I remember when I was visiting my sister last summer and it came up one day that she didn't know what she was playing. I made a general aghast sort of response to how could you not know what you were playing. Well, now that I have "walked a mile in those shoes", I come to sympathize and understand this general emotion. There are so many concerts; so many rehearsals; and all of that music just iss in your folder waiting to be played. It doesn't take long before it all gets a little confusing. It takes a lot of preparedness to keep on top of what you are playing for every rehearsal much less being prepared to play it.
As much as we enjoy being here, we definitely appreciate the days off. It gives us a chance to enjoy our surroundings; take a hike; sleep in; soak in our hot tubs; or go to surrounding cities even. This weekend we had practically 1 ½ days off. It was very exciting. After Saturday's concert, we had nothing to do until 5 pm Monday. With this weekend, I made sure to get a hike in. It's my goal to hike at least once a week. The first week I did Spruce Creek Trail with Joe, Laura, Christine, Michael, Dani, and Tim. 7 ½ miles of pretty intense hiking. This week was way easier with McCullough Gulch of 2 ½ miles of moderate hiking. Calvin's host parents showed Calvin, Jenn, Titus, and me a lot of interesting things along the hike that we wouldn't have know about otherwise. I definitely took a lot of pictures (as usual) of the scenery and such. Apparently, Calvin's parents are going to do a midnight moonlight hike sometime later this month. I'm super excited about it.
Earlier in the week I went to dinner with some other people to Ralph's place. He had a dinner last week and all I heard were rave reviews of his cooking, wine, conversations, and general experience. Since this dinner was on Friday I was able to come. Jenn couldn't go so Joe and I took her spot. Last week, it was at the same time as my host parent's dinner. I was glad I got to go. I met some more people, ate some great food and wine, and had a great time.
Sunday night was my second dinner with my host family. Andy is still out of town until Tuesday, so Niki invited some of her friends over to "help" with conversation. One of the people there works at one of the wine and cheese stores off of Main Street. So, she was able to use her expertise and bring some wonderful wines for dinner. Andres (my "brother") was late and missed the first bottle or two of wines. Oh well, all the more for us. J He eventually showed up, slightly embarrassed for having fallen asleep. After dinner Niki brought out a rhubarb cobbler. I was so excited, I had been craving some rhubarb for quite a while. Niki made sure to send me home with some of the pie filling leftovers. J
Today, before our rehearsal, we had a seminar about music therapy with Deforia Lane. http://nromusic.com/index.cfm?PID=1303&ID=5174,19621,22949
It was really amazing the things she talked about. She showed us ways music can help people from healing sickness, educating children, and even correcting social bigotry. I almost cried when she talked about some of the remarkable changes that she has witnessed over the years. There was certainly apart of me that related to her story of how she came to her current career, much of it involving this guilt of "not making it". Knowing there are other possibilities with music makes my future look less bleak. There's so much that weigh's on a person's heart when all they have is the choice of success of failure in front of them. I appreciated her seminar and will keep this in mind as the coming years progress. It reminded me of when I would play in hospitals, retirement centers, and adult day cares. The service that was involved and the sense of satisfaction knowing you had made a difference in someone's life was always wonderful. Who knows what's in store for me. Being open minded for anything can only further my success and happiness.
The evening ended with a rehearsal that ended at 10, followed by a gathering at the Breckenridge Brewery. Monday's are lady's nights, where ladies drink beer for free and guys for $1. We can't usually pass that up. In fact, most times, I don't think people do. It's amazing to think that this is the beginning of our 3rd week here. In many ways it feels like months, at other times it feels like just yesterday when I drove into town for the first time. I hope there are more wonderful experiences in front of me as there is still more wonderful music to play.
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