Piano, Riding a Bicycle and Writing

My mom bought her Baldwin piano in 1948 with money she inherited from a family member. She always said she’d give it to the first grandchild who expresses interest in piano lessons. It took four grandchildren — the youngest one, too — for that to happen. When my oldest had to pick choir, band or orchestra in sixth grade, she picked choir.
Years later, she regretted her decision. She asked me why didn’t I make her learn an instrument. If I had, she would’ve hated her parents for it and not followed through on practicing.
I chose to take piano lessons when I was eight, the same age as the piano playing grandkid. Yet, I rarely practiced. Do you think a kid forced into music will cooperate and practice when Mom and Dad tell her to?
Anyway, we have the 1946 Baldwin piano in our living room and I’m appreciating it more than I did while growing up. After my son practiced (every day, so far!), I decided to try the lessons in his primer. I played a simple version of Old MacDonald and he sang along while I played. Small moment. Relished every bit.
For years, I remembered how to play two songs: Heart and Soul and Yankee Doodle. I memorized Yankee Doodle for a piano recital and it stuck with me because I’d play it from time to time. Unfortunately, I don’t remember now because I stopped playing it. Heart and Soul is easier and I managed to remember that one. However, I played it backwards. It’s like riding a bicycle. Except instead of hitting the wrong brake, I went backwards.
The same happened with the bike! I had my bike tuned after years of hanging upside down in the garage. When I finally rode it, I had trouble with the gears because I couldn’t remember how to use them.
Practicing makes a difference. It won’t always be like riding a bicycle as witnessed with my inability to help Yankee Doodle Dandy get to town a-riding on a pony. In high school and college, I did plenty of writing like any other student. When I read my old college papers, I recoil. Then I look at my later papers from graduate classes and the writing flows better, but not like today.
One of my writing goals is to use stories more often like Michael Katz does in his email newsletter. It takes time to come up with a story that matches the main idea of an article. But it’ll get easier with … (all together!) practice. Practice turned me into a decent softball player. Practice helped me give stronger speeches. Extra practice helped me land first chair in band. (I reread the band post and flinched. It’s six years old.)
Wanna bet I’ll look at this post five years from now and wince? I hope so, or else I’m not working hard enough to improve my writing.
How has practicing affected your life? What did it help you accomplish? Is there anything you stopped practicing? Will it be like riding a bicycle if you try it again?