I don't know who has messed with the climate on Island but I could really learn to like it the way it is at present. For the past two weeks we have had as close to perfect weather as they give forth in this world. High temperatures around the mid seventy range and lows in the upper 50 range. What could be better? Mornings tend to be overcast but the sun has been out and on full display by lunch and remained that way for the remainder of the day. OK, this is not typical but I am liking it all the same. Makes it a little hard to get tasks done but the cool, overcast mornings aren't bad for working and then, of course, the sunny afternoons are excellent for not working!
People that live further South don't get it. They seem to think the glory is to wake up every morning and have the sun out. I could rapidly learn to detest that. It is the fact that it is not out all the time that makes it so wonderful. Washington is always in a state of change, if it is raining and you are unhappy about that, well, wait a bit and it might change. Our hot spells never last all that long and the rain, well, OK, sometimes that does go on way too long. But it only makes the breaks in the overcast more special. I don't think I could enjoy a climate that was even remotely predictable. I look at the high dessert folk and sigh because they always have sunshine and it gets old fast, or at least for me. Give me variety and I will be a happy girl.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Thank you
I did the first of my piano recitals last night, the most difficult of the two because I had to play that darn Beethoven that I have complained so much about, plus a Clementi and a Kuhlau Duet. Went well, didn't play near as well as I would have hoped but my hands are really well trained and when I get started crooked they just seem to know how to bail me out. I deleted a couple of runs that were just too risky and improvised them...worked OK. Remind me to avoid pieces that accentuate the 4 crosses with these hands. They just hurt when I do too many of those crosses. Maybe I should just stick with chords and/or slow pieces.
But that was not really my topic. Several of my students brought me flowers (the best kind, home grown) and cards (equally as perfect as they were home made). Why is it we, as a society, believe it is not important to say thank you. Even more so, not even acknowledge that something kind has been done. Are we really so selfish that a short note is too much of an investment? I don't do things for the thanks, but it sure makes me want to invest the next time and when no thanks come occasion after occasion I just kind of stop investing my thoughts and send (or not) perfunctory things.
I think the ones that hurt the most are the ones that you really invest in. I am not talking money here but thought and love. You spend hours and hours working on something either physically or mentally. You give something that you are so heavily invested in and they either say nothing or a short little thanks. I walk away feeling like I have made a huge mistake and that I should not have done what I did. Does that mean I give for recognition? I don't think so, I guess I just need the validation that you appreciated what came your way as much as I invested in giving same to you. Tough subject, and for those that don't subscribe it is a subject that causes much hurt. I just know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the vast majority of problems in this world could be solved if people would just express, either verbally or physically, their thanks. We are told to offer our thanks in prayers, but we also need to offer them to each other.
That said, I had a wonderful whirlwind of a trip to Utah for Garret's blessing and I am beyond words thankful that I have the family that I have, one and all. I hope my actions as well as my words convey that because I try to do that. And now my actions must convey paint to the walls of the bedroom at the beach. Ah the variance of the word convey!!!
But that was not really my topic. Several of my students brought me flowers (the best kind, home grown) and cards (equally as perfect as they were home made). Why is it we, as a society, believe it is not important to say thank you. Even more so, not even acknowledge that something kind has been done. Are we really so selfish that a short note is too much of an investment? I don't do things for the thanks, but it sure makes me want to invest the next time and when no thanks come occasion after occasion I just kind of stop investing my thoughts and send (or not) perfunctory things.
I think the ones that hurt the most are the ones that you really invest in. I am not talking money here but thought and love. You spend hours and hours working on something either physically or mentally. You give something that you are so heavily invested in and they either say nothing or a short little thanks. I walk away feeling like I have made a huge mistake and that I should not have done what I did. Does that mean I give for recognition? I don't think so, I guess I just need the validation that you appreciated what came your way as much as I invested in giving same to you. Tough subject, and for those that don't subscribe it is a subject that causes much hurt. I just know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the vast majority of problems in this world could be solved if people would just express, either verbally or physically, their thanks. We are told to offer our thanks in prayers, but we also need to offer them to each other.
