One Day Wonder #222

For 4 horns and trombone.

I decided to write a lullaby today. It uses a tune in the trombone from #221 (it’s in the middle somewhere) as its basis. I’m up housesitting at my parents’ place in the wilds of Snohomish. They just got this mammoth 51-inch TV, so I have to tear myself away from it to write this piece. It’s not a problem. I have to generally tear myself away from one thing or another to write music, so this is nothing special. I managed to get a respectable A section down before it was time to head back home. I’ve been having a few problems with my gigantic car lately, but I thought I'd gotten over them. My car is old enough by now (it’s a 1968 Chrysler Newport) that it can pretty much fix itself, if it so desires. Today it didn’t. It died at the end of the driveway and wouldn’t come back to life. It was pouring, so I called my mom, told her about the trouble, went back in the house and gave the piece another whirl. My folks shortly returned home and I called AAA for a tow. I managed to get some more measures down before the tow truck showed up. The guy had absolutely no problem with hauling my car all the way to downtown Seattle, where my repair shop is. That’s around 40 miles. Thank God I have the additional tow coverage. My car always seems inclined to break down in the middle of nowhere, so it’s good to know that I can make it back to civilization with just a phone call. Anyhow, it was a long trip back in rush-hour traffic, but we got there at around 4:00. My original ETA had been 1:00. We dumped the car off at the shop. I thanked the driver from the bottom of my heart and went home to finish this piece. The shop called something like 15 minutes later telling me that the whole problem was because of a loose battery cable. They charged me a negligible amount and I drove my car back to its garage. Wow, all that trouble for a loose cable. I checked all the connections before calling AAA, so I can’t figure out how that came to happen. Once back from the garage, I finished this piece. It’s nothing complicated, but considering all the day’s shenanigans, it’s a wonder that I got anything done. It might even have a few moments of odd beauty to it. Enjoy.