Chapter 5: The Drummer and The Fife
Heidi Hardin, Chapter 5: The Drummer and The Fife. Tune: Quick Scotch. Tempera on Paper with Mixed Media Collage, 24” x 18”
In a 5th grade text, Applications of Mathematics, I answered the Vocabulary and Concepts Review of Chapter 7 on Length. as follows:
1. The thumb, the span of your hand, the cubit (the length of your arm), and the pace (your stride length) are nonstandard units of length.
2. The meter is the basic unit of length in the metric system.
3. There are 1,000 meters in a kilometer
4. One hundred centimeters equals one meter.
5. The most commonly used customary units of length are the inch, foot, yard, and mile.
6. There are 5,280 feet in one mile.
7. Thirty-six inches equals one yard.
8. The measurement 2.7380 has four significant digits.
For me, any drummer measures my heartbeat, any fife my longing as a soul to return home.
About this longing Rumi says:
Listen to the story told by the reed of being separated.
"Since I was cut from the reed bed,
I have made this crying sound.
Anyone pulled from its source longs to go back."
Another translation says:
A craftsman pulled a reed from the reed bed,
Cut holes in it and called it a human being.
Since then it has been wailing a tender agony of parting, never mentioning the skill that gave it life as a flute.
Listen to Artwork Audio Track Here