That said, I had a wonderful whirlwind of a trip to Utah for Garret's blessing and I am beyond words thankful that I have the family that I have, one and all. I hope my actions as well as my words convey that because I try to do that. And now my actions must convey paint to the walls of the bedroom at the beach. Ah the variance of the word convey!!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
It is sad when memorial day becomes more a celebration of no school and/or work, and the reality that the sun is actually shinning on the Island and has been the entire weekend. With that said I was reflecting on the real meaning, the reality that a lot of people have sacrificed themselves so that I can appreciate the day of no school/work and the extra weekend day of beautiful sunshine. Some sacrificed by laying down their lives, but I think the greater sacrifice was for those that layed down the quality of their lives for the rest of us. For all those "walking wounded" that live out there, many on the streets where few care if they live or die, and many carrying around burdens deep in their souls that can only be removed with the greater light that death will bring us all. That said, it is amazing how little war has directly affected me.
Both my parents were World War 2 participants, Dad in the Navy communications division and mom was a P.T. in the medical Corp of the Army. Larry served during Viet Nam as a jet mechanic on a carrier off the coast of the country. My brother opted not to serve and I wanted to but didn't....long story, bottom line, I didn't. I knew only one person that was killed in Viet Nam. He was a local boy that was just big, kind of a bully and not too bright. But in death he was honored like he never was in life, honored and I suspect forgotten by most of us. (Jim Langworthy if anyone needs a name). But I reflect back on another childhood friend, Everett, and the burden that he has carried since Viet Nam. There is a part of him that never came back, an important part that allowed him to bond. Maybe he saw too many of his friends taken at too early an age, I don't know, but I do know it has affected him greatly. His wounds will only heal when he passes from this life. And the wounds his challenges have caused also. The mother that loves him and has been removed from his life for years and years. The friends and siblings that are not welcomed beyond superficially.
Yes, war stinks but freedom smells really sweet. So today I do not mourn those that gave their all, I mourn those that gave their yesterdays, their today's and their tomorrows. And with that statement I will try to be more sensitive to others and look beyond their put-off kind of behaviors and give real thanks for their sacrifice and pray it will not be asked again. And yet knowing that it will be asked again, asked of me and mine.....but knowing there is a plan from our Father in Heaven and all will be well. So I celebrate it all today....and then hit a rehearsal to celebrate a young man that has practiced enough to master his music!
Both my parents were World War 2 participants, Dad in the Navy communications division and mom was a P.T. in the medical Corp of the Army. Larry served during Viet Nam as a jet mechanic on a carrier off the coast of the country. My brother opted not to serve and I wanted to but didn't....long story, bottom line, I didn't. I knew only one person that was killed in Viet Nam. He was a local boy that was just big, kind of a bully and not too bright. But in death he was honored like he never was in life, honored and I suspect forgotten by most of us. (Jim Langworthy if anyone needs a name). But I reflect back on another childhood friend, Everett, and the burden that he has carried since Viet Nam. There is a part of him that never came back, an important part that allowed him to bond. Maybe he saw too many of his friends taken at too early an age, I don't know, but I do know it has affected him greatly. His wounds will only heal when he passes from this life. And the wounds his challenges have caused also. The mother that loves him and has been removed from his life for years and years. The friends and siblings that are not welcomed beyond superficially.
Yes, war stinks but freedom smells really sweet. So today I do not mourn those that gave their all, I mourn those that gave their yesterdays, their today's and their tomorrows. And with that statement I will try to be more sensitive to others and look beyond their put-off kind of behaviors and give real thanks for their sacrifice and pray it will not be asked again. And yet knowing that it will be asked again, asked of me and mine.....but knowing there is a plan from our Father in Heaven and all will be well. So I celebrate it all today....and then hit a rehearsal to celebrate a young man that has practiced enough to master his music!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Silage
They are starting to bring in the first cutting of grass on the ranch as silage. It is a great week to do so, the weatherman says great weather for almost a week, and that is not common for this time of year. It no longer matters in my life but it sure brings back a pile of memories.
Silage and haying seasons were some of my favorite growing up. Those two times I was part of the team, not at home doing girl things i.e. cooking and the sort. It was afternoon and evening work thanks to the dew that always blankets the Island. In the morning they would either cut more grass or, during haying, use the tedder to fluff up the hay to encourage more drying. Shortly after lunch it would begin. One man on the tractor picking up the grass, two men in trucks transporting same to the pit (or barn if that were the case) and my father on the tractor in the pit packing and putting loads where they were needed. I was never allowed to participate in silage, it came about after I had graduated, but it still affected us in that Larry did a lot and Lawrence was always available to help, but never asked. He rode miles and miles each season in the hopes of being asked. It was a heartbreak for both of us.
