June 6, 2025
Yippee! My mom and I got to go to the park for a while. She took me along so she could relax and just play some music for a bit. Guess what happened! She was sitting on a rock and I was singing softly and do you know who came to listen! Yep, deer! Two of ’em came out of the woods to listen. Guess they liked the way I sang because they hung around a while and my mom finally stopped playing long enough to grab a pic of them before it got too dark. Next we’re gonna take a trip to a different park where there’s some buffalo and I’m gonna sing for them, too!
October 8, 2024
Hello again, TK here,
It’s been a while since I’ve let you know what I’ve been up to. And I’ve been up to a lot. Take yesterday for example. I got to sit outside on my mom’s gazebo and sing my little heart out! It was such fun! The weather was nice and there were birds all around. They even sat on the gazebo railing so they could hear me better. A few chirped along with me at times.
A few days before that, I took a trip with my mom to Saylorville Lake and sat on top of the dam and got to sing for a bit while we waited for the deer to come out of the woods. Now that was a fun time.
Met two nice gentlemen while there. Mom and I had pulled off in the parking area and I was singing my heart out when an older gentleman walked up to our vehicle. He said he used to have a dulcimer and loved the song I was singing. Then another younger gentleman came up and said he was the older man’s son and that he and his dad had been sitting in their vehicle listening and really enjoyed my singing. My mom asked if he played, too. The younger man said no, but that his dad used to. So my mom asked the older gentleman if he’d like to help me sing a bit. The man’s face lit up! My mom opened the back of our vehicle so they could sit down easily, and she put me in the older gentleman’s lap and handed him my hammers.
Well, he started out slowly at first, just kind of getting used to me but it didn’t take long before I was singing my heart out. His hands were shaky and sometimes he missed a note or two, but he was enjoying himself. After about twenty minutes of frivolity, the man handed my hammers back to my mom as he was getting rather tired. So, they said goodbye and my mom told them anytime they saw us there to be sure to stop and play while with me.
And, she even found out what nursing home the older gentleman was living in and we’re planning a trip to surprise him soon.
May 11, 2024
Yippee! My mom and I got to go outside and play for awhile. We’re getting all practiced up for Play Music on the Porch Day (last Saturday in August). So we played for a bit out by the lilac bushes and then we played a while on the gazebo. I liked being outside. It was 75 degrees out there so it was a nice day to play!
July 23, 2023
Hey everybody, it’s me, TK! I got to go on an outing with my mom and boy what an outing it was, too! I so enjoyed myself. Got to sing out loud for some of my mom’s military brothers. Now that was a special event for me!
See, my mom took me to see the Freedom Rock in Menlo, Iowa. For those who may not know, there are 100 Freedom Rocks in Iowa – one in each of the 99 counties plus one extra one in Polk County. These rocks are painted by Bubba Sorensen. He uses his own money/time (some money is now donated by individuals) and painted the rocks to honor military veterans. The one in Menlo was the first. Now that he’s painted one in each of Iowa’s counties, he’s starting to work on one in each of the U.S. states. What an accomplishment that will be!
My mom has seen several of the rocks but this was my first time to go along. While there, she began to let me sing and before long a car pulled up and a man got out. A veteran. Then after a bit, another car pulled up and another and so on. Before long, there was a nice group of people listening to me sing my songs for my mom’s military brothers and sisters. And, when it was all over and I was about to pack up and go home for the night, she let me sing Taps. And, for that, she got a ton of hugs!
It was an awesome day! Now we’re on a mission to play for each of the Freedom Rocks! Hope we see you there!
July 11, 2020
Hi there, TK again. Today, I had a most excellent adventure! Mom and I got up early. I’m not sure the sun was even up yet. But, we got up, jumped into the car and off we went. We drove a long, long way. I got to ride in the front seat next to my mom all the way.
After we’d driven for a while, mom said we needed to stop for gas. I told mom I didn’t need any but she said the car did, so we stopped. While mom was putting gas in the car, there was a gentleman on the other side of the gas pump. He must have been putting gas in his car, too. Anyway, he smiled at me. Then he bent down and said something to the lady inside his car. She smiled, too.
The gentleman spoke to my mom and said he was just admiring me as I sat in the front seat. Mom said she didn’t run into too many people who knew what a dulcimer was. He said he knew because as a little boy he remembered his granddaddy playing one.
My mom asked if he himself had ever played one and he said no. Said he wasn’t even sure what had happened to his granddad’s after he passed away. But maybe he’d just see if he could trace it down.
He wanted to take a photo of me so my mom suggested that he might like for her to take the photo while he held me. So that’s what we did. And before he left, my mom thought it would be a nice idea if I sang him a song. So I did. And as I sang, more people walked over to see me. I had lots of fun singing for everybody.
After we gave the car a drink of gas, we headed on to our destination which was a camping ground. Nobody was there and it was nice and quiet. Underneath the trees it was cool. So my mom sat down and let me sing some more.
After an hour or so, it was time to head home. So mom took a couple pictures of me there so I could show all my friends.
It was a fun day and another excellent adventure!
June 24, 2020
Hi there, TK here. Yesterday, I got to take another ride to one of my favorite places. It was early morning before the world really wakes up. So, mom and I were sitting by the pond watching some of the critters. There were a couple of cranes at the edge of the water, silently waiting for breakfast to swim by and there was even a beaver swimming in the water close to us.
Well, my mom thought it would be a good idea for me to stretch my strings and sing a bit so I did. I sang some nice soothing songs and before long I had an audience listening. That little beaver swam by a couple of times before he stopped at the water’s edge, laid his head and front paws on the edge of the pond’s bank and just listened for a while. Seems the cranes were in no hurry to leave either.
It’s it just amazing that music speaks to everything on earth. I’ll just bet if the plants could have talked, they would have told me they were enjoying my singing, too!
It was a fun morning and another excellent adventure!
June 20, 2020
Hi there, it’s me, TK. Bet you were wondering where I’d gone. Actually, I’ve been right here but my mom’s computer bit the dust so I had to wait until it was repaired before I could talk to you again.
But, I did go on an excellent adventure while the computer wasn’t working. We got in my mom’s “toy car” (pic below) and went to another park. There was a huge river and we stopped alongside the roadway to get a better look. My mom and I sat on a log and I got to sing a little while the water lazily drifted by.
The best part was when another vehicle pulled up and sat and listened for a few minutes. There were some kids in the vehicle and they wanted a closer look at me and my mom invited them to come over and get an up-close look. One by one she showed them how to play “Mary Had A Little Lamb.” They were excited!
Before long, another car had pulled up beside that one and an older lady and gentleman sat and listened while I sang my songs.
I had a fun day and an excellent adventure!
June 4, 2020
Hi there, my name is TK. I’m a Backpacker hammered dulcimer. My mom named me TK after the guy who made me. I’ve been on some adventures with my mom and we’ve been having a lot of fun! I thought I would show you some of the places we’ve visited and tell you about a few of the people we’ve met.
First, we do a lot of sitting on the gazebo at our house. Mom takes me out there when the weather’s nice and I get to make music outside! Of course, we make a lot of music inside, too, but it’s more fun outside. Sometimes, some of the outside critters come and listen, too. Mr. Chipmunk sits on the floor next to one of the posts and he seems to enjoy the music as does Mr. and Ms. Squirrel who rest on the fence nearby. Sometimes Bunny Rabbit will come out and lay in the grass close by. I do think they like to hear my sound.
Mom says as soon as she gets good at playing me, she’ll figure out how to record it and post it for you to hear. Until then, you can look at the photos of where we’ve been.