If you’d like to see a few photos of the guitar being made I can post them. Thanks for kind words on Rust to Restoration. It’s a shame the PA cut out mid performance, it threw me a bit. Skotty carried the show, pro that he is. I was shaking like a leaf before I went on but there’s no way I was going to miss an opportunity like this. Once we started playing I went to my happy place.
Yes please!
I can imagine 
you’re a badass (and don’t even get me started on the 
)!
Wow, Maggie! Your playing & singing are wonderful and you also rescue bats! You are well & truly Batwoman.
Back in the deepest, darkest antiquity of high school, an Ecology class was offered in which we studied bats, which we caught in a Tuttle trap. Here’s a photo I shot of the light trail made by a bat with a light capsule attached to its back.
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@SloppyChords Prabhat I’m just a sweet little old lady 
I’ll get some photos organized sometime soon.
@Twin_Six Jonathan this sounds like an enlightened educator. Thanks for the photo. Thankyou also for your very kind words.
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Hi Maggie,
Finally, it was about time 
…I’m looking forward to it 
Greetings
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Hearts a batwoman original.
This song came from a story I wrote Request for Long Service Leave. I’ve posted it at the end of this.
There’s some of me in every one of the hearts.
Here’s the song
Hearts
My heart is tired and wants some time away
She wants to take long service leave
I’m looking for a new heart
So my heart can have a holiday
Take some time away
The Employment Agency sent me these hopefuls to tide me over while my tired heart takes Long Service Leave.
Broken Heart arrives in a flood of tears
“I’m good at holding it all together and I won’t lose the plot
I might look a mess, but I’ll give it my best shot.
I promise it won’t end in tears”
Steel capped boots and a haze of cigarette smoke
Announces Tough Love, “I don’t slow down for sob stories,
Projects come in on time, no deaths or injuries.
Not on my watch”
I’m looking for a new heart
So my heart can have a holiday
Take some time away
Capricious Heart twirled her way into the room.
“You’re too predictable, I’d get new rhythms
And a new colour every week, you’re looking way too bleak
Smoke and mirrors are my thing”
Dragging herself in late, Half Hearted mumbled
“I’ve been told I have unfulfilled potential, I’m a waste of space
A full-time job might blow up in my face
I want to keep my dole” (dole = unemployment benefits)
I’m looking for a new heart
So my heart can have a holiday
Take some time away
Brave Heart limped in on his prosthetic leg.
Hanging back behind him Faint of Heart
“I’m not as fit as I used to be, but I can
Give this fellow a start”
The scent of roses floats in along with Soft Heart
“Love is all there is, there’s nothing more that you could want
Leave the rest to me, let me be your confidant
Love is a velvet glove.”
I’m looking for a new heart
So my heart can have a holiday
Take some time away
Take some time away
Request for Long Service Leave.
My heart has told me she’s tired and wants to take long service leave. This seems a fair enough request; she’s done a good job day in day out. She’s earned some time away from the workplace.
I contact the local Employment Agency to find a replacement for her, someone to tide me over while she’s away. I want someone like her, a Good Heart. A heart that can keep a steady beat, nothing fancy, just a steady beat with the capacity to accommodate the occasional drama or downer. It needs to be in one piece and in reasonably good repair. Ideally, I’d like to see a few battle scars healed and wiser for it.
“We’re a bit down on numbers at the moment” the employment agent tells me, “All the Good Hearts and Kind Hearts have been taken and we haven’t had a Generous Heart on our books for a few weeks now, they’re very popular. Leave it with us, we’ll send you our recommendations by the end of the week” she says.
Within a few days they had shortlisted the most likely.
The procession of applicants begins with Broken Heart announcing herself in a flood of tears and a jangle of bling that holds her fractured pieces together in a haphazard sort of way. “Why in the blazes would they send this one to me?” I wondered. She looks at me through teary eyes and says “I’m a great multi-tasker; I’m good at holding it all together no matter what. I might look a mess and I mightn’t be whole hearted I admit, but I’ll give it my best shot”.
The clump of steel capped boots and a haze of cigarette smoke preceded the next applicant, Tough Love. “Tell me a bit about your work history Mr Tough” I asked. “Call me T” he grunted as he took a drag on the stub of cigarette attached to his lip. “I don’t take any crap. I set the pace. I don’t slow down for sob stories and I don’t speed up for other people’s dramas. It’s my way or no way” he said staring steely eyed at me as he handed over his CV. Gazing at it I see he has brought every project in on time, on budget and there have been no fatalities or serious injuries.
Capricious Heart twirled her way into the room in a tease of smoke and mirrors. Unable to sit in one place for more than a moment she perches on the desk in front of me and smiles beguilingly. Before I could ask about her work experience she leans toward me and says “I’d be so good for you, stodgy old thing, you need to be brightened up. I’d change that way the old heart does things … too predictable. I’d get a few new rhythms happening, maybe a bit of hip hop or crump for something new. And that boring old red, how passé, I’d have a new colour every week.”
Half Hearted dragged herself into the interview room late and flopped herself down sideways on the chair. Looking up at me from under the messy fringe covering her left eye she waited for me to ask her something. “Why are you here?” I asked. “Err, um, I’ve been told I have unfulfilled potential. I’m a life waiting to happen and if I don’t get a job soon they’ll cut off my dole. A part time job is enough for me.”
