Pie fights, composting toilets, and waking up to harp music.

Song for this post: "Fortunate Son" ~ Creedance Clearwater Revival

I've been looking for an upright piano to add to the new place lately since I have the room now. I have played for years and had an upright when I lived in my hometown but had to sell it because I didn't have anywhere to put it in Seattle.

Anyway, I found this guy who restores pianos, resells them, and rents them. So I emailed him to see if I could come look at a few. Turns out he has more than 100 in his warehouses and nothing to do with them. He said Bremerton is a long way to move a piano from his location in Whidbey and he wasn't sure if it would be worth it for me. So he offered to just give me one.


Seriously?!?!  He wants to GIVE me a piano.  What an awesome human being.

So I did some more research on him. Not only is he a passionate piano restorer, he's also a clown for kids at parties, a documented environmentalist, President of a musical society, world traveler, famous party thrower, sky diver, and former teacher at UW.  He seems to live his life in this 'balls-to-the-wall" way that honestly, I'm a little envious of.

Take his house for instance. His enormous compound on Whidbey Island was built ENTIRELY out of found materials. He started the project to prove that humans produce so much waste that you could build a whole house from it. And he did.  A 4,000 sq ft non-toxic, environmentally friendly, house complete with composting toilets, 2 zip lines, a 60' tower, a 40' underground tunnel, concrete slides, and three play houses. This guy is a Rock. Star.

I'm going there this Sunday to look at his pianos.  I get the feeling that this little piano situation is really code for "something profound is about to change Elle's life." I need to make this guy a friend...and learn as much as possible from him.

"Huckleberry Hill"