed my cat seemed to be getting a bit playful on the kitchen floor.  Couldn't be that I was making ornaments.  This could only mean one thing:  a mouse!

Sure enough.  She had a dead mouse.  At least I think it was dead.  I didn't want to get too close to confirm it.  I'm not real fond of mice to say the least.

Since I was pretty sure it was dead, I resumed working on my ornaments.  Next thing I knew, that mouse came flying across the floor right into my stocking feet.  I screamed out loud and jumped away. 

So that I could finish working on my ornaments and deal with the mouse later, I put my empty laundry basket upside down on top of the mouse to keep my cat from flinging it at me again.

While talking on the phone with my big sister, (I couldn't get the ornaments to roll out right - so I called for advice) I happened to see my cat playing in another part of the house.  Sure enough, somehow she had managed to remove the mouse from under the basket and was now flinging it around in the living room.

That's it.  I couldn't take the pressure of not knowing where that thing would fly to next. 

I went to the basement and grabbed my husband's big leather gloves, picked up the mouse by his/her tail (how do you know which it is?) and went outside. 

I'm still not sure if the mouse was alive or not, but it bumped against my glove and once again I screamed and flung it across the yard. 

When I came back in, heart pounding out of my chest, I noticed my cat lounging by the window as if she could care less that I had just removed her pride and joy from her.

Everyone says that she was proud of her mouse and wanted me to see it and to notice her.  Whatever.

I got to thinking though.  I'm not much different than her. 

I have a new project coming out soon. It's called "Hand Painted".  It has eleven contemporary worship tunes painted on the piano (and other instruments).  Every time I post my progress about it on facebook or twitter, I wonder if others are feeling turned off by my 'flinging' it around.  But I can't help it.  I'm quite fond of it. 

This is my catch.  My hard work is now finished and soon to be released to the world. 

This project is a canvas of musical colors created out of sheer joy with my hands and heart.

Playing the piano is where my musical journey all began, so doing this was like going home in a sense.  Leading worship has been a part of my musical journey too for many years.  Now the portrait is complete with some of my favorite tunes played on my favorite instrument. 

Thanks for listening, thanks for enjoying and thanks for continuing to support my music. 

And if it feels like a dead mouse to you that you personally have no interest in, that's ok.  That's the beauty of art.  Whether the beholder enjoys the art or not, I've had a great time 'capturing my mouse'. 

Hopefully others will notice and enjoy it too.  Does that mean I'm like my cat?