John Denver – Appreciation Magic

Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

As a young child, I was always inspired by music and Music class was my favorite class, starting from kindergarten. I can fondly remember playing those plastic recorders from a very young age. By fourth grade, I had a clarinet, and I begged my parents for a piano, and was gifted an old upright to learn from. It was my guitar that I got at 12 years old that was the most precious to me of all.

While I had lessons with the clarinet in school, I didn’t have any lessons on the guitar, so I am self-taught. I spent everyday of my younger years playing and singing with my guitar. It was almost like an emotional support animal to me: always comforting, always soothing, and always keeping me company. I can really relate to this John Denver song called “This Old Guitar.”

I wrote my first song when I was 12 and wrote several more over the years. I even gave some guitar lessons to people in my hometown when I was in high school.

While I added another guitar to my collection when I lived in Spain, that first guitar is so special to me. I still have it and right now, one of my daughters wants to learn from it. I hope she’ll get as much enjoyment with it as I did.

Being from Iowa, I have traveled many a country road. I learned to drive on dirt, gravel, blacktops and highways but I love country roads the best. I really appreciate country roads for the feeling of freedom they invoke with their wide open spaces and less traveled paths. There’s not much traffic on them and there’s a lot of landscape to see. When there is traffic, the “stranger” usually waves! They’re not really a “stranger” after all, but a sign of friendliness from the people I encounter in more rural places. There’s a feeling of connectedness that comes from being out in the country and on a country road.

I appreciate country roads for the views along the way, in the ditches, fields, or in the sky. I appreciate the wonders of nature that are evident from traveling down a country road. I appreciate the wildlife that I see along a country road. I really enjoy the sky from a country road and some of the most beautiful sunsets, shining stars, unusual cloud formations and spectacular lightning storms have been seen from a country road. Living in New York, I don’t see a lot of country roads these days. But whenever I do, it feels like home.

With that, I’m reminded of John Denver’s song, Country Roads. Take me home, country roads! 🙂