Memory Lane - piano duets with my Mom

There are all kinds of family traditions that go unheralded because they don't fit into a holiday, birthday or family reunion type of category. I've started to think about these a lot over the last year because many of us mentions these "traditions" when they happen, but don't ever write them down. The great thing about digital cameras now is that you can actually catch some of these little traditions in little live snippets to keep for future viewing.

Growing up most of us played the piano. There were always quite a few piano books piled in the piano bench and on a shelf nearby, but the favorites always managed to make it to the little ledge right above the keyboard. I can't remember what it's called - does it even have a name? Anyway, out our house, it was the Rogers and Hammerstein slate blue book with the off white binding and this huge yellow book with children's songs (Jumbo the Elephant) and a duet book (still don't know the name of it) that made it to this special piano ledge.

Often one person (my mom or sisters) would start playing from the duet book and summon a partner to come take on the "higher part" or the "lower part." Over the years, it became an unplanned ritual to sit down at least 1-2 times during a visit home and go through the typical songs. The favorites seemed to be the Swanee River and the Yankee Doodle Dandy song.

This visit home I managed to get one of my brother's to catch the Yankee Doodle duet in action. The goal on this song is always for us to play faster and faster and so it's not about quality. We typically keep going until it's too fast for one of us to keep up with the other. Again, all of this is unsaid, but has been the emerging expectation over the years.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lyghJkOQK_6v06HYn6_1gg?authkey=EjXpx0DWdPY

http://picasaweb.google.com/clark.rebecca/BrettSMissionFarewell/photo?authkey=EjXpx0DWdPY#5207101864283934354

(Hopefully one of these links works)
At some point these little bits of personal history will become a library of their own, but for now it's just a trip down memory lane.