Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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Unwinding rant

The latest ‘late winter storm’ is beginning today.  Sleet stung the windows of my office this afternoon and then it turned to snow right at 5 p.m.  Apparently everyone (including me) stood up and left our office and all the surrounding offices at the same time.  It took me over 10 minutes to leave the parking lot, and another 15 to make it the two blocks to the freeway.

Once there it wasn’t much better.  We cruised along at 15 mph – when we were moving.  But I’m OK with that; as long as everyone is moving at the same slow speed we’re all relatively safe.  So now I’m home and I’m going to unwind by talking to you.

Long commute

Long commute

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about.  It seems like many people at work are no longer focused on work.  When I was a kid and had appendicitis (though to be fair they didn’t know it was that) in junior high they wouldn’t call my dad at work after my mom didn’t answer the home phone, because I guess, it would not have occurred to us to bother someone at work.  Especially the dad. But these days I hear phone conversations all around me, people controlling from work every tiny aspect of their family’s lives.  From the grandmother that gets calls from her grown daughters every single morning and often later in the day to discuss the grandchildren’s activities, health, tempers and homework, to the woman on the other side of the wall who has just moved and apparently needs to instruct her husband (I assume a grown man) how to order cable and change the utility bills into their name,who provides detailed instructions to call the paint contractors, the carpet cleaners, the dumpster guy.

Roads get worse

Roads get worse

Is it just the age of cell phones that causes this?  Or is my generation full of helicopter parents who have turned into helicopter grandparents and helicopter spouses?  Is being in constant contact with everyone a good thing?  Or would we live just as productive and fulfilled lives if everyone didn’t feel it imperative to update us all on every single thing that occurs during an entire workday?  Would grown children grow up if they had to make a decision or two on their own?  Would their children be better off if they observed their parents making decisions without going to Grandma?   Or is it a good thing the parents have support at all times of the day and, I assume, the night?  And what about that spouse who apparently can’t do anything without specific instructions from his wife?  Did he manage to become an adult without making those kinds of decisions?  Would he really be unable to get cable connected without the wife giving him the phone number and the speech he should recite?

Almost home

Almost home

Come on people!  How about we focus on our jobs when we’re at work?  How about we let our families handle whatever is going on in their lives and learn their own lessons?  How about we let the person on the other side of the cubicle wall do her job in relative peace without informing her (ok, probably not deliberately) of all details of your totally not interesting life.

Ok.  I’m done now.  Thanks for listening.

Home again

Home again


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When music fills the air

We made it through our back to back concerts, one Friday night for family and friends and one Saturday morning at a festival of community bands.   We had a lot of fun, but it sure took a lot out of me.  I napped most of Saturday afternoon and on into the evening.  But now I”m up and awake and I can tell you all about it!

Friday night we invited the Pontiac-Waterford Big Chief Barbershop Chorus to share the stage with us.  They did about 30 minutes of music, their harmony wonderful, their voices warm, they smiles big.  I’d say the average age of the men singing was late 60’s, maybe even early 70’s and their love of music was obvious.   Our love of their work was obvious as well, as we gave them a hearty round of applause at the end.

Then we were up.

We had only three pieces of music, but they were each long.  And mostly fast.  And difficult.  For me, the sound in the auditorium was different than it ever has been before, and I felt more exposed, though I was practically hidden by a grand piano that was being played during our last piece.  Some of the work felt mushy, a little less intense than I’d heard it in rehearsal.  But the audience seemed to enjoy it – we got spirited applause from the small crowd.  And we knew we would have another chance the next morning to make the music fly.

Saturday morning we needed to be an hour or more west by 9:00 a.m.  Given we’re in Michigan we worried about the weather  and most of us left early.  Turns out it was only snowing at our destination, so the ride over was uneventful.

Soon enough we were in the warmup room trying to get settled into our music.  Just before we went on stage the director asked us to do something she asks of her 6th graders before a concert.  She asked for 30 seconds of silence.  For the kids the goal was to get them to settle down.  We used those seconds to focus, to take a breath, to settle into ourselves, and if we were inclined, to ask for a little divine support.   I think it helped us stand taller and feel more centered and less rattled as we took the stage.