But the part I wanted to focus upon was later in the day. Meals were catch as catch can when the work dominated during those times. So we would all eat together, my job was to make sure it was ready when needed and easy to eat and run. We usually ate outside under the trees between my parents and grandparents and had a barbecue. I would fix salads and desserts, then grill whatever was needed to be hot when they arrived. Heading toward the barn someone would say this is the last run before dinner and I would hop to it and be sure all was ready. Everyone ate together and it was always a party, it was always fun. The crew would head back to the work and I would start cleaning up and getting ready for phase two....watermelon under those same trees when the work was done for the day.
I never really gave my mother credit for being much help with those days, but in retrospect, she was very much involved. It was her ideas that told me what to make and what to do until I got things more under control. She was the one that would make the schedule for me to follow so that everything was ready at the same time, a skill that is extremely helpful to me to this day. Some of my ideas were great but not practical, and she would cross out those ideas and substitute more practical things. Lasagna was great, not so much spaghetti, that kind of thing. One held it's heat really well, the other was a problem. I didn't appreciate how much thinking went into those meals when I was doing them, but now that I am responsible I understand that she really did an amazing job of leading me through those lessons.
So the grass in now down and being picked up, and I sit in my kitchen and watch with a normal day in front of me and a little piece of me feeling very sad to be excluded from something that was so important to me as a child. No big meals today....but I will invite Joyce over for dinner again tonight so there will be more than two of us. A small blessing and a good blessing.
Silage and haying seasons were some of my favorite growing up. Those two times I was part of the team, not at home doing girl things i.e. cooking and the sort. It was afternoon and evening work thanks to the dew that always blankets the Island. In the morning they would either cut more grass or, during haying, use the tedder to fluff up the hay to encourage more drying. Shortly after lunch it would begin. One man on the tractor picking up the grass, two men in trucks transporting same to the pit (or barn if that were the case) and my father on the tractor in the pit packing and putting loads where they were needed. I was never allowed to participate in silage, it came about after I had graduated, but it still affected us in that Larry did a lot and Lawrence was always available to help, but never asked. He rode miles and miles each season in the hopes of being asked. It was a heartbreak for both of us.
But the part I wanted to focus upon was later in the day. Meals were catch as catch can when the work dominated during those times. So we would all eat together, my job was to make sure it was ready when needed and easy to eat and run. We usually ate outside under the trees between my parents and grandparents and had a barbecue. I would fix salads and desserts, then grill whatever was needed to be hot when they arrived. Heading toward the barn someone would say this is the last run before dinner and I would hop to it and be sure all was ready. Everyone ate together and it was always a party, it was always fun. The crew would head back to the work and I would start cleaning up and getting ready for phase two....watermelon under those same trees when the work was done for the day.
I never really gave my mother credit for being much help with those days, but in retrospect, she was very much involved. It was her ideas that told me what to make and what to do until I got things more under control. She was the one that would make the schedule for me to follow so that everything was ready at the same time, a skill that is extremely helpful to me to this day. Some of my ideas were great but not practical, and she would cross out those ideas and substitute more practical things. Lasagna was great, not so much spaghetti, that kind of thing. One held it's heat really well, the other was a problem. I didn't appreciate how much thinking went into those meals when I was doing them, but now that I am responsible I understand that she really did an amazing job of leading me through those lessons.
So the grass in now down and being picked up, and I sit in my kitchen and watch with a normal day in front of me and a little piece of me feeling very sad to be excluded from something that was so important to me as a child. No big meals today....but I will invite Joyce over for dinner again tonight so there will be more than two of us. A small blessing and a good blessing.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Beethoven
I love the music of Beethoven. It is so moody. It has such power, power in strength of volume and in the power of silence....both of which he uses really well. However, I love later Beethoven and not the early stuff. The early stuff is too Classical for me, too many notes just buzzing up and down with virtuosity being more of a focus than emotional fulfillment. That said, I am supposed to have the Spring Sonata for Violin under my hands in a couple of weeks. It is a beautiful piece of music to listen to but I have never seen myself playing same. It is classical and just buzzes with notes rushing from point to point only to rush back again in a whirlwind of accidentals and other pitfalls.
