The end of SOLSC, beginning of NaNoWriMo

 So many fellow bloggers here have written about the challenge of writing something (hopeful good!) every day this month. Here we on the final day. Whew!

So I have decided to take on another month-long writing challenge! I question my judgment, but I think it will be a good thing.

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is a yearly challenge in November to write 50,000 words of a novel. I know two people who have done this. My sister wrote a Nordic epic and my friend Kevin wrote a fantasy novel. My sister let our mom read her novel. (I should ask her if I can read it. I don't know why I haven't.) Kevin asked me to be a beta reader for his novel. I was happy to oblige and gave him my opinionated feedback. After revising, he asked me to read it again - wow, it was good! He has published the novel, it's on Amazon. You can find it by searching for Wellspring, by Kevin Sutherland. (Irrelevant aside: Kevin and I met because we both play French horn. We played together for awhile in a horn choir.)

Two years ago I decided to take the NaNoWriMo challenge. I had an idea for a historical/fantasy novel with music (horn playing) and time travel. I did not meet the 50,000 word challenge, but I learned a lot about writing and what I need to learn in order to be successful in finishing the story. 

NaNoWriMo has grown and now offers a variety of writing challenges throughout the year. April is Camp NaNoWriMo, where you set your own goal, whether it's writing, revising, or something else. There is a lot of support available if one wants it -- master classes, forums, regional writing groups, and so on. It's a very positive space. People cheer you on.

So my goals right now are to improve my plot (it's too thin), fill out my characters (including the bad guys!), and do some historical research that will help with the action, food, clothing, how music worked in the small kingdoms in what is now Austria, and so on. It will be challenging, but I hope it will also be fun. 

Reading to little ones

 Reading is very important to me - novels, nonfiction, newspapers. So when we had children, I wanted to start reading to them as soon as possible. I don't remember exactly how old our son was when I started reading to him before bed. It was before he cared about stories, for sure. I would hold the book and read aloud and he would usually climb all over me.

Eventually, of course, he was able to follow the pictures and stories and started to have favorites. One of his absolute favorites was a Richard Scarry picture book. I'm pretty sure it was Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. We read it about a million times.

When he got a bit older and could read for himself, we still had read-aloud time before bed. He was reluctant to read on his own. I loved reading with him (and we continued until he 11) but also wanted him to read on his own. We were reading the first Time Warp Trio book by John Scieszka, Knights of the Kitchen Table. We came to the end of a chapter where the three main characters are about to be devoured by an ogre. I said, "Okay, that's it for tonight." 

"Give me that book!" he said, grabbing for it.

And that was the start of his independent reading journey. He has read hundreds of books since then. 

Lately other activities have pushed reading actual books aside, including an infant son, but hopefully he will rediscover the joys of book reading again. And the baby already has quite a library for when he stops putting everything in his mouth. 

Coffee Drinking Journey

 Inspired by https://horizon51.blogspot.com/2023/03/solsc-23-day-27-coffee-evolution.html?sc=1679933732168#c4098539422588800953

I first drank coffee in high school. I was in a lot of music groups and one summer my friends and I would go to IHOP after rehearsal. Thinking back, it's amazing how much food high school students can eat. Some of my friends were drinking coffee, so I started drinking it too. I took it black because my parents always did.

Fast forward past college to grad school. I had a friend would would add a single drop of cream to his coffee. He said it took the edge off the bitterness. I started doing the same, only my "drop" got bigger and bigger until it was really coffee with cream. 

Side note: Back in the olden days, like the 60s, when you ordered coffee in New York City you got it with cream in it unless you specified black.

Another fast forward to the 1990s. Now I'm married with two children who I signed up for art classes on Saturday mornings. While they were making art, I would go across the street to a coffee shop and have a latte and read. It was such a nice, relaxing way to spend Saturday morning that my husband decided to join me, even though we didn't need two parents driving the kids to art class. 

Then came Starbucks. A Starbucks opened about a block away from "our" coffee shop. Eventually the charming coffee shop closed. I know this was happening everywhere. And yes, I did get coffee, lots of it, from Starbucks.

However, I also started making coffee at home. It didn't take any more time to make a cup at home than it did to stop at Starbucks on the way to work. I started buying coffee beans and used a press pot to make my morning cup. I highly recommend the press pot - it makes a nice, smooth cup of coffee. I bought a coffee grinder and good whole beans from the grocery store. Somewhere along the way I had become lactose intolerant, so I switched to almond milk. I don't like sweet coffee, but I like a hint of sweetness so I add a tiny bit of caramel syrup.

Also along the way my son became a barrista, first at Caribou, then at Starbucks. 

We recently took a Caribbean cruise that had a stop in Jamaica. My son the Coffee Master asked us to buy some coffee beans in Jamaica (He was babysitting his infant son at the time.). So we brought back two bags of coffee beans, one for us and one for him. We have almost finished our bag. 

The end of my post, though not the end of my coffee drinking!

The New York Times Crossword

 Some years ago I decided I wanted to be able to do the New York Times crossword. It's hard. So I bought a book, "How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle," and I learned all kinds of interesting things. Some puzzles have themes, others have puzzles within the crossword puzzle. 

Monday and Tuesday are the easiest, and most straightforward, so that's where I started. I just did those two days each week. The puzzles get harder each day, peaking on Saturday. Thursday is sometimes called "Gimmick Day," because Thursday crosswords sometimes feature the unexpected. One crossword near Halloween required you to figure out that you needed to draw little ghosts in some of the squares. Sometimes an entire syllable needs to go in a square and is part of two words that cross each other. 

Now I generally solve the Monday Tuesday, and Wednesday puzzles. I give Thursday a try most weeks. Nowadays it's easy to look up the answers on the internet. There are multiple sites that give the answers to the clues. Though I might look up something I truly don't know, like names of athletes or TV stars, it obviously is more of an accomplishment if you can figure it out without looking it up!

I really like words and word games. I will probably never "conquer" the New York Times crossword, but I'm enjoying the journey.

Salvadore Dali and band directors

 The Art Institute of Chicago has a special exhibit on the surrealist Salvador Dali right now. We wanted to go because he is an interesting artist and the Art Institute always has great shows. We invited a couple with whom we are friends to go with us. They used to be our neighbors here in the suburbs but after retiring they moved into a condo in Chicago. They were enthusiastic and so we made plans to meet at the Art Institute tomorrow right when it opens, tomorrow, Tuesday.

My husband is a retired high school band director. Band directors are true masters of planning and coordination. (Sometimes it drives me a little crazy. But I love him. And it is helpful in the end.) So he was looking at train schedules, restaurants, and also the Art Institute website. Where he discovered that the Art Institute is closed on Tuesdays! 

He shot off an email to our friends, who replied that they had a similar experience with another Chicago-area museum, but only discovered that it was closed after they had driven about 45 minutes to get to the museum. So they were pleased to reschedule for Dali. We are now going, with our friends, but in April. So I won't be writing about the trip in the March SOLSC. 

Memories of Chinese food and special people

 I came to Chicago in 1975 to study with the principal (French) horn player of the Chicago Symphony. He was the best of the best and I was so lucky to study with him for three years. Though my life (and my choices) ended up taking me away from earning my living playing my horn, a twist of fate brought me back into my teacher's orbit.

My daughter chose the horn in 5th grade and developed into a talented player. As a high school student she joined a youth symphony that the son of my former teacher was also a member of. And he was also a horn player. They became friends and coincidentally chose the same university to attend. And they began dating.

Where does Chinese food come into this Slice, you are asking. On a break from college, our daughter invited us along on a trip to Chinatown to eat lunch with her boyfriend and his parents (and maybe a few other people - another student or friend). So we went. We ate excellent Chinese food (if you are in the Chicago area and want to try it, it's Lao Szechuan. They have several locations now). We had a great conversation. (And we got a ticket because we were unfamiliar with the new meter system - of well.) And we still eat at Lao Szechuan when we have a chance.

That was how we reconnected. We were fortunate to spend time with all of them - the boyfriend and his parents - special people, all of them.

My teacher and his wife have sadly both passed away. And our daughter and their son eventually broke up. But I cherish the memories.

John Williams in Concert!

 Last night we went to the Chicago Symphony to hear a program of John Williams movie music conducted by John Williams. It was amazing - for several reasons.

John Williams' music features the brass a lot, and the Chicago Symphony has one of the best brass sections among symphonies. Even more exciting, John Williams was conducting this concert. He is 91 years old! We have seen several older conductors lately who need some assistance walking and who sit to conduct. Not Mr. Williams - he walked on by himself and stood for the whole concert. He also talked to the audience between pieces.

And the music! We had Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and things I had never heard. The orchestra was wonderful. And after the program they played 30 minutes of encore pieces. It was definitely a concert to remember.

What we've been watching (on TV)

 On TV, incase you thought we might be spying on our neighbors. 

After reading another post today with show recommendations, I thought I'd chime in. (Thank you to Ryan Barba: https://birdsbaseballbarba.wordpress.com/2023/03/24/day-24-good-content/)

My husband and I have been watching Korean television show lately. We started with Crash Landing on You, recommended by my brother, a big film buff. (He has gotten to go to the Sundance film festival as a reviewer!) We loved this show. It's about a South Korean business woman who accidentally ends up in North Korea, rescued by a handsome army officer. Many complications ensue, in both Koreas.

