Like many people, I first started playing the flute in grade school and stayed with it until high school, when I traded in my instrument for pom-poms (shame on me!) in a silly attempt to get boys to notice me. I never really picked up my flute again. Twenty years later I learned to embrace my inner band geek, so I exhumed my flute from its nether-storage, bought some new sheet music and paid a lot of money to have it overhauled, only to have it stolen right after by my disgruntled house painter who sold it for drug money. I was so heartbroken I couldn’t even think about it for several years. Now I’m hungry to take it up again, but it’s been so long since I’ve even played a single note on a flute, I’m not sure I even know how anymore, which could make trying one out at a music store a little embarrassing.
If I’ve learned any lessons about the care of my flute, it’s this: Next time, paint my house myself.
