EARLY FEBRUARY 2022

I live in Paris, France. In the 16e. The Auteuil. Inside myself, I am “Janet” from Gainesville. Or “Jay” from Los Angeles. I love both of them.

I am just living in Paris. What does that mean? Taking down garbage, getting mail, paying the housekeeper, buying groceries. Except you must know what that means. You must know how to pay utilities and how to start and stop them, if necessary. You must know how to set the phone if you are going for a walk. You must know what to do if you are going to the doctor or the prefecture or to get your identity card and your vaccination. And it is important to know what to do in a restaurant or café or bar. Each one has its own way of doing things. It is not for the faint of heart. You cannot be helpless. One blogger calls it “adulting”. You must grow up. Visiting is different. It is all different from the USA. And it helps if you can speak French. Oops.

Music is known to extensively activate the human brain, and increased blood flow can help the brain recover by helping to restore the blood vessels and synaptic connections damaged by stroke.  Meet Daphine.  This is the new name for my piano. I used to call her “Bessie” but that was not French enough. 

Dr. Google – “Functional magnetic resonance imaging activation patterns correlated with rapid movements of fingers in each hand separately and together demonstrating that subcortical and cerebellar pathways were activated during skilled motor function of the piano player’s left hand. Contralateral cerebral and cerebellar activation occurred with both left- and right-hand movements. During tapping of the left fingers, there was bilateral cerebellar, parietal, and left premotor strip and left thalamic activation.”

SO – I am a former piano player who needs recovery from brain strokes. I must help my piano heal my brain. How?

This will be an experiment. Puzzle to solve. I need help. NOW – New beginning new life now. Post pandemic problem Am I up to the task? Can I do it? YES . I am willing to be.

Right now I have a piano sitting in my living room and it is REALLY out of tune.  It needs a lot of repairs.

For SALE BY OWNER AS IS.  18000 euros.  Steinway piano that my family has owned since 1947 – Gainesville, Georgia USA.  Steinway built by Steinway in NYC.  Serial Number is 323432, AS IS.  I inherited it from my mother the 1980s when I was living in Los Angeles (Pacific Palisades) California. I retired from practicing law in California and moved to Nice, France in October 2015.  I am now 84 and living in Paris, France, since February 2020.  I live in the 16e of Paris.  18,000 euros AS IS. 

I tried to sell it but no luck because people are holding on to their money and then I read about music and the brain. I have had several brain strokes. In the fall of 2020. I blame high blood pressure and lots of upsets and anger. But I am still writing and doing for myself. So I am better but I need to get better. I have difficulty walking and the pandemic and bad weather in Paris are not good. I hesitate to practice because of my neighbors but I have been doing scales anyway. I need to practice to get my fingers to work again. So, I decided to get bids on fixing it. And, I will do scales while I wait for the bids. So far, I have had one man look at it. I am waiting to see what he bids.

Isn’t it gorgeous??? I love that piano very much. It goes where I go. Until now. I don’t think I am supposed to sell it.. I used to be very good.  I never could sight-read, but I practiced diligently.  When Daddy bought the piano, it was for the family. All three children played it. Mother just got us to and from lessons. Barbara was the most advanced but when she got sick with ruptured appendix, that stopped everything. And she and Patricia moved out of the house, so I kept taking lessons and playing the piano. I did a private recital when I was a senior in high school. I was a Music Major in piano at the University of Wisconsin for a minute but my professors were too hard. I inherited [early inheritance] the piano in the 1980s and now it is MINE!!!!! Ok, it needs repair. Here are some more pictures.  

So, this is my post pandemic project/experiment for the next year. Wish me luck.

Best, Jay