Next we watched Extraordinary Attorney Woo, about an autistic woman who is an amazing attorney, but who struggles with people skills. this was also recommended by my brother.

Then we found Kim's Convenience, a Canadian sitcom about a Korean family who own a convenience store. Lots of interesting characters and many unlikely situations, it's very entertaining.

My husband and I both found that we enjoy the shows no matter what, but we prefer hearing them with the original Korean dialogue and reading the subtitles. I should note that we turn on subtitles for all the shows we watch no matter what language they're in.

Anyone care share recommendations? 

Food: delicious and complicated

 My husband has a very unusual dietary issue: he can't eat hot spices. no spicy peppers including jalapeños, cayenne, chipotle, chile powder, cumin, etc. Accidental ingestion has sent us to the emergency room more than once. The United States as a whole has embraced spicy foods. When I was growing up in Wisconsin (heartland of bland cooking) there were no spicy foods. Now they're everywhere.

I am lactose intolerant. I just get a stomach ache if I accidentally eat dairy products. But I am also a pescatarian - I eat seafood and plants. This means that sometimes there is maybe one item on a menu that I can eat. Many times I can ask for the kitchen to omit the cheese though.

Together we are a challenge to feed. I feel bad when people invite us for dinner and there are so many things that are automatically off the menu. People are nice about it though. They generally serve fish. I think making a vegetarian meal is intimidating to many people. So many unusual ingredients, and where's the protein?

Saturday we are invited to dinner with friends. I predict fish. I'm bringing cookies.

The not-so-little tasks that add up.

 I came home yesterday and the garage door wouldn't close. It's an electric door and this is not the first time (recently!) that it has refused to close. So the garage door stayed up all night and now the repair guy is here fixing it. 

Our house is 40-some years old so it's not surprising that things don't always work. Besides the garage door at the end of the day, I had been trying to schedule a dryer vent cleaning and a handyman to do a looong list of fix-it issues. I think once the handyman comes he'll be here for days.

Sometimes it's just a chore to get things working again. But sometimes it's an exciting upgrade. A couple months ago we decided to get a new television. Ours was a 200-pound old-style TV - the guys who installed our new flat screen were not happy about having to take the old one away. The new TV is awesome, though I haven't learned how to work it yet! My husband mostly knows how, though sometimes we get lost in the maze of streaming.

I grew up with three television channels. And the stations all shut down, maybe around midnight, the Star Spangled Banner played, and then you had a test signal until sometime in the morning. 

Another item for the to-do list: learning to work the TV (and joining the 21st century).

To-do list

 I make a little to-do list almost every day. I write it with a pencil in a small date book. Very old school, but it works for me. Some things appear every day: yoga, practice horn, do a Gaelic lesson, blog. Other items are not so regular. Today I need to go to the post office to drop off packages of returns for my husband. I plan to go to a particular grocery store that carries the most Passover items (I want to get some chocolate-covered macaroons before they're all gone!). And I wrote down Firness Center. 

I dropped the Fitness Center visits during COVID because of the danger of infection, but I haven't gotten back in the habit. It's so easy to think of other things that need to be done. However, it is an important part of staying healthy, so today I WILL go.

Wish me luck!

History Fair Judging

 A former colleague, still a friend, asked me to be a judge at our school's history fair last month. I had been a judge many years ago at a science fair in Chicago, but never for a history fair. I thought it would be an interesting experience and said yes.

It was an interesting experience. The students have a choice of how to present their projects: papers, documentaries, live performance, or website. The these this was "Crossing a frontier." My friend asked if I would be a paper judge. The four papers that my partner and I were assigned were on a variety of topics: the Boston Tea Party, Amazon (the company), the founding of Jamestown, and the Roman army. We had read the papers in advance and then met the students individually to discuss and give feedback. 

I know quite a lot about the Boston Tea Party and the history of Jamestown so I was prepared with relevant comments and questions. The other two topics I felt less prepared for, but learned as we went along with the meetings. My partner was very well-prepared and we complimented each other well, as she is a math teacher and didn't know American history as well as I do. 

Three of the four students attentively listened to our comments (perhaps with slightly stunned expressions at times - my partner talked fast!). The fourth student, who had researched Amazon - an interesting choice, but definitely involving frontier crossing - was inclined to try negotiation and justification in response to our observations. I had met him before while subbing in middle school and so was not surprised.

I need to contact my friend in charge of the history fair to see who advanced to State. Whether or not they advance, it's clear that everyone learned a lot from the experience. 

