September has been a very busy month so far. Not busy in a musical sense but I’m optimistic that the situation for us freelance musicians will improve in the coming months and into 2021. People NEED events and weddings and celebrations with live music and I’ve heard talk of the void left by the lack of cultural stimulation that was previously filled by theatres and live music venues. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have my part time job at my little local Sainsbury’s to fall back on - what would I have done without that?!!

With talk last week of another local lockdown here in Kirklees, I decided it was the perfect time to visit my family in North Wales and attempt to tick a big 2020 box - walking up Snowdon. I’ve never been up, not even on the little train (call the NSPCC!! I think my parents were very busy) and at the beginning of last week I had run and walked 980 miles so far in 2020. I mused that getting to 1,000 miles on Snowdon would be an appropriate way to celebrate my accomplishment and so the planning commenced. I’ve accumulated quite a lot of essential equipment since I started pursuing my outdoor activities more seriously so I knew my gear was good to go. I checked the weather forecast for Llanberis obsessively all week and by Thursday, it was looking like a damn fine day with near perfect conditions for September.

Well, I did it! What’s this got to do with music and the harp? You may well ask but I’d rather be up a big mountain than laid in bed bemoaning my situation or drowning my sorrows with alcohol. I’ve missed practicing regularly for specific performances but most of all I’ve missed playing for my own pleasure and I’ll be delving my fingers deep into those resonant strings regularly from this week.

My next post here will be all about my Snowdon adventure, including photos! Here’s a taster: