The Recital

 You may be wondering what we are doing now that our bags have been taken and our packing is complete.  We are doing a number of last minute items dealing with visits with family and friends, planning  home improvements while we are gone, preparing for visitors while we are gone, mail, newspaper, taxes, end of life plans just in case, etc.  The list seems almost endless.  What a great time to take a quick jaunt to Oberlin, Ohio.  We left on Friday morning, and returned on Sunday about noon. The reason was the junior(college) recital of a former violin student of mine.  She is on her way to a degree in violin performance, a very tough world.  To make it in the field the great majority of string players have been spending seven to eight hours a day on their chosen instrument throughout their college sojourn.  In high school they were spending two to three hours almost every day practicing, not including the time spent in orchestra rehearsals.   In middle school most were spending an hour or two and even when they began playing they were spending maybe an hour or more a day learning the skills that allow them to compete at these levels.  I defy anyone to point out to me a discipline that takes more time or dedication than becoming a high end professional string player.  The skill that is developed over that time is mind blowing.  They make the impossible sound easy.  They converse in the language of music in ways that are unfathomable to us mere mortals.  That there are people in the world willing to go to these lengths to perfect their skills is amazing.  That they share them with us is a blessing.  Thus the trip to Oberlin.  To support someone who has given their life to becoming an artist of the highest order.  She deserves our support.  Her recital was spectacular.  The Barber violin concerto.  Sonata No 1 by Prokofiev.  Also a Fantasy for Solo Violin by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich a still living female composer.  What a treat.  Dinner at a Thai restaurant with the family afterwards and then driving back towards Iowa to Elkhart, Indiana the RV capital of the world.  What a great day and weekend.