The unexpected...

I was quite surprised, at 5:30 PM, to see both my phone and computer tell me that I had the symphony chamber series tonight.  Somehow, in programming in that particular performance date, I forgot to put in my usual double reminder: 1) the day before and 2) two hours before the performance.

For a split second, I thought about not moving from the GREEN chair.  I am, after all, still exhausted.  But I was less exhausted than I was for the last symphony performance, so I got up out of the chair.  However, given that I didn't even know that I was going out, I needed to take a hasty shower.  Hasty means I actually got up out of the GREEN chair for the shower 45 minutes later and had little time to actually get ready.  That meant that I arrived with still dripping hair.

The chamber series is clearly the blue-haired club series, which is a shame.  It is an incredible, almost awe-inspiring thing to experience these small performances.  I was thinking about how I was the only young person there tonight, but then I stopped and realized that I am not young.

For the first half of the concert, I kept thinking about a woman I met back when I was on Facebook, Cheryl.  The reason for this was that her son is a pianist.  Well, the whole family is dripping with music, but her son is studying the piano in college.  That's a serious pianist.  And the piece being played was Schubert's Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 100.  It is the first time the piano has been a part of the chamber music series that I have attended.

Okay, well, uhm, I am not a fan of the piano.  Not in orchestral music.  But, then again, I was absolutely not a fan of the tuba and during the last symphony performance, I found myself greatly missing the tuba.  I did, however, enjoy the chamber piece because the piano was most definitely just one of the instruments, as opposed to being the soloist instrument.  During the performance, I wondered what Cheryl's son would have thought and how he would have played the piece.

I was the only one who stood up at the very start of the applause. I thought the piece, 45-minutes long, was magnificently played.  When the players came back for a second applause thingy, then everyone else stood up.  For once in my life, I was not embarrassed by being the only one doing something.  I wanted the players to know that I thought they did a bloody fantastic job and deserved a standing ovation from the start.  I was too chicken, however, to shout "Bravo!" like folk do at the symphony performances.

The second piece was Grieg's String Quartet in G-minor, Op. 27.  Yes, well, I was an absolute fan of Grieg's throughout the first movement, for I was clutching my chest and struggling to breathe or think.  I was enthralled and swept away by the wild crashing waves of music that were deafening.  Then ... then came the other three movements.  The piece is based on folk music and from time to time there were little ditties in there that I thought should be excised out because they stood in dissonance to the rest of the music.  But what do I know about music?

The elevator man was not in attendance afterwards, so I drove it for my set of disabled folk avoiding the two flights of stairs.  It is an ancient contraption that will cut you in half without remorse.  By that I mean, it has no sensors and very fast doors, for an elevator that takes its sweet time moving between floors.  I was already in the elevator, when I saw someone about to be impaled.  I quickly pushed the "door open button."  At that point, this one woman said, "So, will you be our driver?"  I said, "Sure!"  Then a man said, "Wasn't that great?"  And the woman replied, "A woman being the driver?  Absolutely great!"  I burst out in one of my rather loud, rather embarrassing guffaws and practically wet my pants.  The man clearly didn't understand the I-am-Woman-Hear-Me-Roar moment.

I will note that, on the ride down, everyone agreed that the first piece was more pleasing to them than the second.  I joined in that agreement, but then I noted my love and adoration for the first movement of the second piece and awkward silence descended as we finished our descent.  Like I said, what do I know about music?

Today, Becky called and so I was more productive than planned.  I had been studiously applying myself to the job of resting, but since she is so productive, I got up and went outside to do another round of clearing up Amos' deposits from where the snow bank had retreated.  I also cleaned my dishes from the night before and from my main meal, which was _________?

Yes, Mary, I had Spicy Dr Pepper Pulled Pork tacos today.  The Gold Standard of freezer meals.

Anyway, I rested between the spate of productivity and the alarm reminder of the chamber performance.  I also rested after taking a shower and putting on real clothes.  Then, I went out and rested in a room filled with music.  BLISS.

I had a bit of a shift, so my midnight is now around 10:00 PM, which just passed a few minutes ago.  Time for some milk, some Amos snuggling beneath the electric blanket he adores ever so much, a bit of reading while I am still downstairs (awake), and then up to bed.