Grr, every day I think my cold is getting better and in fact it gets worse. This one is a linger-er and it’s annoying me. I thought at first it was a mild cold and I was lucky, and instead it’s a nasty one that is lasting too long. Oh well. I’ll be better soon!
Saturday was the NFMC Festival for my students. This was my fourth year in it, and as usual, I was fairly stressed out, but it does get easier each year. I had 9 participate, which was my highest yet. I’d had ten sign up but one broke her arm, so that made 9. They did well, and there were only a few tears.
I’d like more students to participate, as I think doing stuff like this really makes kids work hard and it’s scary. Recitals are scary too, and wonderful for them. It’s so important for students to do scary things and live through them—this is one of the most important aspects of music lessons. It’s a valuable life lesson, and hopefully builds confidence across the board. Plus, trophies and ribbons!
I can’t believe next week is the last week of classes at Wash U. Some of my students are playing on a recital there, so I’m looking forward to that immensely, and then the following week is the last week of classses at Lindenwood, with a string ensemble concert to attend. Between Holy Week, all of that, some juries, and a few weddings, it’s a busy time. I’m thrilled though, because late winter was less busy, so it’s so good to feel needed and busy. I don’t know if that sounds strange, but it’s true. I may complain about my busy schedule here a lot (I’m a complainer, I know) but I do actually love it.
Except when I’m sick. Today is no good. I’m glad today was already a light day, and I’m trying to decide what I can handle today.
Random thought: hearing about the fire at the Notre Dame reminded me of visiting Paris, of course. (It seems that all of my friends felt the same, and social media was full of people’s pictures and memories.) I’m glad no one was hurt…fire is such a force, isn’t it? As a child I thought that firefighters could put out any fire, but then watching the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park taught me that that wasn’t the case. (Though sometimes in those cases, they don’t try to just put them out, so it’s not exactly the same thing).
Many are upset because when bad things happen in Paris so many pay attention, yet when bad things happen in other places, so many ignore them. It’s hard to always do the right thing and have exactly the right reaction, and it’s hard to always care enough about everything and not be curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, sobbing. I think for many of us who have visiting Paris, it is just such a special city, and our memories are so vivid, that’s it’s hard to ignore those memories when they come flooding back. It’s not great, but it’s human nature to care more about things that you personally relate to.
A pre digital age photo of the Notre Dame. This was in the summer of 1996 and evidently it was undergoing some work. It will be again.
Late Summer 2012. Too big to fit in the picture. My eye for photography is unparalleled, really.
I find it hard to believe that men made this to begin with! When people work together for a common goal, anything is possible. Let’s take that idea forward and continue believing in the power of collective action.
At heart, all we have are our memories, right? We live in the moment, plan for the future, and remember the past. That’s it. I remember when I was getting married, people said, you aren’t planning a wedding, you’re planning a memory of a wedding. That’s true in everything we do. We are planning our memories, and trying to make them as interesting and vivid as we can. I write this blog for several reasons, but one is to assist my memories. I take pictures to help me remember moments, both the mundane and the very special. It’s all part of the “why” of life.
Deep thoughts, brought to you by Sudafed, most likely.