Two Thoughts on a Cold Monday Night

1. This will be my third Minnesota winter. Two weekends ago, we had over seven inches of snow. This past weekend, we had an ice storm that caused Mitch to take a pretty nasty fall in the driveway. Tonight on my way home from piano lessons, it was bitterly cold and windy. I am NOT ready for the cold weather, even though I love the look of the snow. Yuck. I don't think I'll ever get used to the cold.

2. Tonight at my piano lessons I had a last-minute cancellation, which annoyed the hell out of me. When I have open slots from cancellations, I try to move my later lessons into them so I can get home earlier. So there I am, stuck for a half hour with nothing to do. I grabbed a Christmas book from the shelves and started to play, and I was disappointed when my next lesson showed up. It has been a long time since I just sat down to play for the fun of it. Yes, I play every day, and yes, my days are filled with music and piano lessons, but I never get to just play what I want, when I want, for the sheer enjoyment of it. It felt really nice. So nice, in fact, I started to wonder how I could do more of it, especially at this time of year when holiday music is so prevalent. It took me back to my piano lesson days as a kid, when we would prepare for months for the big holiday program with Mrs. Rigby, and how we would go to perform at the nursing home before the actual program. Maybe I need to find a local nursing home that I can go play at. In my spare time, of course.