"How did you two meet?"

 Once again finding inspiration in another slicer's post! Thank you Carol Ann Clark (I think) at https://bloggedbutunspoken.wordpress.com/2023/03/18/meet-cute/comment-page-1/#comment-518.

People do ask us, "how did you two meet?" Appropriately, we met at a band rehearsal. It was a summer band in a suburb of Chicago. A friend asked me to fill in for her for two weeks while she went on a family vacation. He had been invited to play by another band member. I play (French) horn, he plays tuba, so he sat behind me in rehearsal.

I did not notice him until the break, when he came up to me and asked, "What kind of horn do you play?" Meaning the maker, not that it was a French horn. At that time I was playing an Alexander, which is a German-made horn. "I play an Alexander, too," he answered. Was it that coincidence that sealed our fate?

However, after my two weeks in the band, I did not see him again until December. It was (again, appropriately) at a reception at Orchestra Hall (downtown Chicago) after a brass concert. He came up to me and started a conversation. He asked if I gave horn lessons and I said yes. It turned out he was a school band director in the suburbs. He asked for my phone number so he could call and discuss my coming out to his school to give lessons (hmmmm). 

I was not surprised when he called a few days later and asked me out for coffee. The rest is history, still being written. Forty-three years, two kids, one grandson, and many, many rehearsals later we are still making music. 

Underrated Joys

 Lynne Dorfman wrote about underrated joys (https://lynnedorfmanblog.wordpress.com/2023/03/16/underrated-joy/), and I decided to list my own.

1. Sleeping late in the morning, or just lolling in bed for awhile

2. Rereading a favorite book

3. Reading to a child with the child sitting on your lap. (It's been awhile for me, but now I have a grandson! I get to do this again!)

4. Clean sheets on the bed

5. Sunshine in the morning

6. Colorful sunsets

7. Playing music with delightful people

8. Seeing a rare appearance of the chipmunk who lives in my backyard

9. Watching the ocean waves

10. Spending time with my children

11. Really good coffee in the morning

12. Watching television with my husband

Thank you, Lynne!

Chicago: The Loop

 A quick post this morning because we are going downtown for a concert! The Chicago Symphony has Friday afternoon concerts occasionally. We usually go to the Symphony either Friday or Saturday night, but we have another event tomorrow night, so here we are about to take the train to the Loop.

For those not familiar with Chicago, the Loop is the central downtown area. The El train makes a loop around this area, hence the name. Symphony Center, the opera house, and many theaters are all in the Loop area. It's also pretty close to the Lake, the lake being Lake Michigan.

So we will ride the Metra train from the northwest suburbs to its last stop and then walk east toward the Lake. We will enjoy a wonderful concert. It is Carmina Burana, by the German composer Carl Orff. Today is St. Patrick's Day, a big occasion in Chicago, but the official celebration was last Saturday so hopefully it won't be crazy downtown.

Then back to the train for the ride home. 

My daughter's bedroom

 I am sitting in my daughter's bedroom writing this post. She doesn't live her anymore, being an independent adult. I have taken over parts of the room to use as an office/music practice space. However, there's still a lot of her in this room.

I think she was in middle school when we decided to repaint the room. It was a boring color, tan maybe. Purple was her favorite color, so purple it was. An entire deep purple room seemed pretty intense, so she agreed to use purple and lavender. We also decided to be a little fancy and use the sponge painting technique on two walls. 

Carrying the purple theme even further, she got a purple comforter, lavender curtains, and some extra purple throw pillows. I don't think it would suit everyone, but it works in our house.

Practice makes?

There's an article in today's New York Times about violinist Hilary Hahn. She is a well-known concert violinist who is very interested in music education. She is an amazing violinist. I have heard her in concert several times. She is also interested in de-mystifying how she got that way and showing how deliberate practice is essential. She is posting bits of her violin practice time, #100daysofpractice, on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok. She's deliberately choosing bits that are not technically impressive and are not perfect.

She says her initial idea was to show how deliberate, regular practice makes progress. Because she is highlighting playing that needs practice, that is not "perfect," she has inspired others to accept less than perfection as okay, sort of a zen of practice. 

Deliberate practice here means thinking in advance of what you want to accomplish and how you will get there. It seems obvious but there are many who practice without a goal. 

This all reminded me of a book that was popular some years ago, The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle. Coyle analyzes the things needed to be successful in pretty much any area. The three things are deep, focused practice, passion, and a master teacher. One of my acquaintances told me about listening to a college-age violinist practice. She played the same passage over and over, but when she finished and left the practice room the passage wasn't any better than when she started.