Can I play it? Yes I can, and rather well actually. However, the rub comes when we start to discuss the tempo. I do a pretty amazing job of it at 100, but it is scheduled to be performed at 116 minimum, with 132 being more correct. Not with these hands! I worked it hard a few weeks ago and had it near 116 without too many major mistakes but after a few days my right hand hurt so much I put it away and have just dusted it off again. 1 - 4 crosses are not my thing these days....pulls something that does not like to be pulled. I do better with the 1 -3 cross but even that sets my thumb into fits if I do it too many times in one session. And the sad thing is Gloria is the soloist and she plays it brilliantly! I am going to keep working but I suspect I will be doing the fake-job before I get done. I am good at what I do and I know what to drop and what must play, and I will do some serious dropping of notes to make it all happen. And that bothers me, I really don't like to do that but I am not too sure if my hands will hold up without the dropped notes.
That said, am I going to go get my Left hand done any time soon? No, I don't think that is on the schedule in the foreseeable future. The hand works even though the thumb is rather a useless hammer part of the time....but it works! I get more frustrated with my right hand when it comes to pain and runs. The left hand falls down when it comes to anything requiring strength, heaven forbid you have move rapidly through octaves! I can't depend on the hand to do what I ask of it, hence I avoid that kind of music too. One of these days....
And until then, I pick and choose my music wisely and play for myself more than for others. Works for me!
Can I play it? Yes I can, and rather well actually. However, the rub comes when we start to discuss the tempo. I do a pretty amazing job of it at 100, but it is scheduled to be performed at 116 minimum, with 132 being more correct. Not with these hands! I worked it hard a few weeks ago and had it near 116 without too many major mistakes but after a few days my right hand hurt so much I put it away and have just dusted it off again. 1 - 4 crosses are not my thing these days....pulls something that does not like to be pulled. I do better with the 1 -3 cross but even that sets my thumb into fits if I do it too many times in one session. And the sad thing is Gloria is the soloist and she plays it brilliantly! I am going to keep working but I suspect I will be doing the fake-job before I get done. I am good at what I do and I know what to drop and what must play, and I will do some serious dropping of notes to make it all happen. And that bothers me, I really don't like to do that but I am not too sure if my hands will hold up without the dropped notes.
That said, am I going to go get my Left hand done any time soon? No, I don't think that is on the schedule in the foreseeable future. The hand works even though the thumb is rather a useless hammer part of the time....but it works! I get more frustrated with my right hand when it comes to pain and runs. The left hand falls down when it comes to anything requiring strength, heaven forbid you have move rapidly through octaves! I can't depend on the hand to do what I ask of it, hence I avoid that kind of music too. One of these days....
And until then, I pick and choose my music wisely and play for myself more than for others. Works for me!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Sewing on the Island is getting to be a difficult thing to do. On Thursday Avery finished off two skirts that she had in process. When you finish projects you start planning the next, only logical. But there is no place to purchase anything other than cotton fabric i.e. quilting materials, on the South end. Heck, I don't think there is anything more than that on the North end either. We have become a total "Island" when it comes to fabrics. One has to venture across the water to construct anything at this juncture in time. That just seems wrong....but I am not offering to open a store to fill the gap!
So today when the urge hit to sew I decided to sweep instead. Mind you, the sweeping was necessary but the sewing was what I wanted to do. And it is unusual for me to want to sew, then to have to plan so far ahead. When with Emily and Michelle I purchased several new patterns and one of them had my name on it....but it takes interlock or something that has a descent amount of give. Next trip off Island I will try to remember to get fabric and then see if the urge comes again.
And are the floors beautiful....not so much, I sat down and am writing this as an avoidance.
So today when the urge hit to sew I decided to sweep instead. Mind you, the sweeping was necessary but the sewing was what I wanted to do. And it is unusual for me to want to sew, then to have to plan so far ahead. When with Emily and Michelle I purchased several new patterns and one of them had my name on it....but it takes interlock or something that has a descent amount of give. Next trip off Island I will try to remember to get fabric and then see if the urge comes again.
And are the floors beautiful....not so much, I sat down and am writing this as an avoidance.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The Utah Family
I decided to get off the Island and head to Utah for spring break. Most of my piano students were canceling so why not, I wouldn't have income even if I had stayed home. And there was this little grandson that I had never seen! A major incentive as if I needed one to hit the road. Anyway, arrived at the Campbell/Godsey home on the 4th of the month. had the usual breakdown complications that just seem to be a part of my travel plans...but I have had the resonator go out enough times that I know what it feels like and I know what to do about it. Frustrating at best, but it is something that I have faced before. It delayed my arrival by several hours and caused a lost night of sleep, but not too much more. Part was still under warranty so the cost was in time and not money.
