Winter recital 2013

It's that time of year again. We could tell it was recital day, in fact, because it was snowing heavily. White out conditions. We shovelled teh walk three times before we left for the recital, and took our shovels in case the recital hall was under snow. This happened one other year as well, and before that was the recital in the thunderstorm, and between them was the recital in the tornado warning. Come our recital day, southeastern Michigan better watch the weather radar.

I jest, but only slightly. It really was snowing buckets. It was beautiful. And the recital was fun, and the snow didn't keep anyone away.

Ragtime

Greenfield Village has a Ragtime Street Fair every July. Tea parties on the lawn, Gershwin in the theater, and Joplin on the stage. We were drawn to the event last year by the promise of good food and music and weren't at all disappointed. In fact, we were so enthralled we knew right away that it would become an annual event for us. In another fact, Jon was so enthralled by the piano cutting competition that he decided to enter it this year, and he brought home the Ragtime Piano Cutting Contest title. He didn't bring home the Ragtime Piano Cutting Contest winner's pot, however, because they make those in the artisan shop right there at the village, personalized, and results are not instantaneous. It gives us something to look forward to in the mail.

And one more fact. This year Calvin was so enthralled by the piano cutting competition that he thinks he might enter it next year.

Video of the contest winning performance:

The Gershwin Revue

Schmoozing with Teddy Roosevelt on the campaign trail...

{field trip} Alvin Ailey at the Detroit Opera House

Spring arrived this week to the tune of snow squals, high winds, and minorly frigid temperatures, and it just keeps on coming like that. This kind of snow is wasted on the spring. In December, even in January or February, the beautiful, white, dancing flakes filling the air would make life feel cozier and more beautiful, but in March they're just pitiful and they make me feel cold. At noon I'm freezing just sitting in the house and I still have to convince myself to suit up and head out for a run. Calvin and I have been sneakily bumping up the heat a couple of notches every afternoon and snuggling under blankets on the couch to get cozy enough to read. I'm sure it's a mental thing, since it when it was in the single digits back in January we had no complaints at all. Calvin would even spend hours outside playing in the snow. No, it's not that the thirty degree temperatures are really a problem, it's the constancy of the thirty degree temperatures even in mid March that's getting us down.

We heated things up a bit today, though, by joining some of our homeschooling friends at the Detroit Opera House for a special mid-Friday performance by the Alvin Ailey dance troup. Stunning, rhythmic, emotive, sensual, amazing...there are so many ways to describe the performance. It was a shortened version of their typical shows, including excerpts from their piece Grace and the entirety of their signature piece Revelations. We loved it so much we considered grabbing tickets for one of their weekend matinees, but what we really wanted to see was Grace in its entirety, and they were only performing that on Saturday night, which we decided was too late for Calvin. I hear they come to Detroit fairly often, tough, and if they come next year we'll be sure to get tickets then.

Overall, defintiely an A plus for the Friday afternoon trip, which included lunch with friends afterward at the Detroit Beer Company, followed by a ride (twice around) on the People Mover. And we weren't even freezing.

He's with the band

Jazz in an intimate setting. Three very talented jazz musicians were brought to town to perform at the Piano Institute last night. It's an elegant but comfortable setting that holds fewer than 100 people, and the performance was kept to a small enough number that it felt like they were performing just for you.

It was a full length performance, which we knew would be a stretch in terms of sitting still, so we let Calvin bring a book. We asked him to watch as well as listen to at least the first two songs, and after the third song he sat relatively still and quietly read his book. But later, in the car on the way home when Jon and I were discussing the music and sharing details about some of the songs, he surprised us by piping up with tidbits like song names and instrument details, proving that he'd been listening all along after all.

He put the book down of his own accord for the last three songs, too, and enjoyed the music well enough that he asked us to buy a CD and then politely requested their autographs. Then while Jon and I helped clean up the snacks, he proceeded to chat with the trio, and before we knew it he was hamming it up with them at the piano and they were requesting photo opportunities. It was hard to tell who was having more fun.

Visit Jeremy Siskind's blog (and see Calvin's guest spot), or listen to the Finger Songwriter trio. We recommend it.

Off Broadway

The Off Broadway production of Mary Poppins made a stop in Grand Rapids this weekend, and we met it there. Months ago our friends asked us if we wanted to get tickets and we've been counting the days since then. We have great friends in that city that we don't get to see very often, so we got tickets, and made plans to stay with them one night while we were in town. Seeing them alone was worth the trip.

Then...I had forgotten the wonder and magic of a Broadway musical—or perhaps I'd attended so many children's plays with Calvin prior that my expectations had become skewed. The voices, the dancing, and ooooh the set. The set was like a fantastical pop-up book.

Calvin loved very minute of it, and my joy was enhanced by his as he tapped out the rhythms and laughed at the comedy and gasped at the magic, sitting on my lap to better be able to see.

A stop for dinner at the local brewery (a big favorite of ours)—one more chance to see good friends—and we were headed back home with good memories in tow. We'd bought a CD of the live production so we listened to it all the way home, the timing so perfect that we were just finishing the curtain call as we pulled into the driveway, shortly after a usual bedtime. And that was a perfect day.

Journal to follow shortly.