My Christmas and Ukuleles
There were no ukuleles waiting under the Christmas tree for me yesterday morning (since I hadn’t asked Santa for any there were no surprises there), but there were three delightful ukulele ornaments from Santa Claus on the piney boughs to delight me.
Perched on a sturdy branch (sturdy because this is one is hefty in weight) is a resin ornament featuring a barefoot Santa playing an ukulele. The chord he’s playing isn’t like any I’ve seen before (picture an A string with fingers down on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth frets—I guess he’s playing an Eb single note really) but he’s blissfully contented as he sits beneath a palm tree bedecked with a star (and a candy cane) and sitting beside a Hawaiian thatched-grass hut. Maker: Island Heritage.
The second ornament is blown glass and is a deep red four-string ukulele adorned with two palm trees (on front and back), ocean waves and details including strings and frets. The soundhole doubles as a “moon” making it appear as a night scene in the tropics. Maker: Island Heritage.
The third ornament is my favorite yet—a lovely Hawaiian maiden strumming a four-string ukulele (another unknown chord shape). She wears a lovely white lei around her neck and is kneeling as she plays, her grass skirt swirling to her knees and her black wavy hair ornamented with a red silk rose. She’s a real sweetie! Maker: Island Heritage.
Christmas night found our family playing holiday music with great enthusiasm. Included in our family Christmas band was a bass, a djembe, a Salvation Army bell (Dad and I had volunteered for a two-hour shift on Christmas Eve day and they gave us each a bell as a “thank you”), a guitar, the piano and my little ukulele. We played and sang everything from “Little Drummer Boy” to “Silver Bells.” The traditional melodies were great but the most enthusiastically sung/played/received was our own inimitable (truly!) rendition of Robert Earl Keene’s “Christmas with the Family.” Especially the chorus… The best moment of the evening for me was when our oldest son, Matt, looked over at me with no small amount of surprise on his face: “Mom, you’re really much better at playing ukulele. I’m impressed.” Since he moved with his wife to Ojai in Fall 2006 (an eight-hour drive away), we hadn’t played together much. Christmas night was our first time to jam together in months and months. Matthew leads worship at his church and plays a mean guitar so I was pretty pleased with his praise. Since it’s been a very long road getting to this point, I’m not too humble to share it here!
Honukani, who posts regularly on a number of ukulele forums, lives in Arizona. Those folks really know what the word “dry” means and how humidity can affect instruments. As the owner of a number of fine ukuleles, Honukani wanted to make sure his instruments are well-protected so he researched the topic of humidity with his typical style (in depth and with great attention to detail) and has written a comprehensive article, “Maintaining Relative Humidity Levels for Ukuleles.”