Hilary Hahn inspired me today to join Instagram to find her!

Disney movies and my children

 When my children were little Disney movies were a noticeable part of our lives. We went to an actual movie theater to see The Lion King, Pocahontas, and probably some other Disney flics. We also watched many Disney movies at home on our VCR (remember those?)

Until my daughter Jamie (the younger sibling) was about 5 years old, she say in my lap at the movie theater. This was not something we decided on or discussed, she just always plopped down in my lap. She's very tall - as an adult she is about 5'10" - and even as a preschooler she was always the tallest in her class. So when she say in my lap her head leaned on my chin and her hair was in my mouth. It was not the most comfortable way to watch a movie.

One thing about many Disney movies is that parents seem to die. A lot. So there many tears from both my daughter and son - when Mufasa was killed, when Bambi's mother didn't come back, two sobbing children, one on each arm in the movie theater. Also when John Smith sailed back to England. 

On the other hand, The Little Mermaid terrified my son when he was 4 or 5. First it was Ariel's father destroying her treasures in a rage. Once we got past that part, it was Ursula. 

Then one day we went to the the movie theater and Jamie sat down in the seat next to me. Ever after that, she say in her own seat. I found, all the inconveniences aside, I missed it.

Life's Little Challenges

 Most Saturday mornings I leave my house around 8 am and drive 45 minutes to play music with other (French) horn players. It's a collegial group open to any adult who plays horn. This past Saturday when I hopped in my car to back out of the driveway and go, however, the car did not start. Not a single sound came from the engine. Dead as a doornail (whatever a doornail is).

Lucky for me we have second car so, leaving a note for my husband, I went off to rehearsal. 

We have a wonderful car repair place within walking distance, but it's closed on Saturday, so today we were going to jump the car and drive it to the repair shop. Jumping did not work. The dashboard lights flashed, but not a sound from the engine. So, we called the shop for a tow. Just our luck, their tow truck was broken! So now we are waiting for a tow service to come and tow the car to the shop. 

My car is a 10-year-old Honda and has been so reliable over the years. Fingers crossed that our repair guys can bring it back to life.

Favorite Teachers

 I see several slicers posting about favorite teachers. That got me thinking about my own favorite teachers and why they are favorites.

Music was always very important to me, and I majored in music in college, so most of my favorite teachers were music teachers. Today I am thinking of Mr. Princiotti.

Salvatore Princiotti was the string teacher at my high school in Connecticut. I didn't play a string instrument, I am a brass player, but he heard about me from the band/orchestra teacher at the high school (also a favorite teacher!). Mr. Princiotti was also the director of a local youth orchestra that included kids from several towns. He asked me to join this orchestra. I was a sophomore and had been playing (French) horn for about a year and a half, having switched from trumpet. 

I played in his orchestra for three years, until I left for college. While a member, I saw first-hand what kind of teacher he was -- encouraging, kind, seeing each player as an individual and appreciating each student's uniqueness and gifts.

Mr. Princiotti gave me my first opportunity to play a solo with an orchestra. (Actually my only time soloing until a few years ago when my daughter and I played a two-horn concerto with a local band.) 

But mostly I remember him for his unflagging patience and kindness toward all his students, no matter their level of music talent. When I nominated some years ago for a Golden Apple award, I had to write an essay about a teacher who impacted my life. I chose Mr. Princiotti to write about.  

Bookshelf poems

Inspired by Arjeha (https://arjeha.wordpress.com/2023/03/10/bookshelf-poetry/comment-page-1/#comment-13767) I tried my hand at creating bookshelf poems. It's quite entertaining to see what you can come up with!

My uncle the bookworm

 Today my post is inspired by another SOLSC post, https://pencilonmybackporch.home.blog/2023/03/10/grandpas-gifts/comment-page-1/#comment-3769. Thank you Fran!

My immediate family of origin is pretty small. Growing up I had two uncles, one aunt, and two first cousins. One of my uncles, Fremont, never married. He was a university professor in Seattle and he LOVED books. And so every birthday I got a book from him. They were always age-appropriate, but also they were great! Among the books he gifted me were the first two Mary Poppins books by P.L. Travers (so different from the movie; if you've never read them I highly recommend them), A first edition of The Outsiders (which my sister lost!), and The Return of the Twelves by British author Pauline Clarke. My sister was also the recipient of books from him. One of the best was Friday's Tunnel by John Verney. 

When I got older I wondered how a man with no children of his own could pick such wonderful books for young readers. I think he probably went to a bookstore and told the clerk that he wanted a book for a girl such-and-such years old. It was very thoughtful of him. 

