In the years after 2000, I worked at the WVU College of Agriculture. I shared an office with a visiting Venezuelan professor of agriculture, Domingo Mata. I was already a fan of the Venezuelan harp, and often played that recorded music in the office, where it could be heard from the hall. Others would often be surprised to learn that it was I, not Domingo, who chose to have this music playing.
When I planned my retirement and return to Venezuela in 2005, Domingo introduced me to Adolfo Cardozo. Adolfo and I hit it off immediately when I arrived in Guanare, in the state of Portuguesa. Adolfo is an extension professor in agriculture, community development and environmental education. More importantly, he is a musician and creator of Doctora Gallina, a collection of songs for children. We made frequent visits to a local music venue called El Caney del Arpa, which translates roughly as “the harp hut.”
In 2005 I retired from a good-paying job at age 62. That was I guess my fourth career. I was Adjunct Associate Professor of Agricultural Education, at the West Virginia College of Agriculture. Actually. I did not teach but worked as a field assistant in the study of grass-raised beef production. It was that work that had taken me to Venezuela in 1991, visiting farms in the tropical plains. There I discovered what came to be the ultimate passion of my life: the harp music and song traditions of Venezuela and Colombia.