DAD - Dulcimer Acquisition Disease

There is a longing in my heart right now that sings out to the tune of "Basketball Jones" only with Dulcimer in the place of the basketball, and I've got it bad. Last night I cleaned my dulcimer, oiled the fretboard and changed the strings. My sweet Mary Jane looks and sounds wonderful. A week from tomorrow will be my 5th Annual Fall Music Party, and I am very excited to have a bunch of friends over to play and listen. We always welcome both Pickers (musicians) and Grinners (audience) to the party. It's always potluck and BYOB and loads and loads of fun.

So in preparation, I'm taking care of my main instruments. Last week I tuned my autoharp after several months of it sitting idle, it took an entire hour. Now I've got my sweet mountain dulcimer in tip top shape. But the Jones, aka Dulcimer Acquisition Disease or DAD, did not go away because of these activities...and it is so strong. It is an instrument acquisition Jones. I recognize the symptoms.  That longing after something Other than what I already have. There are no funds for a new instrument, I have other plans for my money at the moment such as pay off my credit card, buy a love seat and rug for the living room, and the long term goal is to pay off my student loans.

I think a new dulcimer would be a suitable reward for that final payoff. Don't you? That way I can quietly look at all the dulcimer options available to me, savor the yearning for a new instrument for a good long time, and when the time is right...scratch that itch and get a new dulcimer. There are lots of options out there. Six string, baritone, hourglass, different woods, sound holes and so much more. And you know what? I found the ultimate Mountain Dulcimer porn site. Tons of photos of different models, they even have a Kantele that I can dream about acquiring. It is the same place I bought my sweet Mary Jane from, and the Folkroots travel dulcimer I reviewed last spring.

It doesn't help that I had a dream the other night that I went to a folk festival and met Bing Futch, a spokesperson for their dulcimers, and host of the Dulcimerica Podcast. I don't remember much about the dream, it was about finding my room and getting registered and stuff. So I think a Dulcimer Festival will be in my future at some point as well. I have lots of things to dream  about, like this little beauty:

This sure would make a sweet addition to my little instrument family. Learning new songs and techniques helps take the edge off the Jones temporarily, so I will do what I can to be worthy of such a beautiful dulcimer someday!