It was a busy week!

First off, I will still finish telling you about my trip to Sweden and Finland (and I’ve got notes, I just need to sit down and write it up) but I’m not doing that today. This past week was a bit…busy. And here we are, Monday morning, and I have a few hours of time to myself, and I’m writing a quick post, and doing some other things. It’s almost October and I would say that things will be easier, but that would likely be untrue.

So, the weekend was fun! My parents came into town en route to Phoenix, and they got to attend my neighborhood’s Oktoberfest celebration on Sunday night (my dad in vintage lederhosen he has owned since the 1970’s, from Germany). I was late to the party due to a gig, but it was fun and the weather ended up being great.

Yesterday I had my baroque violin debut with the Kingsbury Ensemble, but had time before and after to spend time with my parents. We did dim sum with Louie’s family in the morning and then pizza in the evening. It was a lovely visit!

One of the pieces I wasn’t on. They sounded great without me!

I was a little nervous about the baroque stuff, but it ended up going fairly well and I had a good time. I’ll be playing some more this season, I believe.

Moving backwards, Thursday I was playing a concert in Paducah, and driving home in the rain…rain from Hurricane Helene, unbelievably. More unbelievable is the horrible devastation throughout the south, especially in western North Carolina. My own hometown is struggling as well, with many power outages, though things should be back to normal there within a few more days, I hope. The flooding is just awful and knowing that the true extent of some damages isn’t even really known yet due to the remote nature of some places in the mountains…it’s just awful. Climate change is here with us now, and these 100 year floods come more often, and it’s so scary to see the results.

On a lighter note, these cats enjoyed their week, as usual. They were a little stressed out this morning as my parents were packing up as I believe they worried Louie and I were going as well, but seemed relieved and settled back down after my folks left.

And we had a nice concert in Paducah.

I did have a goal this year to say yes to more concerts, and I have done so with a vengeance, or perhaps to a fault, but I’m enjoying myself despite of the schedule. I do feel like life is a bit of a run-on sentence right now, but I also enjoyed having time to spend with family yesterday and seeing friends more at concerts and rehearsals! Teaching is fun, but can feel rather isolated from colleagues.

This week isn’t any better as far as the schedule, really, though less driving. I’m playing two different concerts with small orchestras and chorales, as well as teaching (of course). It should be a nice week though! Louie and I are going to see a musical tomorrow night and who knows what other fun things this week will bring. We are grateful to have water, electricity, and a roof over our head, and grateful for so many opportunities to do interesting things in our careers. And grateful to be able to spend time with family and friends!