All posts by hannahviolin

I am a violinist. I also enjoy running, working out, reading, and hanging with my friends and cat.

Who?

I had a few days off and we took a trip to Eureka Springs. It was a really cute little town and we had a very nice trip. I will tell you all about it soon! But that requires a little more time, so I’m just doing a quick pop in to say hello.

Last Thursday I played in an orchestra with The Who! It was pretty fun. I’m a classical music nerd, so I don’t get overly excited about rock gigs, but even I knew some of their songs, and other people were very excited, so let me brag here Winking smile

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Not sure why that one has to be upside down, but it does.

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If you know The Who, you’ll see them if you look closely. This was our sound check before the show.

People ask, how did you get that? The same way I get other work: I take jobs, I show up early, I do my best, I am grateful, and hopefully, I get another job. It’s a lot of skill, a lot of luck and timing, and trying to be someone that others think highly of!

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Here’s a link to a story with pictures. You’ll see me behind the concertmaster (who was traveling with them).

Anyway, it was a fun job, even though it was mostly a lot of waiting around! We had a short rehearsal, a sound check, a looooong break, and then the concert was long and late. Sometimes we play Bach, sometimes we play Borodin, sometimes we play music by Pete Townshend.

This week is another busy week (how is this still happening, ha! I thought it was summer! lucky me!) with teaching (last really full week), a retirement community concert, church job, a couple band things (coffeehouse gig and final mixing session for our CD), and a couple of weddings. Plus a few random appointments (hair, for instance) and trying to sort out car insurance. I got a long weekend, but I won’t get anything more for awhile!

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Oh, and I have a new nephew! Luca. I’m going to visit him in mid-June. I wasn’t going to go out there (Phoenix) because things seemed busy for me and for them, but I realized I had another weekend that was free and I just made a decision to go. I’m glad! I’ll see him again in July, but babies change so much so quickly anyway.

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No sign of Miles, though another potential black cat sighting, this time in a different direction but not terribly far from our house. We’ll go over there tonight to walk around again, and get our scent into the neighborhood again. Muriel spent the weekend at Louie’s mom’s house so the house here is still very quiet.

That’s all for now! I will tell you a blog post on Eureka Springs is coming, and I really loved the town, so go visit it.

End of May

Often I get to this point in the year and I’m just beyond thrilled to be done with school. I’m not there right now, and I could attribute it to not having been quite as busy this semester, or it might just be that the funk that I fell into when Miles went missing overrode any other emotions. He’s still gone, and I’m guessing we might not see him again. It’s been quite difficult to deal with—losing a pet with such uncertainty is a real challenge. I feel like I’m coming out on the other side, and (of course) I would be thrilled to see him again…we’ve still been occasionally putting up more signs, walking around looking for him, checking online daily, but the feeling is turning more into a feeling of…not hopelessness, but sort of a futile-ness behind the whole thing. Surely if our actions were going to bring him home they would have done so by now. We’ve learned about numerous other black cats living here and in nearby neighborhoods, but none of them seem to be Miles. It’s still possible he’ll show up or get picked up, but it just seems unlikely. I dream about finding Miles, and about how cute and bitey he was, but during the day Muriel doesn’t seem too bothered by his absence, and there is just no sign of him ever having been back around.

So there you have that. On a brighter note, I’m playing with The Who this week, so that’s fun. I must admit my complete ignorance of pop culture and bands and such, especially from when I was younger. When I got asked to play with the group (they are doing a concert tour with orchestras), I asked Louie, do you know the band The Who, figuring he did as I’d heard of them, but not really knowing how big they were. He started laughing at me.

I’m also just waiting for my nephew to arrive—he was supposed to make an appearance today, but you know babies—they are never prompt. I’m sure my sister and her husband are even more eager than I am!

This week is a short week: three days of teaching, one with The Who, and then 4 days off for the holiday weekend. We are headed to Eureka Springs to spend a few days relaxing and sightseeing with friends. We’ve booked a little cottage through VBRO and are really looking forward to a few days away. I haven’t had a day off since late-March, so to say this is a well deserved break would be a bit of an understatement.

Louie and I did manage to get out for a hike yesterday. OH and Louie got a new car. It’s our car and his car, in that it’s his day to day car, but it’s our car to take on road trips and such. We got a Subaru Forester, and it will be invaluable on our camping road trip this summer!

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So we took the Forester and went for  hike on the Lime Kiln Trail at Rockwoods Reservation. We have hiked that trail several times in the past, but not for a few years. It was nice, but I did get a few bug bites…I guess it’s time to start putting on the spray.

