And by that I mean it’s been really hot. Though, technically, yes, it is officially summer. And as usual, it’s flying by.

Every summer I have loads of ideas in my mind of things I want to do or accomplish. Every summer I get through many or some of them, but mostly time just flies by and honestly, I forget how HOT it gets (how quickly we forget).

One of the life goals Louie and I have is to make sure to take advantage of opportunities to experience new things. This ranges from taking hikes, taking trips, going to shows and concerts, and whatever else pops up. Sometimes it costs money (concerts, operas, mud runs), sometimes it’s free (hiking) and sometimes it is fairly inexpensive (camping, road trips). 

Friday was the final concert for the music camp I’d been helping out at. I wasn’t required to attend the concert, but I thought it would be fun to see the kids play, and also wanted to catch up with some colleagues. I had a couple of private students playing and thought I might run into their parents as well.

This was the youngest orchestra playing. All the groups did a wonderful job. For one of my students, this camp was his first orchestral experience, and I think he loved it. (I should have encouraged him earlier! I’m trying to do better with encouraging my private students to participate in outside orchestras-some have them at school, but others don’t.)

After I finished teaching, we loaded up a little picnic and went to meet April at Shakespeare in the Park. Each year, there are several weeks of a free outdoor performance of Shakespeare in Forest Park. This was the first time I’d managed to go, and I’m so glad I did. The play was Midsummer Night’s Dream, which I thought I’d seen, but realized, after it started, that I was thinking of Much Ado About Nothing. Anyway, the weather was really fantastic, breezy and not too humid (it had been really hot all week, so we got lucky) and we enjoyed some snacks and drinks while watching a great performance.

Saturday I had to work: two weddings. That somehow took up the whole day! In the evening I just realized and read—Louie was hanging out with a friend from out of town, but I felt I’d been running around all day and just wanted some downtime rather than trying to socialize.

Sunday morning we got up early and took two dogs (we were dogsitting Banjo for the weekend) and met April, who had her dog and another dog, and went for a little hike in Forest 44 Conservation Area. It’s near 44/141 and is a nice place to do a little hiking. We’ve been a few times, and this time we tried a hike we hadn’t done before. It was pretty neat, except for one place where a bridge was out! Luckily we were able to backtrack, as there were a few loops, and we ended up deciding to cross a creek to get to a part of the trail we hadn’t been on yet. The dogs loved it, we were sweating but not too bad, and everybody except me found ticks on themselves afterwards.

I had my selfie stick with me so we got a picture of the whole gang! It’s hard with the dogs because they don’t understand what we are trying to do.

Sunday evening Louie and I had tickets for Shalimar the Clown at Opera Theatre. This was our other show for the Young Friends Subscription. We had some friends who were attending as well, but first we went to get our buffet dinner.  We sat and chatted with people for a few minutes, and this time there was a really friendly “host” sitting with us. She was awesome and made me think, gosh, I should join the Young Friends board. And then I thought, yeah, they probably meet during the week after “normal” people work, like at 5 or 6 on a Tuesday, you know, when “everybody” can make it. But maybe not.

After dinner we hung out with friends (Opera Theatre sets up this whole area with chairs and tables and tents for people to picnic and hang out before and after the shows) until it was time to take our seats for the show. This time our seats were further away, but more center.

Another pre-show picture.

I have to say, I absolutely loved the opera. It was gorgeous: the music, the costumes, the set. It was deep and dramatic, and the story was so tragic, but so good. I love modern opera best, I think. I wish I could see it again, it was that good. I want to watch it again and see what I missed (for instance, that the main female lead played both herself and her daughter, something I didn’t notice until the bows), and to enjoy it again. I just loved it.  I am going to read the book (it’s based on a Salman Rushdie book, Shalimar the Clown) and I hope that other opera companies will perform it, and maybe we will travel to go see it somewhere else . In any case, I have my memories, and my thoughts.

Now we are back into the regular work week. This is a 19 student week, though it’s possible it’ll be a 17 student week. Or less, you just never know. Leslie and Athena are visiting on Thursday and I’m very excited about that, and worried about whether the house will be in proper shape. (probably not, but I’ll do what I can.) We don’t have many plans for the weekend, but I think the zoo is in order, and some restaurants, lots of chitchat and hanging out, and probably reading some books over and over and over, as one does with a toddler

Oh, and I finished “Eligible” by Curtis Sittenfeld. Not my favorite of her books, and I pretty much knew how it would end (it’s a modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice) but it was fun and I enjoyed it. I still think Prep is the best of all her books, though American Wife is a close second.