Shopping for Violins

The day was devoted to violin shopping. Maya has grown out of her half size and we asked Jonathan, the dealer who sold us the last violin, to come by with some choices for us. Since we could use the old violin to 'trade up' to the new one, we could save some money in the process. Jonathan drove up from New York and stayed with his wife's ex boyfriend in the city. We had not heard from Maya's violin teacher for months, after she 'fired' us over a misunderstanding. We learned later that she and her husband were divorcing, so we understood that her life was a bit of a mess.

Jonathan was his usual friendly self, having known Maya since she was just starting lessons. Maya played at his wedding to Elizabeth and he and Maya have always had a special bond. He brought two new Chinese and one 200 year old Italian 3/4 size choices. Daphne came over to listen and offer her opinion. We all liked the sound of the Italian, but the price was double that of the two Chinese ones. Maya played and played, in the dining room, outside on the lawn, in the living room, in the hall, switching from one to the other, from scales to Bach to Mozart to Massanet.

No decisions were made, except that we eliminated one of the Chinese ones. Jonathan offered to have us keep the others for a couple days and give Maya a chance to play some more.

Daphne and the family came by for dinner. I made a peach pie and a sea food chowder, and They brought a big beautiful salad for a wonderful dinner together. Julien was working on a score and showed up better late than never, so we enjoyed our evening with good friends and conversation.