DidgeriDad

[chanaleh]

I got home from shul on Monday night right around 10:30pm, and not three minutes after I walked in the door, my dad called (from Indiana). It's rare that I am just sitting at home when he manages to call, and we had a really good talk for at least an hour and a quarter. ("We're making up for lost time," I commented. "You can't make up for lost time," he immediately chided. "Okay, maybe not, but you can work to repair past deficits by investing your future time wisely." "Hmph...")

Near the end -- long after I had asked what was new over there and gotten the usual "oh, nothing much" -- I happened to ask after his sleeping. (He's always had sinus issues, and now has a CPAP, but still has insomnia and generally disordered sleep.) And after a rundown of how bad it's recently been, he added, "Oh, well, you know, I did do something kind of... uncharacteristic."

He had seen "some kind of ad on the internet" (!) (maybe this one) about how playing the didgeridoo is therapeutic for sleep apnea. (Which I'd never heard before. This is where I said out loud "Oh my God, I cannot wait to hear the end of this sentence.")

He ordered one. He's been working at it for about 3 weeks.

No concrete results yet in terms of the sleeping; he said he really hasn't achieved the "circular breathing" technique at all, and maybe that's the muscle work that's beneficial, once you grasp it. Hard to say.

But I think you have to know my dad (brilliant, taciturn, dry-witted, cautious, eminently practical; artistic, but not at all musical himself) in order to grasp just how delightful this mental picture is. My dad sitting upstairs in his room calmly applying himself to his didgeridoo practice (while, incidentally, my stepmother rages and snarls about it downstairs). It was the best thing I heard all day. Maybe all week.

It warmed my heart.

Comments

[msmidge.livejournal.com]

That's pretty adorable.

[jessruth.livejournal.com]

That certainly is an awesome mental picture. I'm curious to see if it really has the intended effect. And the entry title reminds me of a nickname I bestowed upon my father years ago, during the Misunderstanding years, when he escaped to the wilds of Alaska for self-healing: DenaliDad. GMTA :)

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Ha! It reminded me of "DenaliDad" too! (I remember you had a photo with that filename when we did your website...)

*highfive*

[shumashi.livejournal.com]

Hee!

Well, even if it doesn't help the sleeping, at least he's picked up a musical instrument. :)

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. I truly wonder if it will work- and if he'll give it up, if it doesn't. Beyond that, I'm mildly speechless.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Per the British Medical Journal it does indeed seem to help: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/332/7536/266

[dpolicar]

I got most of the way through this post before realizing my original parsing of "didgeridoo playing" -- namely, recordings of the music therefrom -- was fitting the narrative increasingly poorly and an alternative parsing was called for.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

That is SO FUNNY. I have edited it to "playing the didgeridoo". Less pithy, but harder to mistake. :-D

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

Huh, there's an actual medical study in the British Medical Journal about it! The study had people practice for four months, so three weeks might not be sufficient to show improvement.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I will tell him he should hang in there. :-)

[dsrtao]

You might suggest that he practice outdoors, on the theory that it's better to annoy the neighbors than your stepmother.

Unless that's a bonus for you; I don't know.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Unrelatedly, she's actually been out of town for a week or so! Other than that, I... will let him make that judgment call. >:-)

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

whoops, I was late in responding. Here's the study: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/332/7536/266

Circular breathing

[dee-cee.livejournal.com]

I just saw something on TV about Kenny G used circular breathing to play the longest note on the saxophone (45 mintues).

Re: Circular breathing

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

I heard about that too. I also heard that he stopped because he got bored....

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

That's hilarious and beautiful. I don't even know your dad, but I'm pretty sure that's objectively true. :)

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

Cure for sleep apnia? Hmmm...maybe I should try to get my hands on the didgeridoo, too:)

[ceo]

I just have to picture my father (85, conservative, not at all musical) playing the didgeridoo and I totally get it.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*giggles delightedly*

[bluepapercup]

This is a wonderful thought, and a wonderful mental image to go with it! I'm so pleased that your dad is stretching himself mentally and physically, and that he calls *you* to share the news with! :)

Go Erica's dad!

*snerk*

[dhs.livejournal.com]

I don't know your father, but I have a picture in my head of my father practicing on a didgeridoo...
I imagine that it is a similar feeling.

Re: *snerk*

[quietann.livejournal.com]

knowing your father, he'd give it a good go. Still makes me giggle, though...

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Neat! Hey, maybe you can work up a duet...

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

That is a complete riot.

[muffyjo]

So there was a recent article on NPR about that which may be where he heard it. It makes a tremendous amount of sense that training the muscles in your throat would tighten them and strengthen them so that even in a relaxed state they would be more tight and wouldn't collapse the airway.

I've considered it myself.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could borrow a disused one from cycon (see next comment)!

[muffyjo]

Heh, it sounds like his dad likes it in the livingroom.

[cycon.livejournal.com]

My brother gets first dibs — he needs it. :P

[cycon.livejournal.com]

My father brought a didgeridoo home from Australia. He never did learn to play it though; it's become a decoration in the living room.

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

I told Mike about this. He laughed out loud.

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's awesome.

[fredrickegerman.livejournal.com]

I love the digeridoo thing. I just keep hoping someone will think to check whether other sorts of wind instruments will serve just as well. Oboe? Bagpipes? French horn? Cornamuse?

Or maybe even just voice lessons...

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

I think it had to do with high-resistance vs. low-resistance instruments -- some of the articles discuss that aspect.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/06/sleep_apnea_help_from_the_outb.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609072713.htm