I had this great fear of opening up my violin case. I haven’t played in years; it’s been stored in my closet all that time. I thought it would be splintered to bits, and with it, hope of returning to my musical roots.

It wasn’t bad at all. It needs to be restrung and the sound post needs to be reset, but not a single splinter!

The bow however, needs some work. Many of the fibers are broken. Violin bows are strung with horse hair, from the tail. My bow needs to be re-haired.

I’m sure I can find someone to do this work.

I went to the doc for a lung X-ray. Not too bad, except he found that I had arthritis in my spine. (And I didn’t even ask him for a second opinion.) So I started thinking (or should I say, continued thinking) about getting old.  At the end of the spine, the spinal nerves are not enclosed within vertebrae. This bundle of unenclosed nerves is called the ‘cauda equina’, or horse’s tail.

My watercolor study combines symbolism from music and human anatomy. The word ‘coda’ is a musical term that indicates the end of a piece of music. I thought the clever substitution of the word ‘coda’ for ‘cauda’ would emphasize growing old and the approaching end of life.  But I see now that, in combination, ‘coda equina’ means ‘end of the horse’.  Perhaps I didn’t choose the best coupling of words to describe my angst.

Coda Equina
12″x9″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block