Michael, have you seen Dad's old guitar?
Maybe check the hall closet.
I found it.
I always love how this smells when you first open it.
It's like wood and dust and old-timey things.
-What do you need it for? -Maya and I are starting a band.
She's going to play drums, Asha's piano, and I'll play guitar.
Do you know how to play guitar?
No, but it's okay.
None of us know how to play anything, but we can all learn together.
Sounds like fun.
Here's an instruction book.
I'm going outside to warm up before band practice.
I just made a D chord.
How nice to see you playing an instrument, Addy.
My friends and I are starting a band.
Wonderful.
Practice is going to start any minute now, so I'm warming up.
I can't wait to hear all about it.
Bye, Stillwater.
We can set up over here.
So, what now?
We come up with a name for our band.
We're just learning. Why not the Three Newbies?
Maybe we name ourself after stuff we like, like Grilled Cheese.
How about the Funny Faces? Cherry Vanilla?
Tetherball.
But those are all silly names.
Silly Names.
Maybe we'll think of a name later.
Why don't we play something? Check it out.
That's a D.
Nice.
What note is that?
Do drums have notes?
-Let's just play. -Wait.
What song?
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"? The book also has "Home on the Range."
It can't be something too hard. I only know one chord so far.
How about "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or something?
Works for me. Go.
Row, row, row your boat Gently down…
-Row, row, row your boat -Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
-Down the stream -Twinkle, twinkle, little star
-How I wonder what you are -Merrily, merrily
-Up above the world so high -Life is but a dream
-Like a diamond in the sky -Gently down the stream
Wait. Stop.
Sorry. I thought we were doing "Twinkle, Twinkle."
This is fun, but it doesn't really sound like music.
It's just…
Noise?
Maybe we say, "One, two, three, go," this time.
Just like before. One, two, three, go.
-Row, row, row your boat -Twinkle, twinkle, little star
-How I wonder what you are -Gently down the stream
-Up above the world so high -Merrily, merrily, merrily
Like a diamond in the--
Asha, you're still playing the wrong song.
You said just like before.
Sorry. I just meant start over, but with the same song.
Are we doing "Twinkle, Twinkle" or not?
-No. -No.
This is not turning out how I was hoping.
Maybe we need to practice more on our own first.
-Okay. -Yeah.
Same time tomorrow?
-Same time tomorrow. -See ya.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
Hi, Stillwater.
You're playing your xiao.
Well, I was inspired by your making music.
Since you have your instrument, would you like to play something together?
Okay, but I only know one song.
Then that's the song we'll play.
-Row, row, row your boat -Row, row, row your boat
-Gently down the stream -Gently down the stream
-Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily -Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
That was fun.
Why couldn't my band sound like that?
You weren't happy with the way you sounded?
We couldn't even play the same song together.
It wasn't any fun at all.
I understand.
I'm noticing my garden,
the smooth water, the rough rocks, the soft grass.
Isn't it interesting how different shapes and textures still create harmony?
They do.
I like how everything seems to flow together like that.
How do you get different people to work together?
People are more complicated than stones and plants, aren't they?
Yeah, a lot.
Would you like to hear a story?
About making music together?
Not about music, but it is about harmony.
A long time ago, three explorers set out to find the ocean.
Everybody in.
I call front.
Easy.
-Let's get this expedition going. -Ocean, here we come.
Things didn't go so well at first.
Despite their efforts, they, in fact, ended up getting nowhere.
I can't reach. Jacques, switch paddles with me.
No way, Henri. I'm gonna get us somewhere.
Everybody change sides.
Their second try went no better.
We're still not moving, and I'm getting dizzy.
Their third attempt went worst of all.
Everyone tried to tell each other what to do.
Steady us, Henri.
-Faster. -Look out!
-Left. No, Yvonne, the other left. -Slow down.
As they dried off,
the explorers thought about what had gone wrong.
This should be easy.
I'm really strong with a paddle.
You're too strong.
I'm more fast than strong, and Henri here…
I can't reach the water, so I'm no help at all.
No help?
Henri, we'd have broken the canoe on that rock if not for you.
You do have the best eyes for spotting danger.
Thanks.
You know,
maybe we were in such a hurry to get to the ocean,
we weren't thinking about what each other was doing.
We'll try again tomorrow.
The next morning, they set out again.
This time, let's focus on what we're doing and what each other is doing.
Right.
They tried again, watching, listening to and appreciating each other.
Henri was in front, keeping a lookout.
Since your paddle is bigger, I should try to paddle twice as fast.
It worked.
For every one of Jacques's strokes, Yvonne made two strokes,
and the canoe went in a straight line.
Big rock ahead. Go left.
Watching each other and listening, they learned to manage their boat.
-All right! -Yeah!
Yes!
And when they all worked together,
they finally found the ocean.
The explorers never got anywhere till they listened to each other.
Playing music is kinda like that.
That's a very good point.
You have to get in the same groove.
We all were playing, just not together.
Maybe not.
I'm gonna try something tomorrow. Thanks for the story.
Check it out. Now I can really play some notes.
Hey, I thought of a name for our band.
Three-Part Harmony.
Harmony. I like it.
That's what our band needs too, all three of us working together.
I'm down with that. What's the plan?
