Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

I spent part of the morning practicing Christmas carols on the piano. Given that some department stores around here have their holiday decorations in place, it wasn’t rushing the season. In fact, I probably need as much lead time as those shops to get everything in place, since piano is a relatively new interest of mine.

Next February, I will have taken lessons for three years. To say the least it has been an educational experience . . . as well as a humbling one. The educational aspect long ago crossed the lines from what I knew didn’t know to what I didn’t know I didn’t know.

I knew I didn’t know how to read music. I knew I couldn’t learn without taking lessons. I knew I was not particularly musically inclined.

What I didn’t know that I didn’t know is that the piano is an amazingly difficult instrument. I had assumed because many families had pianos in their homes that they were relatively easy to play. But there are times you can be doing six, eight, ten different things at one time. For someone like me, who doesn’t multitask well, that’s a challenge.

Another thing I didn’t know that I didn’t know is that when you start lessons for the first time in middle age, your fingers don’t learn as quickly even if your mind is still sharp.

I usually get more than passing grades in any course I take. From the weekly test of the grade school spelling list to graduate school entrance exams, I have been close friends with the letter A. But if piano were a course I was taking for credit, I would be struggling for the gift of a C. That’s where the humbling part has come in.

And that’s also why I’m already practicing for Christmas.