Margaret

There is a new member in our family of instruments. She is a Celtic lap harp. She has 22 strings,a lovely carved sound post and inlay work on the rest of the instrument. Made of some kind of dark finished wood, she stands about three feet tall and is about 17 years old. I have chosen to name her Margaret after one of my grandmothers and after an ancestor of the man who sold it to me.
You probably think it strange to name an inanimate object, but it is something that C and I do sometimes. C's bike is "Blue Ryder" and my car is "Blueberry on Steroids" or "the Bug". Even if something doesn't have a name, C and I usually use a gender based pronoun when referring to things. I think this has to do with the fact that both of us have studied foreign languages where all nouns have a gender.
We especially tend to refer to our instruments this way. All of them have some sort of name usually the name of the company that made the instrument. The twelve string guitar is Alvarez and we have two six string acoustics, Yamaha and Epiphone. The six string eclectic is Gibson and the banjo is usually just called "banjo". If C gets another one then the current instrument will either be Deering (the maker) or Goodtime (the model). My hammer dulcimer is Masterwork. The viola is "Vi". I tend to refer to my instruments as "She".
Wooden instruments seem to have their own personality. Maybe it's because they are formed from trees, a living organism. (I can't think of a better word.) They are affected by heat and humidity. They sound different depending on who is playing them. Being touched can affect them and they change as they age. This sounds a bit like a person, doesn't it?
As you play an instrument you get to know its quirks, like having tuning pegs that are a bit tight or having strings that are easy to hold down. You learn how it feels, the way the neck feels when your fingers touch it, the action of the strings or the way it sits on your lap or under your chin.
We took Margaret into the repair shop today. She needs a new set of strings and her levers need to be adjusted. Before we took her in I spent some time with her. I tuned her as best I could and plucked the strings. A lap harp sits on your lap and leans against your shoulder as you play. Margaret balances nicely on my left shoulder. (Yes, I know the harp is set on the right, but I'm left handed so I will do what I want. ) Even with the little bit I could play I liked what I heard. I'm looking forward to hearing her with new strings and getting to know her a bit better.