We all listen and watch each other.
Let's try it.
Couldn't be worse than yesterday.
If this goes how I think it will, it'll be a lot better than yesterday.
Okay, Maya can start us off. Slow. Then Asha, then me.
Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream
-Row, row, row your boat -Row, row, row your boat
-Gently down the stream -Gently down the stream
-Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily -Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
-Life is but a dream -Life is but a dream
Row, row, row your boat
-Gently down the stream -Row, row, row your boat
-Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily -Gently down the stream
-Life is but a dream -Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
That was awesome!
Yeah, play it again.
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
You've gotta be kidding me.
Prepare for landing.
Hey, Michael.
Pelican fact.
Did you know pelicans have the largest bill of all birds?
Or that a pelican's wingspan can be 12 feet long?
That's, like, three times as big as Karl.
This is empty.
Sorry, Michael.
We didn't realize there wasn't any left.
Pelican Puffs are my favorite cereal.
You can have some of my cereal toast soup.
That's okay.
I'll just stick with toast and--
Where are you going?
To change my shirt.
Michael, don't forget, Mom said we have to take out the recycling.
Okay, coming.
Why are you so frowny-looking this morning, Michael?
Just having one of those days where everything I do is going wrong.
Not again!
Don't worry. We'll clean it up. Just go change.
This is the third time this morning I've had to change my shirt.
I'm going over to Rafi's house before anything else bad happens to me.
But Rafi's visiting his grandma today, remember?
Then I'm going out by myself.
Oh, no. It must have rained last night.
Michael, you've got mud all over you.
Yep.
And in case anyone wanted to know,
I'm not even gonna bother changing my shirt,
because it'll just get muddy again, because this is the worst day ever.
Michael, where are you going?
Someplace where bad things never happen.
Stillwater, look what happened.
It seems the wind has knocked down my bird feeder.
I'll help you clean it up.
That's very kind of you, Michael.
I'll fetch us some brooms.
I bet this is all my fault somehow.
Bad stuff's been happening to me all morning,
and now I've brought my bad luck to you.
How interesting.
I didn't know I had experienced any bad luck today.
But what about the giant mess on your porch?
Isn't that bad?
The porch was due for a sweeping.
-And the bird feeder? -Well, I was a little sad at first.
I've had this bird feeder a long time.
But then I felt excited,
because when I repair it, I can paint it a whole new color.
I don't know.
I still feel like I've been having the worst day ever.
Perhaps you could tell me about it while we sweep.
First, I woke up and stubbed my toe.
Then I went to brush my teeth, and the toothpaste leaked over my shirt.
Then I went downstairs for breakfast
and found out all the Pelican Puffs were gone.
Pelican Puffs?
It's my favorite cereal.
Then the orange juice spilled on me. Then the recycling exploded on me,
and Rafi wasn't even home,
so then I got mud all over me, and then I came here.
It appears you've had a busy morning.
I'm feeling super annoyed.
I was thinking you might have a story that could help.
I certainly do,
but I think it is the kind of story that is best told with a walk.
Okay.
Doesn't sound like much could go wrong doing that.
So, where are we going?
These kinds of walks aren't quite about going.
They're more about being.
Why don't you start?
What are some of the sights and sounds you notice around you in these woods?
I see a really tall pine tree.
I hear the wind through the branches.
I smell rain.
And I see puddles, lots of puddles.
Hey, that reminds me of the time
my baseball game got canceled, but we still had fun in the rain.
We had a lot of fun.
Your turn now.
I see a story.
Nancy and Polly were two cousins with two very different outlooks on life.
One day, they were on a trip across the countryside
to see their aunt Sally.
Like many journeys, there were some road bumps along the way.
Mud. I knew we should have stayed home.
I know what that's like. It's the worst.
Nancy thought so,
but Polly had a different take.
And that was only the start of their misadventures.
Such bad luck.
Now we can really feel the fresh air.
Now this?
I was just getting thirsty.
At last, Nancy and Polly arrived at their destination.
How was your trip?
Aunt Sally, it was terrible.
It was so much fun!
Polly, how can you say that after everything that happened to us?
All those things that happened, I couldn't stop them from happening.
So why should I let them stop me?
-Oh, no! -Beware!
The wagon!
I think I might like to try things your way, Polly.
Follow me.
You know, the whole time we've been on this walk,
I haven't thought about
how many times I had to change my shirt this morning.
Why do you think that is?
It's like what Polly said.
I was letting all those things control me,
when maybe I could've focused on something else.
I think you may be onto something, Michael.
And what would you like to focus on next?
The rest of my day.
Michael's back.
Looks like he's feeling better.
Hey, Michael, want a turn?
-Uh-oh. -Oh, boy.
I didn't mean it.
It's okay. My shirt was already dirty.
Besides, now we're all set to play mud tag.
How does mud tag work?
Like this. I just made myself it.
-I wanna play. -Me too.
My shirt's too clean.
You're it.
Now you're it.
I'm gonna get you.
With our spirits We were floating through the trees
Like creatures, we were soaring high Blowing off some steam
Or a mountain and its effervescent green
A never-ending dream
I found a little bit of honey
And now I'm a little sweeter inside
It's just a little bit funny
But now I have the world on my side