One of our board members that couldn't make it this year, Greg, took his morning walk daily into Buffalo, so I knew it was doable.
What I didn't know was that there was a park (Sturges Park) with a playground nearby.
Nor did I know anything about the musical instrument trail, which I have learned was just dedicated on July 9 of this year.
After taking pictures of the main town buffalo,
I crossed over to the lake and found my first instrument. I say "found", but I had no idea these instruments were along the lake. What a beautiful discovered treasure!
I was amazed and mesmerized. Here was this instrument overlooking the lake. The wind was blowing on this particular morning and I picked up the mallets and started playing the instrument. "Playing" might be overly generous because I had no clue what I was doing. But the instrument was gracious, making beautiful sounds. What incredible music to my soul! After enjoying the sounds of this something -imba instrument for a while, I headed left on the path.
[Here I am on this instrument on a different day.]
(There is quite a bit of car noise on the main highway behind me in this video.)
I found other instruments to enjoy. I stopped and played several. Each one had a plaque with its name. The Buffalo Rotary Club was a big contributor to the musical instrument trail.
Some of the other instruments along the trail:
There was something powerful in looking over the water, feeling the breezes, and enjoying the sounds from these instruments. It touched a place inside me spiritually. It also made me think that it would be super cool to have something similar along the Riverwalk (or at least a portion of it) here in the Chattanooga area. I don't know who the go-to people are here in Chattanooga to make that happen, but I will include some informational links here about the company that built this wonderful trail.
I went back to this trail a couple of other times to play the instruments during my time in Buffalo, MN. I found other instruments with the help of others who had found them and enjoyed hearing the different sounds each one made.
Just playing scales and chords was fun. I didn't try to play any (real) songs. But, there were a few times when I felt some sort of song simply being played from within. While the sounds of the instruments made their way through the air, I gazed out over the water and watched the boats anchored there bob and float. I noticed the fountain spray. It was a joyous and fulfilling time!
I asked someone to take a picture of me one day.
And I took a video by setting up my camera on the sidewalk. (see above)
Enjoy the pictures of the musical instrument trail and check out the company, Freenotes Harmony Park. It was founded by Richard Cooke.
For videos, check out the Freenotes Harmony Park YouTube Channel.
May there always be some sort of music along your journey,
Debra
A blog post about the Buffalo Musical Instrument Trail from the Freenotes Harmony Park Blog. (June 9, 2014)
What fun! Thanks for sharing the video so we could hear the music with you.
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