Master Garret is a very pleasant young man. He is full of conversation and loves nothing more than to lock his baby-blues onto someone or something and then just study it at length. He really responds to being spoken to, you talk to him and he talks back with his little goo's and all. He had some skin issues but Michelle has those well under control now....I remember those with Emily, annoying but something that you can control. He remains rather angular but 100% a charmer. Lawrence and Michelle seem to have divided up the work/fun of taking care of him really well. Lawrence's awful work hours puts him getting home from work around the time that Garret takes a nap, so the boys just nap together. It is really sweet.
Emily is down to 3 days of school left before her B.A. degree and she is more than ready to have this phase behind her. They pull together really well but this has been one very long, hard pull. Kids are all well, I am constantly impressed at how well they all read. Stuart is only in the 2nd grade but reads scriptures as well as I do! And little Claire is learning to read too, she starts school in the fall. Amy, well, she is just busy and bright but reading is not in her day to day plan right now! They should be getting news from the U of W on the Ph.D. program as early as this week. Everyone has their fingers crossed and prayers wafted on high.
Stopped down to Cedar with Kristin to see the Oliverson portion of the family. Jace had to work the night shift but joined us anyway, heck, who needs sleep anyway! They are both well and looking good. Jace has lost a descent amount of weight and Nancy has lost some too. She really didn't need to loose but is supporting her husband and has lost too. Her exercise routine keeps her firm and thin, and adding some good eating habits has made her a little more thin. She is the only girl in the family that plays with being too thin! Nancy has had a couple of really tough weeks but she is in good spirits and is doing a great job learning all the home skills that she needs. That girl may learn to be a good cook if she keeps trying like she is!
And now I am headed back to the Island. I am settled into a park, got the piano down and played some Beethoven that I need under my hands when I get home, and then some stuff that I just enjoy. Not everyone has a piano in a 23 foot RV but I do, and I really love it. Practice time at home is always hard to come by, too many interruptions and complications, but on the road I have minimal of both. I could become a very spoiled girl if life allowed me to live like this more!
Master Garret is a very pleasant young man. He is full of conversation and loves nothing more than to lock his baby-blues onto someone or something and then just study it at length. He really responds to being spoken to, you talk to him and he talks back with his little goo's and all. He had some skin issues but Michelle has those well under control now....I remember those with Emily, annoying but something that you can control. He remains rather angular but 100% a charmer. Lawrence and Michelle seem to have divided up the work/fun of taking care of him really well. Lawrence's awful work hours puts him getting home from work around the time that Garret takes a nap, so the boys just nap together. It is really sweet.
Emily is down to 3 days of school left before her B.A. degree and she is more than ready to have this phase behind her. They pull together really well but this has been one very long, hard pull. Kids are all well, I am constantly impressed at how well they all read. Stuart is only in the 2nd grade but reads scriptures as well as I do! And little Claire is learning to read too, she starts school in the fall. Amy, well, she is just busy and bright but reading is not in her day to day plan right now! They should be getting news from the U of W on the Ph.D. program as early as this week. Everyone has their fingers crossed and prayers wafted on high.
Stopped down to Cedar with Kristin to see the Oliverson portion of the family. Jace had to work the night shift but joined us anyway, heck, who needs sleep anyway! They are both well and looking good. Jace has lost a descent amount of weight and Nancy has lost some too. She really didn't need to loose but is supporting her husband and has lost too. Her exercise routine keeps her firm and thin, and adding some good eating habits has made her a little more thin. She is the only girl in the family that plays with being too thin! Nancy has had a couple of really tough weeks but she is in good spirits and is doing a great job learning all the home skills that she needs. That girl may learn to be a good cook if she keeps trying like she is!
And now I am headed back to the Island. I am settled into a park, got the piano down and played some Beethoven that I need under my hands when I get home, and then some stuff that I just enjoy. Not everyone has a piano in a 23 foot RV but I do, and I really love it. Practice time at home is always hard to come by, too many interruptions and complications, but on the road I have minimal of both. I could become a very spoiled girl if life allowed me to live like this more!
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