Shelley1

I grew up in El Paso, Texas, but I moved to Salt Lake City when I was 21. I intended to stay long enough to experience a Rocky Mountain winter, but spring rolled around, and the early spring flowers made me decide to stay a bit longer, and then the summer was so nice, and wasn't fall great, with all the leaves turning. I've lived here for over 40 years, and I've loved it. Sometimes I miss the desert, but I love my mountains.

I've loved the dulcimer ever since a friend sat me down and played Joni Mitchell's Blue for me. I never got around to buying a dulcimer, though—at first I was too poor to afford one, and then too busy, what with college and kids and life in general. This year, with the lockdown and the quarantine—I'm very high risk, and have only been out when I go to doctor's appointments—I decided it was time to get a dulcimer and learn. 

I love it. I haven't been this excited about learning an instrument since I was 13 and picked up a guitar! I'm relying on YouTube to learn almost everything, but I'm tinkering on my own. I wrote songs years ago and I'm hoping to do so again. I've ordered a base dulcimer from the same guy who built the one I have now. I'm so excited—I want to learn all I can!