I’m deep into wedding season and the summer is looking pretty good as far as gigs. I’m also trying to get my students as organized as possible, but that’s always difficult! (So many moving parts!). I have been running regularly, albeit quite slowly, and I think that’s really been helping with my sleep. I’m happy to be off from my college teaching for a few months and have a little more time to do other projects I’d been putting off. I also took some me time today and got a pedicure—my first for the summer season. I tried a new place that had opened recently near my house and thought it was just fine, so I’ll probably return.

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Muriel really enjoys boxes. This one in particular seems to draw her in and she has spent quite a lot of time in it. Her other favorite place is standing on top of a router in my living room. I think it’s because the router is smooth but warm.

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I liked this picture because she looks like she is just taking a little break from reading. I’ve got a stack of books I’m hoping to get through over the summer, and this Bill Bryson is one of them. It’s not my favorite of his, but I’m learning quite a lot. I got it and a few of the other books because of the History Chicks podcast, which one of my students turned me on to. I highly recommend it! Speaking of, I’m looking for new podcasts—any suggestions? I’m not interested in politics podcasts, but anything well done otherwise?

Summer Vacation

My grades are in for the semester so I’m officially unofficially on summer vacation. I put it like that because I’m still teaching my private students, of course, but between the quartet being on break due to a member having a baby and not having college lessons, I have much more free time. Well, I will after this week and next week because I scheduled all manner of appointments that needed to be done (doctor, dentist, etc.). And of course wedding season is in high swing-I have a lot of double wedding days this month for which I am thankful, but it also makes things busy…and my band did a recording and we are meeting again for mixing.

Okay, so I’m still busy, but I’m pretending I’m not. I’m less busy though, I swear! I’m planning to spend the summer reading a lot, going for runs, doing a few projects around the house (I’m still in the middle of a music organization project which I started in the fall or maybe before and I need to finish it), and…maybe that’s enough. Oh, and practicing the mandolin. I bought a mandolin back in January to learn, and I put it on the side burner. I’ve been practicing several days in a row now so I’m definitely creating a habit Winking smile

Miles, my cat, is still missing. I can’t be too sad about it anymore, because I just don’t have it left in me. I’d be thrilled if he returns, but I just don’t know where he is. It’s been very hard, as you might imagine.

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Muriel really enjoys sitting on that router. She is drawn to things that are hot.

We’ve been trying to catch up on our rewatch of Game of Thrones. In January or so Louie and I decided we wanted to rewatch the whole series before the last season came out, and we still haven’t quite caught up. The spoilers have made it challenging, but I’m convinced I’ll appreciate the new episodes more really knowing who all the characters are and remembering their motivations and such. We only have three more episodes to rewatch, so by NEXT Sunday we should be up to date. I plan to immediately go on facebook and twitter and give details.

I feel like life has been kind of blah and in a holding pattern lately. I thought once the semester ended things would be all bright and flowery, but with Miles missing it’s been hard to find much joy. I feel that things are returning, and we are hopeful that he has returned to his feral roots and is living an outdoor cat life…maybe he’ll return someday. Everybody has their stories, and I’m still checking online, looking around, keeping up signs, all of that.

But there are exciting things ahead: my sister Leslie is having a baby very soon, we have several fun trips planned, we are seeing several operas in June, seeing other family members, all kinds of fun things coming up. I’ve got a large stack of books to work through and I really do intend to read more this summer than I did during the year (and this during a year where I did bump up my reading). Oh, and Louie and I might run a 4th of July race. We’ve both been running more than we had been and thought it might be a good motivator to continue as the weather gets hotter.

I wrote and rewrote and then deleted a whole paragraph about health care. I had to establish care at a new doctor yesterday because mine moved away awhile ago. I’ll just say this: the insurance industry is a racket and the whole thing is completely unfair. We as a country can do better.

Anyway, I’m off to work out and then some business banking errands to do. I am revamping a few aspects of how I take payments and need to make sure my bank account is right for my needs. I might hit up Target as well for a few items, and then I have a full afternoon and evening of private students. Such is the life!

Life keeps going

We are still looking for Miles. We still have signs up, and we may put out more fliers by the weekend. At this point, we just have to assume that either he’s coming home or not, and it might just be up to him. But I want to make sure everybody around knows he’s still missing in case they see him, or if they think he’s a stray and can take him in so that they would know he’s ours. I haven’t heard any bad news, so…

I was very sad for days, but I’m moving forward. I still hope he comes back, and if he does you will hear about it, and the whole world will, because I will be so happy, but honestly, I’m not counting on that. I’ve grieved his loss. I’ve cried many tears (including a bit right now) but I just don’t know. Whatever happens, we’ll see. We’ll welcome him back so gladly, but Muriel is thankfully doing okay without him, and life goes on. This household deals with a lot of things happening and keeps on, and that’s just what we do.