It worked.  The music flowed so much clearer on Saturday morning.  The sound moved across the band; from one side to the other we were one.  Even our troublesome second piece of music sounded like music rather than warm up exercises.  Of course we had hiccups.  One was probably obvious to the audience, certainly to the judges in the back, but most only we knew about and I’m not sharing.

I’m not saying we played as professionals.  Because we’re not.  We’re just a bunch of mostly older people who love to play and are grateful to have a venue.  Being invited to play at the community band festival is the highlight of our season and just about the most fun a middle aged band member can have.

Friday night I talked with one of the  Barbershop Chorus members. His grin was wide, his enthusiasm was contagious.  He was just back from his high school reunion where he was the only one left of his old singing group.  He said he couldn’t believe, at age 77, that he was still doing something he loved so much, how lucky he felt to still be involved with music.

Amen to that sir.  Amen to that.


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Don’t want to jinx it

Our community band plays a concert tomorrow night and then we’re on to the band festival Saturday morning.  We’ve had several weeks of solid rehearsals including this past Tuesday.  I don’t know when I’ve felt so prepared.

Which begs the question…good dress rehearsal…bad performance?  Of course not!  And really, Friday night IS rather like a dress rehearsal for Saturday’s event.  Still, I hope we play our hearts out tomorrow night for family and friends…and still keep some in reserve for the next morning too.

Wish us luck.  And if you’re around…7:00 Clarkston High School Friday night.  It’s free.

Resting and waiting for tomorrow.

Resting and waiting for tomorrow.


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We got to go to the park!

This is MY park. But you can come along too.

This is MY park. But you can come along too.

Katie here.  Guess what?!  Bet you can’t guess!  Huh?  Huh?  Guess what!!!  Oh.  You guessed?  Cause it was in the TITLE?  GEEZE….I told Mama to make it more mysterious.  OK.  Well anyway.  I finally wore Mama down and we went to MY FAVORITE PARK on Sunday afternoon!  Mama said it was stinking cold and we weren’t going to stay very long because her gloves weren’t good and her fingers were frozen.  I told her to shut up and start walking faster and she’d warm up.  Plus if she’d stop taking pictures (Click on the photos for more detail) her fingers wouldn’t be out in the cold so much.  Sometimes Mama just needs to have some common sense pointed out to her.

This is so much FUN!

This is so much FUN!

So anyway…we ended up walking around the whole park just like we do in summer!  It’s about a mile around and there was lots of ice under the snow so sometimes Mama was just creeping along.  I, on the other hand, had no problem.  Because she was moving so slow I got to sniff lots of stuff which was way more fun then when she’s always telling me to come on.

Sometimes I am majestic. Don't you think?

Sometimes I am majestic. Don’t you think?

She got quite a few pictures of me (the park was pretty too) that I personally thought were stunning.

Did you hear something over there?

Did you hear something over there?

I hope you enjoy seeing how beautiful I am.

I still hear something over there!

I still hear something over there!

I know you do.

I love you Mama!

I love you Mama!


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Beautiful Beauty and the Beast

Last night husband and I went to see the local high school production of Beauty and the Beast.  Several members of the community band I play with were either playing in the pit, singing and dancing on the stage or working lights from the booth.  What a treat.  So many talented kids.  Wonderful music, great costumes and sets merged with joyous laughter, thunderous applause and standing ovations.  Love poured from the group on stage to the audience and was tossed right back to the performers.

You see the best in a community when you watch an event like this.  The coordinated effort of students and adults creating something fine and good.  It was wonderful to watch.  And what of our favorite door?

She was adorable.


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School Days

It’s a school day!  Katie says…..

Let's GO!

Let’s GO!

…”HURRY UP MAMA!”

So do you want to hear a cute story about school today?  You do?  Of course you do!

Over the past year I’ve had issues with Katie coming in straight when we do our recalls.  She sits at the heel position, I tell her to wait and walk all the way down to the other end of the mat, way across the big room.  Then I turn and she is supposed to wait till I call her to come, then run really fast and really straight and sit right in front of me.  If she gazes adoringly up at me that’s extra points.

She’s been sort of independent lately…she comes running straight at me and then sits crooked, her behind angled to the left.  Or she sits straight but just slightly offset to the right.  An excellent recall used to be something I could count on, but for weeks she’s been doing her own thing.  Obviously she’s getting some sort of cue from me.  So I try not to move at all while she’s running toward me.

