December 18, 2004 at 5:21 PM

Is there something wrong with the fact that when I saw that a tree had fallen on Andrassy street between Oktogon and the Opera House I thought, "Gosh! A pity I can't drag that log home, I'll bet the knots from those growths would make the wood exquisite for a violin's back!"?

At the three-month mark in my violin training, I had a period where I was utterly obsessed with the idea of building my own violin out of woods that I found and would mean something to me. For example, I've probably walked by this tree on Andrassy many times and I'm pretty sure it was some sort of maple, so if I made a violin from it, it would always remind me of Budapest and if I were really good I might even be able to shape the voice of the instrument to remind me of Hungarian. Unfortunately I have no tools here and certainly no way to transport the log I liked back to my apartment (and even if I did, I don't think my flatmates would be too happy with me--living with me for four years is one thing, living with me and my log for four years would be another).

Still, the thought of building an instrument out of the spruce and maple in my parent's front yard in Massachusetts really appeals to me. It might not be a good violin and it wouldn't be Nicolá, but... Yeah.

Time to eat!

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