Big River
This morning I played my flute in church for the first time since my accident. I have been able to sit upright for the whole service pretty easily, and I have also been able to practice for an hour every day, so I figured I was ready. Plus, I am sick of not being able to do a lot of things, so I am trying to do everything that I can do. I played a movement from a Telemann flute sonata called Ondeggiando. (I'm not sure what that means, but it is slow.) I got a little shaky in the middle, but managed to recover and get through it reasonably well. Next week I am planning a fast movement from his sonata in F. This piece is in a perfect range, and I know it extremely well. (I had it memorized, so I could play it while lying flat on my back with my foot elevated. You can't look at music while you are flat on your back.) I really missed getting to play in church, so I was glad to be able to do that again. I sat in front of the altar rail so I wouldn't have to climb the steps to the platform, and when I was done Joanne came and helped me get to the back of the church with all my stuff.
We went to see Big River at Goodspeed Opera House this afternoon. This show was excellent -- one of the best things we have seen at the Goodspeed. It is loosely based on Huckleberry Finn. I particularly liked the on-stage musician. This seems to be a fad now, and I'm glad -- I always hated it when the actors pretended to play a musical instrument. Having an instrument played on stage tends to make the whole performance more acoustic. (less amplification) This guy played the harmonica, a guitar, somthing else that was like a cross between a guitar and a ukelele, a banjo, and a dulcimer. The first violin played a lot of fiddle music, and she was featured along with the onstage musician in the overture to the 2nd act. The music was also very well suited to the south -- a lot of hymns, blues, and spirituals.
We also got to check out the elevator and handicap access. The Goodspeed is a very old building, and normally we climb 3 flights of stairs to get to our seats. To get in the building without climbing any stairs, you dirve to a tiny parking lot in the back, ring the doorbell, and the elevator magically appears. They have no handicap seating. My seat was next to the elevator, and there was room for me to stick the crutches out and put my foot on them, except people walking by would trip on it, so I could only do this when the show was actually in progress. I only noticed one other person who had to ride the elevator up from the basement. However, a lot of elderly people could go up the few steps to get in the building, but used the elevator for the rest. When it was time to go home, Michael left me in the parking lot next to the elevator and went to fetch the car. While I was waiting for him, all of the actors emerged from the a door next to the elevator, so I got to tell them all "Great job!" which was kind of fun.
Tomorrow Susan Allen is coming to my house to play duets for an hour. I have never met her, but I contacted her through the Hartford Musical Club. I expect I will really enjoy it. I hope she does too! However, I anticipate she may think it is a little too far to go for duets, so I will probably have to keep looking for the perfect duet partner.
Michael has Tuesday off as a holiday, so he decided to take tomorrow off too. He also gets Friday off. So he is only working 2 days this week.
Friday is when I find out if I can get the pins out. Time sure does pass a lot quicker when I can work at home!
We went to see Big River at Goodspeed Opera House this afternoon. This show was excellent -- one of the best things we have seen at the Goodspeed. It is loosely based on Huckleberry Finn. I particularly liked the on-stage musician. This seems to be a fad now, and I'm glad -- I always hated it when the actors pretended to play a musical instrument. Having an instrument played on stage tends to make the whole performance more acoustic. (less amplification) This guy played the harmonica, a guitar, somthing else that was like a cross between a guitar and a ukelele, a banjo, and a dulcimer. The first violin played a lot of fiddle music, and she was featured along with the onstage musician in the overture to the 2nd act. The music was also very well suited to the south -- a lot of hymns, blues, and spirituals.
We also got to check out the elevator and handicap access. The Goodspeed is a very old building, and normally we climb 3 flights of stairs to get to our seats. To get in the building without climbing any stairs, you dirve to a tiny parking lot in the back, ring the doorbell, and the elevator magically appears. They have no handicap seating. My seat was next to the elevator, and there was room for me to stick the crutches out and put my foot on them, except people walking by would trip on it, so I could only do this when the show was actually in progress. I only noticed one other person who had to ride the elevator up from the basement. However, a lot of elderly people could go up the few steps to get in the building, but used the elevator for the rest. When it was time to go home, Michael left me in the parking lot next to the elevator and went to fetch the car. While I was waiting for him, all of the actors emerged from the a door next to the elevator, so I got to tell them all "Great job!" which was kind of fun.
Tomorrow Susan Allen is coming to my house to play duets for an hour. I have never met her, but I contacted her through the Hartford Musical Club. I expect I will really enjoy it. I hope she does too! However, I anticipate she may think it is a little too far to go for duets, so I will probably have to keep looking for the perfect duet partner.
Michael has Tuesday off as a holiday, so he decided to take tomorrow off too. He also gets Friday off. So he is only working 2 days this week.
Friday is when I find out if I can get the pins out. Time sure does pass a lot quicker when I can work at home!