Hear the Whisper, Taste the Sun: Dream come true...

It started about 15 years ago, when I developed an immense love for the most beautiful instrument, the cello (pronounced chello). Now, I have been playing the piano for 21 years, so music is definitely a huge part of my life and for my birthday last year, my husband surprised me with a 1920's upright piano. It's beautiful. However, the cello has always been in my heart and has been my dream instrument to play. The rich notes of the strings sends chills up my spine.

Now, I say "dream" because the actuality of every owning a cello in this life was up there with becoming Queen. Not going to happen. this is not because you can't find cellos of all sizes at most music stores, but because of the cost factor. Cellos are an investment. A good beginner cello starts at about $1000 and can be upwards of over $80,000. Plus a bow, which can cost several hundred dollars for a good one, and then of course, the case (which is just as essential as the instrument itself). So you can see how this was more a "dream" then a believing I would one day own a cello. I figured, maybe down the road, once we have kids and they're grown up enough, I could rent a cello and learn. But that was the extent of that far away thought. And thus, a dream it remained.....that is, until about 3 weeks ago.

For whatever reasons, I still cannot figure out, I decided to google "used cellos" online. I have never in my life done such a thing, because a cello has never been in my budget. Well, google them I did and my findings brought me across the ever loved (for most) e-Bay. I started to look through what was listed, most seeming to be fairly cheap and good prices (not knowing names of brands or anything) coming in all sorts of colors and sizes. I've never been interested in a blue cello, so I quickly bypassed those and moved on. That's when my eyes caught something. A cello....for bid....by an antique dealer....currently sitting at $1.24. As you can imagine, my first thought was pure scepticism, but curiosity got the better of me, and I delved in to see what else I could learn of this cheap cello, which must be a hoax.

As it turned out, the dealer claimed it to be an estate find (someone died or lost their house), and this antique dealer believes that everyone should have the benefit to bid and the chance of a deal, so everything they post on e-Bay starts at $.99. No Reserve! The pictures of the cello made it look amazing and I talked to Hayden about it, and he said, for that price, you can't NOT bid on it. So I did! I had my limit of as high as I would bid. There was still 14 hours left and so I wasn't holding my breath on this one. I was bound not to be the only one to find this deal. So I said a little prayer, placed it in God's hand and said "Lord, do this....or something better". This prayer is something I've learned from my ladies Bible Study at The Link. They talked about believing that God has limitless resources and can do infinitely more then even we can possibly imagine. I may have faith for something, and God not only goes beyond what we think....but He goes beyond our beyond. So here I was, bidding on a cello, thinking, "ok, if I get this cello, God has definitely gone beyond even what I ever thought possible." But God didn't just want to go "beyond"....He wanted to go "BEYOND my beyond". So He did! And with that, the bid ended at 7:35am marking ME as the winner!!!! For a whopping total of $48.06 CND!!!! The cello also came with a hard case and a bow. God went beyond my beyond!

I was in such an excited daze I could hardly believe it! My dream was coming true! So I made my payment and on it's way my cello came. The package arrived just last week, and with much excitement I opened the box and pink styrofoam chunks went everywhere! But there is was....my new baby! the bridge was taken off for shipping and the strings in disarray, but that is easily fixed.

The case. It has a few scuffs, but is in great condition

My new baby! Notice the stings are wonky as the bridge is not in place

The bow

I then phoned around to a few music stores in town, to see if anyone knew how to string and tune a cello and one music store does. He said he won't even charge me! How lovely!

I then decided to read up on cellos and make sure this was the right size for me. I set it up, and it's the perfect size for me! Then I read up on how to place the bridge and what to look for when buying a cello (something I didn't do before I actually bought a cello). I learned that some brands may look good, but are just cut out moulds that are badly glued and sound as good as rubber bands on a cigar box. There are specific specifications to making a proper cello (hence the high price). They must be hand crafted, not mould punched. Some cellos may have fancy German names as a cover, but are cheaply made, and not in Germany.

I began to look for all the specifications on my cello, hoping I didn't purchase a dud. Everything they said to look for was in order and in place. Next, I thought to google the brand on my cello. It's Cecilio. I was delighted to find that my cello is a good brand, was hand crafted and also to find a manual on how to work my cello. Thus, I was able to get my first sound out of the low C string. It was a thrilling moment.

This week I shall hopefully have the strings fixed and tuned, find a beginners book on learning the cello, and maybe even start playing around with it. I do have a lot going on this week with my art show coming up next Saturday, but one can never be too busy for a dream come true.