i was able to head up to my birthplace recently – the great state of Delaware.

that’s right, now you know someone from Delaware.  :)

anyway, my mom’s dad (pop-pop, as i called him) had a workshop outside their home where he had all sorts of stuff, and we wanted to go through it, clean it out, look for treasures, that sort of thing. he also used to have an old ukulele and a mandolin that he used to play when we were kids, so i was curious to look for those.

well no love on the ukulele – which is a bummer, i was really hoping to find that.  we did find the mandolin though, and it is awesome.  it had definitely seen better days – dusty, missing strings, caked on dirt, the whole works.  well my uncle was awesome enough to let it pass to me, so i took it home and cleaned it up.  behold!

 

 

looks pretty good, right?  you don’t see that renaissance-looking style too much anymore, so needless to say i’m excited to play it somewhere soon.  plus the sentimentality of it is pretty much unmatched.

so thanks, pop-pop – i hope you’re looking down and smiling.  :)