As far as books, his house was filled with them. He lived with his parents, my grandparents, until they passed away, and then stayed in the house on his own. Without my grandmother keeping some control over the space, the books took over more and more of the house. When he passed away my parents and my other uncle struggled with finding new homes for the thousands of books he left. 

Uncle Fremont also wrote books, all in his academic fields of political science and public policy. He was curious about many things. He also had a beautiful singing voice and was a popular wedding soloist in Seattle. He was a quiet man who didn't force himself on people. When my husband and I visited the family in Seattle, my other uncle made quite a lot of plans for us, but Fremont did not. I had ask him if he would give us a tour of the University of Washington where he taught. We had a lovely time with him that day.

Are Trekkies Crazy? Fandom Thoughts

 Full disclosure, I watched the original Star Trek when it first aired. Now it's known as TOS, The Original Series (NOT The Old Series, though of course it is). 

Yes, I am a fan. I have seen all the movies, watched all of TNG (The Next Generation) several times, some of Voyager, some of Deep Space Nine, Picard, and Strange New Worlds. Yes, there are more series to explore, but I do watch other things as well AND I have other things in my life.

I had a friend who was a big fan as well. She once dressed as a Klingon to go to a Star Trek convention. Some years later she met the man who she would marry. She did not tell him about her foray as a Klingon and as far as I know she never has. They have teenage children now, to provide perspective on the passage of time.

I have never been to a Star Trek gathering. I did make my son a Captain Picard uniform when he was about 5 years old. He enjoyed it and later my daughter also wore it.

When my daughter was about 3 years old, we were watching TNG. She looked at the screen, where Lieutenant Worf (the Klingon, for you non-Trekkies) was doing something on the bridge. She pointed to the screen and said, "who's the chocolate-headed guy?"

Why all the love for Star Trek? I think it's because of the positive messages it sends. In the 1960s, a Black woman on the bridge of a star ship, as well as an Asian. The first inter-racial kiss on television. A sometimes heavy-handed, but well-intentioned messages of hope, that different types of beings can get along (though there always have to be some bad guys or the stories get boring) have been a significant part of the series all along.

We're taking a bit of a break from Star Trek at the moment, watching some excellent Korean television. But that's another story.

The Substitute

 I am subbing at my old school today. I retired in June 2021 after 20+ years teaching kindergarten and 4th grade. Now I sub occasionally, only at this school. Today I am doing middle school language arts/social studies.

Middle  schoolers are incredibly social! The first period sub plans say "they are not to be too talkative and should be on task." From my perspective they are very talkative, but they are on task and very passionate about the assignment, which involves setting up a mock United Nations with the goal of preventing World War I. Though they are verging on loud, they are all engaged and interacting positively. This reminds me why I love this school!

Later today 6th grade will be making predictions and then reading chapters in a novel titled Outrun the Moon, and 7th grade will read and discuss Act IV of The Comedy of Errors. 

My past life as a writer

 Yes, I do still write, but my past life is the writing I did as a kid. I liked writing. We lived in Wisconsin when I was in elementary school and my 6th grade class always listened to "Let's Write" on the Wisconsin School of the Air on the classroom radio. Thinking of that now, I guess you could say the Wisconsin School of the Air was the precursor of online learning. [We also had Let's Sing, where we sang along to whatever was on the show that week.]

I actually don't remember what I wrote in response to that show, but I do remember two stories I wrote in 6th grade. I remember them because of my teacher's response to them. One of them was a pretty funny fantasy, though I have forgotten the details. The other was a story about a girl character saving up money to buy a fishing rod. It was a very straight forward, fill-in-the-blanks stock story. I had read stories like that and so I wrote one. I HATED it, so of course that was the story my teacher asked me to read in front of the class. 

I couldn't say no, so what I did was read as fast as possible and also mumble. After I finished my speed-read, my fellow students all went, "What??" as I slunk back to my seat. 

My teacher never asked me to read again. 

Happy ending- that didn't stop me from writing what I wanted to write. After 6th grade, my family moved to Connecticut and I made new friends. I wrote a very silly story about my new group of friends, which they loved. I wrote a play set in ancient Greece or Rome, I can't remember which. That was in response to my World History class in high school.

Good and bad, these experiences helped me be a better writing teacher.

And as you see, I still write today!

Cruising the Caribbean

 My husband and I had never been on a cruise, unless you count a two hour cruise on Lake Michigan. But our son and daughter-in-law had been on a cruise shortly before they got married and were enthusiastic about going again. My daughter-in-law's parents, sister, and brother-in-law were also going on the same cruise. Also our 6-month-old grandson! So we decided to take the plunge and join them.