“Next” I muttered.
As Brave Heart came into the room he limped on his prosthetic leg. He held the hand of a Heart that was hanging back behind him, timid and frightened. I peered at Brave Heart quizzically, he volunteered “Oh this is my friend Faint of Heart; it’s time he got a job. If you give him the job I’d like to be his mentor if that’s OK with you? I’m not as able bodied as I used to be, but I still have a lot to pass on to this young fellow”.
Soft Heart embraces me in a moosh of pink marshmallow, gusts of her rose fragrance clinging to me as I attempt to separate myself from her gooey embrace “What special qualities do you bring to the job Soft,” I asked. “I’d love everyone” she replied in a breathy imitation of Marilyn Monroe. " Love is all there is" “Is that all?” “Oh yes, there’s nothing more, love is all there is the rest will take care of itself” she replies with an airy self-assurance.
Interviews completed, I consider my options. None of the applicants are a suitable replacement for my heart. I wonder about hiring two hearts to job share. Brave Heart and Faint Heart or Tough Love and Broken Heart could perhaps manage the job. Capricious Heart and Half-Hearted sharing the job, I shudder to think of the possibilities. Soft Heart could be on call for situations that couldn’t be resolved any other way.
As I mull over my choices, it occurs to me that I’ve undervalued my Good Heart and the job she’s done so well. I phone the agency late in the day to tell them that no suitable applicants have been found and that my heart and I are currently negotiating a new contract.
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What a wonderfully creative, expressive song, Maggie. Love the lyrics, a vocal that is rich, evoking the rich emotions of the hearts, and a guitar performance that is full of texture and tones. And the performances, recording, and mix spot on.
Hope the negotiations have reached a happy conclusion.
Bravo
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@DavidP thankyou David, it’s good to hear your reflections, they balance some of mine 
I’m pleased to say that my heart and I are in a better place now.
@ChasetheDream thankyou Robert, my heart and I intend to keep ticking over for a while yet.
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That was wonderful Maggie, what a fantastic story converted expressively into song and accompanied very well with the tune you have created to carry it. Some great vocal trickery going on there and some good playing to back it up.
Have you published some of the story before ? I got this odd feeling of deja vu reading it but there is some much going on across these pages I lose track of what has past! Or that could be just age or the parallel universe I seem to drift into now and zen !
Regardless, it was highly creative and enjoyable.
Cheers
Toby
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Lovely Maggie, just lovely 
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I’m having trouble accessing the recording, but I love your lyrics! It takes courage to put your work out here, and I’m really glad you did. I find your posts to be encouraging and inspirational. Thank you!
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@TheMadman_tobyjenner your memory serves you well Toby, I posted the story a few weeks ago. I changed the character of Soft Heart for the song. Thankyou for your encouraging comment.
@Notter thankyou Mark so very much.
@DonnatheDead Sorry you’re having trouble accessing the recording. I’ve checked the link and it’s working. If you have any more problems let me know and I’ll upload it to YT. Thankyou for your lovely comments.
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Got it. It’s beautiful, and I love your rhythm! I had no problem on my phone, but my laptop just doesn’t want to play the soundcloud recording.
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I think you should Maggie, there was a unique spontaneity throughout this that really helped the story come across. But I would suggest that it was a planned spontaneity as you constructed the song. Yeah I am back to oxymorons again ! Its not always about 4 bars of this and 2 bars of that. I think a “vanilla” style progression would have lost the captivation and sentiment. It worked really well, so embrace it!
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@TheMadman_tobyjenner now that’s a perspective that hadn’t occurred to me. All I can hear when I listen to it, is one of the many outbursts a former teacher would shower on me when I turned up with something like this. He’s an excellent drummer and has the most acute sense of timing and groove. It certainly gives me more scope for expression to throw in a 6/4, 2/4 etc. The playing is another matter
I think one of the better things about this, is you didn’t play it “straight”. I think it would have lost its authenticity if you had done. Who defines what is normal where art is concerned.
Sorry feeling all Zen as I had the Harley out today and rode to see our nearest beach.
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I’m so glad to read this Toby. Good for the soul.
I’ve got the Rhythm Police chatting in my head all the time. I’ll show them your comment 
Ironically, since posting the song and reading the comments, I’ve been more chilled and my rhythm has improved. The grid in Reaper is a hard task master. When I get all knotted and anxious it disconnects me from what I want to achieve. Maybe I need to climb up onto the headland and watch the whales as they swim by on their annual migration to warmer waters to calve.
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That made me chuckle. You could always disable to grid and go freestyle.
That headland and views sound a magical spot and very inspirational. The section coast I visited is flat and the tide goes out a long way, just about see the sea in the distance as it was low tide. Its one of the big muscle and oyster farming areas but still a lovely sandy beach which stretches for miles. It gets more interesting another 15 minutes further west where you start to find Brittany’s Pink Granite coast but that would had added at least another 30 minutes. Not enough time yesterday but another day …and as its France there is always a religious icon close at hand in case you need one. 
Mercury is climbing this week, so a shady forest walk this morning so Sophie doesn’t cook !
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