Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: travel


by 12 Comments

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.


by 11 Comments

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.


by 30 Comments

Your ‘one place’

I was wandering around in blog-land -you know how that goes – you check someone’s blog, and they talk about another blog and you go there, and then over there, and the next thing you know you’ve found something interesting that makes you stop and think.   That’s what happened tonight.  It was an old blog entry I ended up visiting; a guy writing about traveling to your ‘one place,’   a place you’ve never been but would like to see before you die.  Sort of a one bucket bucket list.

You all know how much I love to travel, how I yearn for travel when I’m trapped in my beige cubicle, how I believe I was born a nomad.  So this concept intrigues me.  He writes about putting together a plan to see your ‘one place’ and his plan makes sense to me…take it in small steps and you’re very likely to make your dream come true.

So.  Where would my ‘one place’ be?  I’m thinking about it.  Where in the whole world would I really like to visit, somewhere I’ve never been, somewhere I wouldn’t likely go unless I actively planned?  I’m struggling with this, which surprises me.  For someone who wants to go go go it seems odd that I can’t put my finger on my very own one place.

Where would your one place be?

Northport 2008 253


by 10 Comments

In a land far away

Early morning at the lake.

I am back from four days ‘away’ and it feels like I was gone a week.  That’s a good thing.
It’s hard to describe what it’s like to go from stressful work filled ‘here’ to sunny shiny watered ‘there.’ (Click the photos to see the details.)

Calm

There is always the underlying sadness that very special people are no longer there.  But still it was very good to be South.

Magical

We visited wonderful places, ate wonderful food, played wonderful music and slept until we woke up.

Yum

I couldn’t ask for more.  Except to have Mom and Dad there too.

Missing


by 21 Comments

Quiet weekend

We spent the weekend working on projects around the house, taking care of a neighbor’s cat while they were out of town and taking advantage of unseasonably warm weather to put up outdoor Christmas lights.

It was nice.

Early morning peace.

This weekend was the calm before the holiday storm.   Crazy people are camping outside retails stores to be the first shoppers on Black Friday…and some stores are even opening on Thanksgiving night.  As usual I will not be in those lines, nor shopping for things no one needs.  I’ll be spending next weekend with siblings; goofing off, cooking, taking walks up mountains, pictures and naps.

If you’re spending next Friday shopping for stuff….well…enjoy.  To each his own.

And I do appreciate your efforts to turn our economy around.  Yes I do.


by 15 Comments

Georgetown plus

See the cute stores reflected in the window?

While I was in DC I stayed at a hotel in Georgetown.  I’ve never stayed there, and on my many taxi trips back and forth I could see it was really beautiful.

Living close together in cuteness.

I only had 30 minutes between meetings on one day to wander a little bit.  It sure is a pretty place.

Optimistic door.

And there was a giant library just a couple blocks from the hotel.

No time to go inside.

There was much more to see, beautiful gardens and a pretty cemetery, parks, large colonial homes.  But I had to get back to work.

No time for shopping.

And then my time in DC was up and I was headed home.

Leaving Regan National airport.

I had a layover in Cleveland…

Dropping in on Cleveland early in the morning.

…and left as the sun was rising.

Cleveland at sunrise.

Ultimately I landed in Flint, home of the Buick.

1938 was a very good year.

It was a fast trip, a busy trip.  We got a little bit of good done.  I have jet lag and I didn’t even fly that far.  Georgetown and DC are beautiful.

Someday I want to go back just for fun.


by 24 Comments

Cab speak

Halls of change.

I took a lot of cabs while I was in DC, and had a couple of interesting conversations with the drivers while dodging other cars and weaving up side streets.

The first cab ride from the airport to Capitol Hill was a none stop monologue from the driver that started as soon as I entered the cab and told him I needed to go to a Senate office building.  “You going to a meeting?”   Yes I told him.  “What do you do?”  I’m a banker.  “Oh…good job for a woman.”  I bit my tongue and told him sometimes it was a crazy stressful job.  “Everyone always want the job they do not have” he said.  “People need to be more optimistic.  People are always so negative.  Not the way to go, people need to be more optimistic.  People here, they don’t know how good they have it.  If they travel around the world like I do they see, when they come back, this is the best country in the world.  Rest of world have nothing like America.  Do you like Obama?  I’m scared that Romney win, this country go to war, lose everything.  I pray it not so.  How many kids you got?  None?  Why not?  You don’t want kids?  I guess OK no kids if you have lots of nieces and nephews? ”  And on and on it went.   As I slipped out of the cab at my destination he said “You have good meeting lady!”

The second conversation I had with a cab driver was more evenly divided between us.  He picked me up in front of a Senate office building and was driving me back to my hotel in Georgetown.  He asked me why I was in Washington and I told him I was working on some trucking fatigue issues.

“Like when they get sleepy and weave all over and then run off the road and kill people?”

“Yes exactly like that.”

“Why do they do that?  Fall asleep like that?”

“Because they get paid by the mile, and the more miles they drive the more money they make.”

“Well that’s stupid.  They should get paid by the hour like everyone else.”

“Yes they should.”

“So why you working on this?”

“Cause my dad was killed by a tired trucker.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry.  So how often do you come to Washington to do this?”

“Maybe once a year, sometimes twice if there’s something important going on in Congress.”

“How are you gonna stop them from driving too long?”

“Well, we got legislation passed last August that requires electronic monitoring of the miles they drive, so they can’t lie in their log books.”

“That’s good.  That’s very good.”

“Yes, it took a long time to get that”

“Everything slow in Washington.”

“And we’re working on a lot of other stuff too, to make the roads safer for everyone.”

“Truck drivers…. they agree with you?”

“Lots of them do.  They die too, you know, in truck crashes.  Everyone on the road is at risk.  Cab drivers too.”

We pull into the hotel parking lot.  As I’m paying the fare he turns around and looks me in the eye.

“I want to say thank you.”

My eyes tear up.

“I want to say thank you, and I wish your group well lady.”

“You’re welcome sir.  You’re very welcome.”