JOHANNESBURG – Like\ntens of millions of South Africans I\u2019m stuck at home through the nation’s\nlockdown, an attempt to stanch the spread of coronavirus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My street has never\nbeen so quiet. South Africa\u2019s 21-day lockdown \u2014 one of the strictest in the\nworld, with even dog-walking banned \u2014 has transformed my normally lively\nJohannesburg neighborhood. I\u2019m used to seeing my neighbors walking their dogs\nand children down the street. Now we all communicate via WhatsApp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I decided to change\nthat. In Italy, quarantined neighbors have lifted one another’s\u2019 spirits by\nsinging from their balconies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I thought, why not\ndo that here? For a few months, I\u2019ve been learning to play the piano. It helps\nme de-stress and lets me pretend I\u2019m a rock star, if only for a moment. Right\nnow, because of the lockdown, I do virtual weekly lessons, over Skype, with my\nwonderful teacher, Emmanuel Egbebu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the star of my\nlife right now is Dolly, my white piano. Since we rented her in December, Dolly\nhas given me hours and hours and hours of joy \u2014 and no small amount of\nfrustration as I struggle with dexterity drills and the painful ordeal that is\nsight-reading music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But mostly, we have\nfun. And I figured, in these difficult times, why not share some of that joy with\nmy street? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So on March 27, the\nfirst full day of South Africa\u2019s lockdown, we decided to serenade our\nneighbors. The whole family got into the act \u2014 me on Dolly, my husband on\nhis electric guitar, our 4-year-old daughter providing some interpretive dance\naccompaniment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have to admit I was\na little cowed by my husband\u2019s flawless rendition of several rock classics. Our\nneighbor chimed in appreciatively on WhatsApp, and opened her garage door to\nlisten and clap. Another neighbor a few houses down complained: \u201cHe needs to\nturn up the amp.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My old girl\nDolly \u2014 yes, she\u2019s named after one Miss Parton \u2014 doesn\u2019t have\nsuch bells and whistles. And so, with trepidation and a shouted apology to my\nneighbors in earshot, I launched into the one song I\u2019ve practiced the most,\n\u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d love to tell you\nthat it was a virtuoso performance and that I didn\u2019t trip up, as I usually do,\non that rapid chord transition between B-flat and B-flat minor to C to G to\nE-minor and then finally, my head spinning, to land comfortably on F. I\u2019d love\nto say I sang along in a way that would make Judy Garland proud, but none of\nthat happened. I slogged through the song, grateful for the lack of\namplification, and felt both exhilarated and terrified at the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because hey, I\u2019m a\nlong way from being Sir Elton John, (although that hasn\u2019t stopped me from\nwearing my zaniest glasses to play, because I tell myself Dolly appreciates a\nlittle drama). But even Sir Elton started somewhere. And the joy of music is\nsharing it, something that these long hours indoors are giving me the chance to\ndo \u2014 especially with my brilliant daughter, who so far, can almost\nreliably find Middle C on the keyboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I believe that\nmusic will get us through our isolation, which I know from speaking to\nneighbors, and to friends across the globe, is taking its toll. If they could\nall hear me \u2014 and I\u2019m glad they can\u2019t \u2014 I\u2019d tell them, things will\nget better, the skies will be blue again, and all your dreams will come true\n… somewhere, over the rainbow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"