Hey
@gennepher I have NOT been ignoring you!! Been thinking of you often, but I am so behind everywhere that I'm afraid to open threads!!
That is AWFUL about the Amazon. Is this the same flooded out post office? My son would advise, cancel the order, wait for the refund, and order again. I had to chat with a seller once, and they kept the $$ and sent me a replacement of something that had gotten lost in transit.
I'm printing the pdf so I can actually read it, so I'll get back to you on that.
Rhythm! Let's see what we can do. Much Rhythm is the organization of EVENTS in TIME. Much rhythm is the organization of OBJECTS in SPACE. (oh boy! Space-time continuum here we come!) The seasons of the year have a rhythm. The words you write have a rhythm. Poetry has rhythm. The limerick is an excellent example. I don't know how you perceive them, but hearing people speak a bit louder on the syllables I've capitalized below, meanwhile giving each and every syllable the exact same absolute amount of time in their speaking.
There WAS a young LA-dy from SOME-where
Who SOME-thingdy etc etc
I have rudely forgotten your kitty's name, but watch the area below the ribs for the rhythmic breathing. Snorgle her, and lay your head on her ribs if she lets you do that. The heartbeat you feel is rhythmic. I can definitely feel my own heartbeat. Sometimes it has a "regular" and sometimes an "irregular" rhythm. Most people's heart rhythm is "regular", or so I hear.
!...!...!...!... is a visual rhythm. Very regular. Many visual patterns are regularly rhythmic. Think of a garment with a scalloped hem or detail. The scallops are (generally regular) rhythms.
A baby suckling usually has a pretty regular rhythm, visually and audibly. The waves in the ocean have rhythm, visual and audible. . A grandfather clock's pendulum, unless in a zombie movie, has a definitely regular rhythm, which is sometimes one swing/second if the clock is just the right size. ANY pendulum must have a rhythm, a very regular one. Thing of swinging on a swing.
If you get a flat tire it will thump regularly, and you may feel it. (Ha! I'll bet your auto mechanic loves you! You never bring the car in and say, "it's making a funny noise"!!!!)
Infantry and marching bands both march to a rhythm, and create a visual rhythm, several of them at once. Watch the feet. Watch the knees. Watch the arms. Watch the rows. Watch the brass players swing their horns side to side. Etc.
Look up "contradance" on Youtube. You can see the dancers' bodies, especially feet, moving in rhythm. If it's a far shot, you can see the lines' rhythm. How about rowing? A good rowing team has the most precise rhythm. Bell ringers ringing a peal in a church tower MUST all be in the same rhythm or somebody's going to get hurt!
Old style train tracks used to create a clickety-clack that had a very strong rhythm. The telephone poles going by out the train window, with their wires, have a swooping rhythm all their own. Assuming they're set regularly...
Electricity has a rhythm but don't go looking to experience it
Walking, skipping, running-- all have rhythm (sneaking up on music here...)
A pile driver has a rhythm, as does someone who's good with an axe or a hammer.
In the photo below, ignore EVERYTHING but the little round black spots with lines coming up or down from them. You see that each spot is precisely spaced apart, equidistant from the last and the next. It so happens that this is written music, but you can ignore that too...I can't! I look at that and I see and hear not only different "pitches" (sound frequencies) corresponding to where on the five horizontal lines (staff) the black spot (note) is, but the precise same regularity of sound that is seen in the placement of the "notes"-- that is their "rhythm", as indicated by the shape/appearance of each note. Music is both a heard and a written language, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise! Hildegard had a primitive system of notation that was a forerunner of the modern type you see in the photo.
Hopefully some of this makes sense? If it's any consolation, 7/8 of the kids in a beginner band (or adult beginners for that matter) have NO CLUE what rhythm is. Some of them learn, and some never do. Some are born with rhythm, some aren't.
I'll shut up now!
Edited for clarity.