It was a Carnival cruise, the ship was the Horizon - I learned that the particular ship matters as some are different sizes. We got a nice cabin in the center of the ship (less bouncing in the waves) and with a balcony. 

Well, we had a lovely time. We loved sitting on the balcony watching the waves, the islands we passed by, the sunsets. Sometimes other people were also on their balconies, and we gave friendly waves back and forth. My husband states that the balcony was the best part of the trip - I don't disagree.

What else? We swam with dolphins on Grand Cayman. We were going to try paddle boarding and snorkeling on Cozumel, but with high wind and waves that day we were switched to a beach day - we both have bad backs. We babysat our grandson one morning so his parents could have an excursion day, which was also a lot of fun. 

Would I do it again? Probably. The kids are already signing up for their next cruise in two years. It's a nice way to spend some time with family without all the aspects of daily life. But we both also want to have some other adventures and are discussing a trip to Europe in the near future!

NaNoWriMo

 NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, which takes place every year in November. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word first draft of a novel. My sister did this some years ago, writing a novel based in Scandinavian legends. I have not read it because she didn't share it with me -- I should ask. 

I also have a friend who successfully wrote a fantasy novel during NaNoWritMo a few years ago. I did read this one because he asked friends if they would be willing to read his draft and give him feedback. It was a very interesting experience. I liked a lot of things about his story and characters. He took the feedback he got and really rewrote most of the story. He asked me to read it again -- wow! He took readers' feedback and transformed an interesting story into an engaging novel with characters that were alive. 

So, two years ago I signed up for NaNoWriMo. I had an idea for a story. The NaNoWriMo site has lots of resources to help writers from planning tools to groups and forums one can join. It's a very upbeat and nurturing organization.

So I began my novel on November 1. This is what I learned that month: 

• Novels are very long and need lots of plot and character development.
• I need to work on descriptions -- places, people, music (a major part of my plot).
• Because my story takes place in the past and mostly in Europe, I need to do research about life in the late 18th century. It would be so helpful if I knew German, but I don't.
• Writing 50,000 words in a month, or 1,667 words a day is a challenge. You are not supposed to stop and edit your work either. 

So I have let my novel marinate for some months, though I think about it from time to time. I still like my basic idea and I have modest goals for this novel-in-waiting. NaNoWriMo has "camps" in April and July where you set your own goal for writing. I think I will give that a try. And then tackle the November challenge.

Learning to Read; Continuing to Read

I am inspired to write about reading today after reading Fran McVeigh's post yesterday (https://franmcveigh.wordpress.com/2023/03/03/solsc23-reader-ness/comment-page-1/#comment-18605)

I learned to read with Dick and Jane. The "point and say" method.  As a retired teacher who taught quite a few kindergartners to read, point and say doesn't make sense because it doesn't teach decoding. But I did learn and, in spite of never being in the top reading group (whatever bird it was named after) I did become an avid reader. I was very fortunate to have an uncle who gave me a book for every birthday. He was a confirmed bachelor so in retrospect, I think he must have visited a good bookstore and asked for recommendations. Among the books he gave me are the first two Mary Poppins books, the Outsiders, and The Return of the Twelves, a little-known but absolutely wonderful novel about a young boy who finds the set of wooden soldiers that belonged to the Bronte children. That novel sent me to read Charlotte Bronte's novels. 

I still read a lot today. I take a book almost everywhere I go. As an introvert I once caught myself wondering if I should bring a book to a party I was about to go to. (I didn't.) I have an eReader, but mostly read physical books. 

I read to both my children when they were young. My son learned to read in kindergarten. He had a wonderful kindergarten teacher. He also loved me to read to him, but I also wanted to encourage him to read on his own. We were reading one of Jon Scieszka's hilarious short novels, which he wrote with boys in mind. We got to the end of a chapter with a cliff hanger and I said, "Okay, that's it for tonight." He said, "Give me that book!" And that was the start of his reading adventure, though we kept reading together as well.

My daughter learned to read in first grade, though she did not develop a love for reading on her own. In fact, I started to notice that she avoided reading whenever possible, though her teachers kept assuring me that she was reading above grade level. While at a teacher conference at a session on hidden disabilities, I realized the presenter was describing my daughter: reads above grade level but tries to avoid reading, falls asleep while reading, has trouble retaining information from reading. The presenter said there were optometrists who specialized in treating convergence insufficiency. Once we found help, she was able, with a lot of work, to overcome the insufficiency. Today she is an adult and not only reads, but reads very challenging texts. My son, on the other hand, has pretty much stopped reading.

We now have a new grandson and I am so looking forward to reading to him when he is just a little older.

Tha mi ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig

 Meaning, I am learning Scottish Gaelic. 

