We’ve had several snowstorms in the past week, lovely: light snow piling on top of the skating rink that is our driveway, a remnant of the odd January rain. I have been donning my googles to drive the ATV in hopeless, high pursuit of Muir each morning. I learned the hard way that even light…
Category: Music
Small Gestures
We just finished the first Youth Orchestra concert in three years. Our young group, all dressed in whiteand black, overcame first-time-on-stage nerves and played beautifully. While the older groups playedonstage we sat in the front row watching. I glanced over, now and then, to see our kids sitting on theedge of the red velvet seats,…
Wrapping Up
It is the week of Thanksgiving. Snow is on the ground. Temperatures will plummet to fourteen degrees tomorrow night. I pile wood into the stove and take my place beside it to write: my brain filled with details of Thanksgiving dinner. My hands perpetually smell like the Music garlic we grew. I take delight in…
Auditioning: For What & What For
‘Tis the season: Latkes and applesauce, caroling, Christmas trees, winter boots, Poinsettias and… auditions. As an instructor, it can be challenging to convince kids, who are looking forward to some time off from the pressures of school, that it is a good thing to work twice as hard at their instruments this time of year….
What Does It Take?
My summer teaching schedule is lighter… by design. Summers in VT are short. We burn off the morning chill with our wood stove in the early days of June and will begin lighting small, poplar fires in the late days of August. That kind of short. We know that our warm days are limited so…
Bach Shock
Sitting here writing, the wood stove beside me silent, resting after a long winter’s work. Outside I’m watching the new, tender, green leaves tremble under a steady spring rain. I’ve just come back from an aborted run with two out of my three dogs. Bronte lies curled on the stone floor next to the bathtub:…