This morning another dog had a small accident on the mat which the instructor cleaned up with a mop.  There was a  dark rectangle left behind before the mat dried completely.  None of the dogs running before Katie noticed.  Neither did I as I put her in a wait and walked down to the other end of the mat.

“COME!” I called, trying to remain as motionless as possible.  She raced toward me, happy grin on her face, fur flowing.  And when she got to the damp spot she daintily  pranced around the dark patch, then returned to the middle of the mat and continued on full speed to sit directly in front of me.  And eyed me adoringly.

I was trying so hard not to laugh.  A princess through and through Katie wasn’t going to get her pretty little feet wet by racing through that dark patch.  Not her.  Of course not.  Why was I surprised?

After all it’s my Katie-girl.

Yea I'm a princess.

Yea I’m a princess.


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Adorable

Last night our community band had another solid rehearsal in preparation for two concerts we’re playing soon.  For those of you that played in high school bands you probably remember going to band competition.  A week from Saturday we have something similar, and the night before the competition we have our local concert, sort of a really dressy dress rehearsal for the Saturday competition. I looked around at all the musicians, the high school sophomore french horn player sitting next to the over 70 year old horn player, the base clarinet player who has been with us for 4 years, a kid we’ve seen grow into a lovely young man, the row of young trumpet players concentrating so hard on that fast run in our opening march sitting next to the local dentist who’s been playing his horn longer then they’ve been alive.

I looked at all these people so into the music, loving that they get to play every week.  And I wondered how the young kids do it.  They play in their school band, they are just finished doing their on solo competitions.  And at the moment many of them are working on the school musical “Beauty and the Beast.”  Last night most of our student members were late, coming directly from rehearsing the musical after a full day of school.  Some are playing in the pit orchestra, others are on stage.

Our keyboard player is one of these students stretched to the limit.  An hour into our rehearsal, close to 8 p.m., she arrived along with other members of the musical’s cast.  We were in the middle of a spirited piece of music and when we got to the part where the chimes ring strong they sounded a little anemic.  We stopped.  The director asked for more fire.  The student nodded weakly.  The director asked for confirmation that she could do it.  The student gave a sad little thumbs up and a slow grin and said it had been a long day.

What role are you playing in the musical she was asked.  She lit up and said “I’m a door.”  There was a ripple of laughter through our group.  She protested.  “I”m a cute door, I have a door knob and a little keyhole….”   then someone over on the other side of the band called “And she’s adorable!”   “SEE?!  she said, even Kenny thinks I’m adorable.”  Then she bends at the waist over the xylophone shrieking in laughter.   “Adorable!  OH!   I GET it!”   This totally exhausted high school senior collapsed into giggles.  By then most of us were laughing so hard we were crying.

And so goes another rehearsal of a local community band in a place where we can share our love of the arts.  Their musical opens Thursday.  Husband and I have tickets for Saturday night.  I can’t wait.  We are so lucky to be in a community with such talent.

And they are all so adorable.


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Playing

Katie likes snow. (click on photos for more fun filled details.)

Run Katie run!

Run Katie run!

A lot.

After all she’s a Sheltie and her breed comes from a rugged island in the far north.

So much snow, so little time.

So much snow, so little time.

Yesterday we played a little in the snow.  She was really more interested in hunting the elusive chipmunk than playing Frisbee.   I threw it once and she ran to catch it but then deposited it far away from me.

Subtle isn’t she.

Sitting for Mama's stupid camera.

Sitting for Mama’s stupid camera.


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There’s snow everywhere

Lake Michigan shivers.

Lake Michigan shivers.

Last weekend I drove 4 hours ‘up north’ to visit friends and see some really beautiful snow near my favorite lake.  Every time I go to Northport I feel the tug of life in the north, the extraordinary beauty there, the sense of community.  I am always sad to leave.

This weekend a bit of the northern beauty, the snow, came to me.

Backyard snow.

Backyard snow.

Today as I wake to blue skies and snow clad trees I have to say there is some extraordinary beauty right here.  I know.  I say that all the time.  But it’s true.  No matter where you are there’s something beautiful to be found.

The deck waiting for summer.

The deck waiting for summer.

Not to say that I don’t still feel that pull of Northport.  Cause I do.

But home is pretty nice too.

Home again.

Home again.