Tha beagan Gàidhlig agam. (Is dòcha gur e cus cus a th’ ann.) I speak a little Gaidhlig. (That might be an exaggeration.)

I am very much a beginner, and I would guess there are no Scottish Gaelic speakers in this group! So my post will be bilingual.

Fàilte! Welcome!

I got interested in Scottish Gaelic while reading the Outlander book series by Diana Gabaldon. So I signed up on Duolingo as a lark. It's a difficult language and I don't anticipate a time when I would actually use it (except when reading the Outlander books) but it's interesting. And I think it is a good exercise for my brain as well.

My favorite sentence so far: Tha Niseag ag òl uisge-beatha. The Loch Ness monster is drinking whisky. Well, wouldn't you, if you were living for centuries at the bottom of a loch, only coming up now and then to alarm and fascinate humans? There is an interesting theory about the Niseag proposed in the third Outlander book, Voyager. I won't spoil it for you, but it made sense to me in the context of the story! Also, whisky, uisge-breatha, translates literally to water of life.

Ciamar a tha thu? How are you? Tha mi ceart gu leòr. I'm fine.

What is difficult about learning this language is that: 

1. the word order is different than English or French (my other language, sort of)

2. Nothing sounds the way it looks!

3. Duolingo teaches the way you might learn a language as a child who parents are native speakers, so there is no explanation of tenses, why spelling sometimes changes, and a few other things. Fortunately there are other online sites that teach the Gàidhlig that I consult. 

Is toil leam dùbhlain. I like challenges. 

A' guidhe fortan dhomh. Wish me luck!

Tioraidh!

Musical Challenges

 Last night I went to a rehearsal of a community orchestra that I belong to. I play 3rd (French) horn.* I had missed the last concert because I was out of town, and missed the first rehearsal for the next concert cycle, being slightly sick. So I was the only horn player who hadn't had a chance to look at the music. 

The 2 1/2 hour rehearsal was devoted to the Te Deum by Hector Berlioz, a French composer of the 19th century. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Berlioz) He was a little crazy; his most famous piece is the Symphonie Fantastique, which tells the story of a doomed romance, including references to a real woman and a drug-related fantasy. We're not playing that, sadly. We are playing his Te Deum (translation: God, We Praise You), a less well-known piece.

I had never played the Te Deum or seen the music, though I have heard it, rarely, in concerts. Unlike the other 4 horn players in the orchestra, I hadn't seen the music in advance, being sick the previous week. Now, because of way the horn evolved, we often have to transpose when playing pre-20th century music. That means we look at a note, but play a different note. It's not that hard most of the time once you have learned how, though some keys are harder than others. An example: the part is written in E flat, the horn is pitched in F, so you must play one step lower than written. It's actually a good brain workout. 

Monsieur Berlioz chose to write each section of the Te Deum in a different key for the horns. This is quite a workout for the brain, let me tell you. Especially since several of the keys he picked are very unusual. And five different transpositions. Ugh. I told my colleague playing 2nd horn I was going to write out the most difficult section. He basically told me to buck up, it wasn't that hard. Right, his part didn't have any Horn in B natural - the absolute most difficult transposition.

I know what I'll be practicing this week.

*The International Horn Society (https://www.hornsociety.org) decreed years ago that the name of instrument is the horn, as it is called in European countries (cor in France, horn in German-speaking countries, etc.) But in the U.S. horn is also used to mean almost any kind of wind instrument, so it's still confusing, but the "French horn" is not French.

Post-vacation Woes

 I feel like I have just experienced re-entry. Re-entry into my normal life, that is. 

Two week ago my husband and I were in the midst of our first ever cruise, a Carnival cruise to the Caribbean. Coming home from that, I spent a week with a mysterious ailment that made me very tired. No, it wasn't Covid - I tested four times.

This week was time to reenter my normal life, which includes playing in three community music groups. I went to music school, though I changed careers and became an elementary teacher along the way. But I still play (French) horn seriously. [Horn players and most classical musicians just call it the horn, but since many other things are also called "horn" I like to clarify.] But I didn't play for two weeks while on the cruise and then recovering from whatever it was. 

Just like a sport, if you don't play regularly you get out of shape. Your muscles, in this case the muscles in my face, get weaker and you lose your endurance. On a brass instrument you might also temporarily lose your high range, since that takes more muscle. This is a problem since I have a concert to play on Sunday! I went to band rehearsal last night, two hours long, and was exhausted by the end, both physically and mentally. 

So this evening I have another rehearsal with a different group, a community orchestra. It's the first rehearsal on this music and there will be longer periods when the horns don't play. 

Deep breath. I will get through this.