Frets & Winds

So my "How to play the ukulele like a Pacific native, only minus the beautiful copper skin and flowing island hair" book arrived on Thursday. It was a little bittersweet as you all know the ukulele itself is a good week+ from being delivered, but regardless I cracked open the book and took a gander. Gulp. The ukulele only has 4 strings and yet each string makes like a gazillion different notes! And reading the notes--Every Good Boy Does Fine and F-A-C-E? How is that helpful when both have Fs...so which F is it...the Fine or the F of FACE. And what the hell is an open note?!! They talked about playing the C string as an "open note" but didn't feel inclined to explain what an open note was. I felt a sense of panic...the whole endeavor was supposed to be a fun exercise in learning to play an instrument. Maybe this is what I get from buying a how-to manual from a man named Lil' Rev.

I finished all of my holiday shopping yesterday. It really is a marvel how many people were out at the stores. Still didn't make me like the holiday, but I am excited to see the kid open his presents.

So as I was reading My Life in France, Julia was discussing the Mistrals that hit Marseilles every winter. Now, I don't know about you, but I had NO IDEA what a Mistral was. This then set off a domino-effect of me thinking "well, what else don't I know about?" Well, I have decided that every week I'm going to focus on learning a little bit about something I have no knowledge about and lucky for you, kind readers, you get to learn with me...this week, obviously, is the mistral.

A mistral is a strong, cold, dry wind from the north which accelerates when it's funneled through the Rhone and Durance River valleys of France. It is mainly felt along the Mediterranean Coast of Southern France and can even cause sudden storms in the Mediterranean itself. It's name means 'masterly' in the provencal language. It is usually accompanied with clear and sunny weather, although extremely cold (enough to freeze salt spray onto windows and buildings). The winds can reach speeds of 90 kilometers an hour (that's about 56 miles per hour for us non-metric system users) and are believed to be a cause of good health, since the mistral dries out stagnant water and mud and blows away pollution. And now you know what a mistral is!