Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: weather


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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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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.


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Wordless Wednesday

Wait!  I know it’s Wordless Wednesday…but I have words I want to say.  And you know I never quite know what day it is anyway.  So let me tell you about community band rehearsal last night.  Thanks to Ricky’s Mom I practiced at least 30 minutes every day this past week.  Even when I didn’t want to.  Some days it was an hour because I just got caught up in the music.  Well.  Only a couple times did it go beyond 30 minutes.  But still.

Just a moment.  A certain sheltie who will remain anonymous seems to need my attention….

There's something OUT THERE Mama!

There’s something OUT THERE Mama!

There's something OUT THERE Mama!

What?  Be quiet??? Really?

Pouting.

Pouting.

ZZZZ z z z..z...z...

ZZZZ z z z..z…z…

…so anyway…I was telling you about last night.  We’re a community band and we use a public school to get together every Tuesday night and practice.  We have a concert in a few weeks and the music is difficult.  So when I woke up to the news the public schools were closed due to icy back roads I just knew the director who is a public school band director would get us in the closed building.  I was right and she did, and more than that the school superintendent sent a custodian to open the building for us.  We are so grateful to have the support of the school administration.

We had a wonderful rehearsal.  Everyone showed up!  And you could tell people spent some time on the music since last week; things fell together and there were some nice sounds.  Some not so nice as well, but we have 3 more rehearsals so we can pound those out.

So thanks Ricky’s Mom!  For making me accountable to practice every single night.  I need to do that this week too, but I’m heading out of town this weekend.  That means I need to spend time with the music tonight and Thursday night for sure.

OK Katie.  Let’s go check out the scary rain before I head off to work.  Silly girl.

It's noisy Mama!

It’s noisy Mama!


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Confused weather

People down in Phoenix Arizona are suffering through unusually cold weather with temperatures at night hovering near freezing (32F,  0C).  I hear there is snow near Los Angles California   and this morning I saw it was -6 degrees F (-21.1 C) in Denver Colorado.  Yet here in Michigan we took down our Christmas lights on a balmy 50+F (10 C) afternoon.

Though the sky was overcast and the air felt damp we enjoyed our afternoon of packing away the lights.  Normally we are doing this with frozen fingers, bundled up in layers complete with hats and gloves.  Or worse, in blowing snow while tromping through drifts up to our knees.   We commented as we worked that it felt like we were in midwinter Alabama.  And we smiled.

Yet…there is this niggling worry in the back of my mind.  Though it’s easier to deal with outdoor winter tasks when it’s warm, it just feels wrong.  We had an unusually warm day when we put the lights up this past November too…and now are blessed with an easy dismantling.  Something just isn’t right.   Maybe I’m feeling unsettled because I just read Barbara Kingsolver’s latest book, “Flight Behavior” which revolves around the warming of our earth and the consequences wrought by barely discernible changes.  Maybe it’s because I remember winters as a kid where we dug snow caves and argued about whose turn it was to shovel the sidewalk.   So far this winter we’ve only used the snowblower once.  I don’t know if we used it all last winter.  Don’t get me wrong, part of me is grateful that I’m not driving to work in blizzards or shoveling the driveway.  But something just feels wrong.

Now I’ve probably gone and jinxed it, and likely tomorrow’s cold snap will feel more familiar.  And I suppose now there will be 6 or more inches of snow falling on Monday just in time for the morning commute.  But I think I’d be OK with all of that.

Remind me  I said this later on as the winter wears on — won’t you?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA


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Disconnected

Imported Photos 01015It’s December.  Christmas is around the corner.  Everyone seems to be excited but I’ve been feeling disconnected from it all.  With no children and no special plans for the holiday, no shopping or cooking to do I haven’t felt empathetic while listening to the young mothers at work talk about sales and gifts and recipes and travel plans.

Today contained a bad commute to work in a downpour, a bad morning at work filled with big problems, a lunch hour spent with truck safety stuff and studying rally signs, a long afternoon trying and failing to get caught up, then a quick drive to band rehearsal where we started out playing terribly and irritating the director.   A typical and exhausting day.

But we’re practicing Christmas music for our concert next week.  And Christmas music is hard to resist.  As the rehearsal wore on we started to sound better.  People settled in.  The director smiled a little bit.  The muscles in my  neck relaxed.  No one minded going past 9 p.m. as we worked out a particularly difficult passage.  People stuck around afterward getting organized for the concert.

On the drive home I sang along with the radio – “Do You Hear What I Hear?”  and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer.”  I enjoyed the Christmas lights in the neighborhoods I drove through.  Coming down my street I saw that my husband had turned on our holiday lights for me.

I smiled as walked in the door; Katie was excited to see me and husband seemed happy too.  All in all it was a good day.  It’s December, Christmas is right around the corner and the magic of music connected me to the season. Finally.

So get out there an enjoy the season everyone.  And my best advice is to turn on the radio while you’re out.  I bet you find yourself singing along.

Happy Holidays everyone.  Happy Holidays.


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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.


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Winds of change

Winds strip the last of the fall color away.

I had planned to talk about the political ads we’re being inundated with, on TV, radio, the robocalls claiming our evenings, the flyers in our mailboxes.  They surround us, overwhelm us and most of all confuse us.  Yes I had planned on talking about that and my hope that the election comes soon so that we can all find a bit of peace.

But tonight  the news is full of Hurricane Sandy, and we must focus on the East Coast.  All the political jargon and angst fades away.  What’s important right now is that people have made their way to a safe place; made arrangements to safely wait out the storm.

My hope is that things are not as dire as the weather models and reporters are predicting.  That we get some or a lot of rain, maybe even snow, but everyone survives and structures withstand the elements.

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Mostly my hope is that all of you out on the East Coast, my blogging friends, my customers and all your friends and families make it through tonight with nothing more than damp shoes and windblown hair.

Stay safe, all of you.  And please be careful.