Making Memories

This year’s Chautauqua experiences have now become memories. It’s hard to believe the week is over and we are headed back home.

I have a great new soft green sweatshirt to remind me that it was unseasonably cold this year. Nothing I brought got as much wear as that sweatshirt.

Here are some of the things that got filed away in the memory stash:

-- Cabin #61 where I spent many hours practicing. Its light never worked and the two windows were propped open with sticks when it wasn’t too cold. The mirror was cracked. But the Kawai piano was fully functional and always in tune.
-- Eating every meal outside on the front porch of our house as we watched the local residents pass by on Miller. Some were on foot, some on bikes, some on motorized carts. There were even two little westies who rode in a push cart. I will not forget my dread every time I saw the ambulance after they carried away our neighbor across the street who died of a stroke.

-- Getting coached by Arie Lipsky, an animated cellist from Israel, who headed up the adult chamber music program. The hour or so he spent with my two groups made it worth the trip.
-- Riding my bike everywhere and knowing it wasn’t even necessary to lock it. I always carried a plastic bag to cover my seat in case of a downpour. Yesterday I had to figure out how to ride my bike in the skirt that I wore for our recital – that was interesting.
-- Performing the two adagio pieces while thinking about Mrs. Lynch, our neighbor that died. They weren’t perfect, but they were performed with love for this woman I never had the privilege of meeting.
-- Enjoying some of the best free music I have ever heard: including 12 celli doing Villa Lobos’ Cantilena and 22 violas (with other instruments) performing the Brandenburg Concerto #6.
-- Packing up and saying goodbye for another year, thinking about all the things I intended to do and never got around to doing.

There will be other years to play music and to explore the wonders of Chautauqua. But now it’s back to reality. What will I do differently back home? I’m determined to either walk or ride my bike every day. My back and neck pains are gone after this week of activity and diversion. It’s always nice to have a change of scenery if just for a week.

This bumper sticker caught my eye on the way home on the Pa Turnpike. It says "Well-behaved women rarely make history."