My Day in the Cold
Here is a short clip of a Circus Bee, by Henry Filmore. We are preparing for our concert with Terry Everson, Professor of Trumpet at Boston University, on Saturday February 19, 2011 at 8:00 PM in the Meymandi hall in Raleigh.
So…
Today was a mixture of suck and good. The suck, was the furnace in the house going out and freezing my tail off all day. It was really cold. Got down to 50° inside the house. I was wearing my hat, gloves and hoodie all day, and my feet and hands were still freezing. I wish I could say I was at least a little productive, but I wasn’t. It hijacked my whole day. I waited around for the repairman to come look at it, then got the news it had to be replaced, then waited around for that to be done. It was a long day. While I was stranded here, I called a plumber and had the leaky shower faucet fixed, and snuck in a tube lesson for Shannon. I warned her that it was FREEZING in the crib, she came anyways because she is starting her new instrument and needed a starter course. She will be fine. She tried to play tough about the cold, but I know she was cold like I was.
I have heroes for the day, from Dave and Glenda who are always available to help me in a bind, to Reise, the gentleman who installed the furnace. I was completely miserable today, hanging out in my freezing home, but Reise was underneath my home freezing and putting in a furnace. It took four and a half hours, maybe five hours. I am very thankful for the work that this man did, and that he had the expertise and dedication to complete the task. I am sure he did not get home to his family until after 8 PM, which made it a really long day for him. I hope he had a few beers, he earned them.
The timing was band, and I was not able to make it to youth band on time tonight. Luckily, Tom Jenner was there (his son plays cornet in the band, and we rehearse in his band room) and was able to run the band while I was stuck at home dealing with this. Man, am I lucky to have that help in a bind. Of course he did a fantastic job, thats what he does, and I am so grateful he was willing to help out. I ended up missing the first hour of rehearsal, which I hate, but was at peace knowing they were in capable hands. I arrived as they were blowing through Circus Bee, so I pulled out the iPhone4 and recorded a bit of it as a teaser. It’s going on facebook and here in this blog post. We will play Circus Bee on our concert in February and most likely on tour in April.
I don’t want to jinx anything, but I can not ever remember being so far out from a concert (three weeks, is that really far out?) and the band being so well prepared, and ready for the concert. This could be trouble, but I do feel we are going to put on a heck of a show. The band is just killing it right now, and I am really enjoying the process. I hope the kids are, and they understand how good they are right now, and that this experience is rare, and wonderful. And I don’t think it is because the music is too easy. We are playing tough stuff. I think maybe the band is just really good this year. (we will see when Purcell Variations, NIght on Bare Mountain and Procession of the Nobles has to come out of their horns).
Well, it is late, and the house is warm again. I am sure I will sleep well tonight. That is, if I can clear my mind of all the things I blew off today that I was needing to get done. So if I sleep at all, it will be good. If not, I will be back at the computer getting things done.
Enjoy the Circus Bee!!! with Tom Jenner at the podium and camera work done by myself and my iPhone4. Closeups may not be too pretty. hahhaa
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