Hi,
If you read my blog post last week, you may recall that I was on my way to the Midwest to visit my family for a long weekend. We celebrated my mom's birthday and my parents' wedding anniversary with a party and it was nice seeing my parents, as well as my sister and brother and assorted nieces and nephews. The weather there was cold to put it mildly. I don't think the temperature got much above 20 or so the whole time I was there and at night the temps were below zero.
I know, I know, I grew up there, but Northern Virginia, with its relatively mild winters, has turned me into a wimp. I readily admit that.
Anyway, before I forget, I want to express my appreciation to airport workers everywhere. Last Thursday it started snowing as I headed to Dulles Airport and I sat in there terminal watching the snow fall and inside the airport beleaguered gate agents were trying to placate upset passengers ("What do you mean all of the flights to Denver are full!"). Outside as the snow fell, workers labored in the cold, blustery weather to keep runways clear, plane wings deiced and and help planes to take off. Those people work really hard to keep all of us going where we are going, whether it is a business trip or a family reunion.
There are some kind of new rules about how long people sit on planes, how many planes can be in line to leave when the weather is bad. So, we got on our plane, we got off our plane, we got on the plane, we waited on the plane and finally five hours later, after the de-icing and watching a stuck plane get towed back to the gate, we took off.
Personally, I had a good book to read (and a book club meeting coming up) and since I spend so much time rushing about, I was perfectly happy to just sit and read. In fact, most of the people on my plane took it all in stride, talking, calling whomever to say they were being delayed or reading like I was.
When we finally landed, the flight attendant actually got on the intercom and thanked everyone for being so nice and polite and not yelling or throwing things at the crew. I was immensely proud of all of us.
Anyway, since returning to the office, I worked on finishing up final revisions for March Music Educators Journal stories and catching up on a gazillion emails. Oh, and I made flight reservations to head out to Bismarck, North Dakota for the North Dakota Music Education Association conference in March. (And, no, I am not skittish about getting on a plane again. I know in March, they can still have snow in the upper Midwest, but hey, I know those people know how to clear runways.
I just wanted to pass along a link for a story I heard last weekend on Weekend America, the American Public Media show. The story is called "An Architect's Morning Music." It is a interview with architect Daniel Libeskind, who says "I don't think I would have a good day if I wasn't able to start by listening to music." It is a fascinating story about how closely he links music and creativity.
His projects include the Jewish Museum in Berlin and in February 2003, Studio Daniel Libeskind's design study was chosen as the master site plan for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center Site in New York City.
Oh, and Ameican Idol? I didn't see it last night because of my aforementioned book club meeting. Feel free to add a comment if anyone has touched a nerve for you during the competition thus far.
Well, gotta go. My day job calls.
Til next Thursday
RF
