I think I blogged last year that I could see this weekend’s activities getting repeated year after year. And sure enough, this one had a familiar rhythm to it. On Friday I went to my church choir’s annual Twelfth Night party. Then on Sunday the choir sang Mendelssohn’s “Behold a Star from Jacob.” We hosted the newly-minted 5-year-old’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon. This year it was at Chuck E. Cheese instead of Jumpers but the format of kids running around and then eating pizza and cake is pretty standard!
I had hoped to go to Longwood Gardens on Saturday night, but all the kids had done stuff during the day (playdates! skiing! tech rehearsal for a play!) so no one wanted to go. Rather than fight to drive an hour and walk around in the bitter cold (the wind chill was something like 11 degrees) my husband and I elected to go out to eat instead while the big kids babysat. We went to a tapas place — it was really good. Maybe I can add that to the list of first-weekend-of-January traditions!
Something I don’t hope to add to the tradition list: We just got the robo-calls from the district that schools are closed tomorrow. It doesn’t really look like we’re getting that much snow, but we shall see. There will be a lot of screen time, but if it does really snow, maybe there will be some sledding too…
In the meantime, here’s a little sonnet on singing Bach’s B-Minor Mass…
For this, I leave the house by six-fifteen.
For this, I sit in traffic near downtown.
For this, I work to make melismas clean
until the notes sound as they’re meant to sound.
For this, three hours on a Monday night.
For this, some ninety minutes in the day.
For this I’m testing out the parts, the tight
chromatic harmonies, the rhythmic play.
For this he labored centuries ago.
For this he pulled a life’s work in a piece.
Did he imagine how we’d get to know
such genius that with time does not decrease
in beauty? When it strikes we stand in awe.
Whatever cost, it’s worth it — worth it all.
Your sonnet reminded me of something from one of your books that frequently comes across my mind when interacting with a kid “you are worth every minute” (or something like that). I so appreciate your work to inspire others to make the most out of their moments and lives. Happy new year!
@Amanda – from the epilogue of 168 Hours! You’re good. And wonderful, important things are indeed worth every minute. Happy New Year!