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Loss is just a part of life, and a part of being a pet owner as well. And it really sucks. When this first happened, I had a breakdown one night, because I just felt so strongly all the pet losses I’d had over the past few years and I thought I had longer before the next one. But you know, that’s how things go. You can’t bring a cat into your life, a little delightful furry creature, and expect it to last forever.

Who knows though. Somebody’s eating the food—maybe it’s the raccoon, maybe not. We’ve had a few potential sightings, but who knows with black cats (and our neighbor on one side has an indoor/outdoor black cat, and not everybody knows that and can tell the difference). So we’ll keep up with the posters. One of my adult students yesterday was telling me that she’s had loads of indoor/outdoor cats and sometimes they disappear for a  long time, and then they come back. Maybe Miles is loving the outdoors right now, and the lovely temperatures and the birds. I hope he’s not scared and lost.

Anyway! This was supposed to be a relaxing last week of finishing up college classes and lessons. Instead it ended up being pretty well scheduled, with the added cat missing stress and a bit more rain than we’d wanted. I’m still trying to schedule one more student lesson, and then after Monday all that’s left are a few grades and BOOM done for the semester. It’ll be officially summer, or summer enough. The kind of fun thing about college teaching is that you mostly finish in the beginning of May, but then you get one more paycheck! (On a less fun note, I mostly funnel the majority of my college teaching into my retirement savings…though I enjoy watching balances grow and the idea that someday I will be off such a busy schedule.)

The back yard is really growing up after all the sewer work the other month—it’s only been about 5 weeks!

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All the rain we’ve been getting is really helping. And those stairs probably need some work…the back porch is a bit old.

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Cat pun cards from my friend Rose. My students get a real kick out of them!

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I just thought this was pretty weird.

I’m off for a run. Ideally if I go sweat around the neighborhood Miles will smell me and decide to follow me home? I personally wouldn’t do that, but one thing is for sure: I am not a cat.

Missing Miles

It’s been a tough week-if you follow me on anything social media you already know that Miles got out Saturday night and is missing.

At first I was mad, because this happened while I was gone, and it was Louie’s fault, but I’ve forgiven him. This did not come easily, and I was very mad for at least 12 hours, but I thought it was important to do, and not just conditionally. I mention this, because it’s just part of the story. No matter whether Miles comes back, I couldn’t have that hanging over us. I don’t know if he’s forgiven himself yet, but I hope he does. Though it was a bit of a mistake on his part, Miles is a cat, and cats do things sometimes that end up with them running off, and he is a great cat, but he is a cat.

I’m incredibly sad. It’s been horrible, and the grief comes in waves, as it does. And there’s hope, and then more disappointment and sadness. I tend to get overly attached to my pets…one of my students the other day said, “oh, I’d be a wreck if I were you!” and of course, while I was able to hold it together to do my teaching, of course I’m a wreck.

We’ve done a bunch of things, flyers all over (and we are doing new flyers tonight since it’s been raining), litter box and food out, one of the cat trees, going around the neighborhood over and over, searching, talking to people, facebook posts, next door posts, craiglist posts. He has a microchip, but wasn’t wearing a collar, so if he got scanned at a shelter or something we’d be notified. I haven’t visited shelters, but I’ve followed online. We’ve had a couple possible sightings, but who knows.

I am trying to stay positive, and if nothing else, to remember how much fun with had with Miles during the time he was here. Everybody has a story of how their cat disappeared, even for weeks, and then came back, but I know that happy endings aren’t always there.

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I’d say that Muriel is despondent, but she’s a cat. She’s fine. I imagine she’d be happy if he came back though! I thought he was more attached than she was…we have taken her out back to get her smell around more too, in the hopes it would bring him home. I hope he’s not off hurt somewhere. I hope that he is doing okay. Maybe he’s having a fun time. But maybe he’s scared. Maybe there are too many cats outside here to let him come home (he ran because he got out, and then got spooked by another cat). I don’t know.

So anyway, I’m pretty consumed by all of this. We’ve been hanging out in the backyard at night (the weather has been lovely for this), we’ve been walking all over the neighborhood. I went for a few runs around the likely places he might be as well, thinking if I got extra sweaty and smelly that would send my smell further. I saw a cat the other night eating the food, but I went to get a closer look and scared him off. I thought it might have been Miles, but there’s been a gray cat hanging around and it might have been that one.

It sucks.

Festival and the Notre Dame

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.

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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.

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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.

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Late Summer 2012. Too big to fit in the picture. My eye for photography is unparalleled, really.

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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.