Monthly Archives: September 2009

Now Opera night 101 sounds like it isn’t very pleasant. But it actually is a lot of fun . It’s just that I know a thing or two that might make the evening more memorable in a positive way. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

First of all, it is so much more fun if you dress up. Like shirt and tie (Did you guys just groan? I heard that!). You know that dressing up pays big dividends in the end. I mean you look so 007! We can hardly keep our hands to ourselves! I would think that such a thing would be good!

Ladies take time to consider your dress and shoes… I know you’ll do this… but remember that the parking structures don’t care if you’re wearing three inch heels… it still costs the same and your feet will still hurt if you have to walk a long parking structure, and then stand in the foyer waiting before theater doors open. I suggest low heels, unless your date popped for a limo that lets you off at the curb of the opera house.

The only

A couple of weeks ago, I offered to tutor a nine year old little girl in opera and then take her to an opera upon this closing of her study. I am very fond of this little girl as she is my neighbor and her mother is Italian and also a friend so it did seem the logical thing to volunteer to do.

Verdi would have been my first choice for her first opera, but since this is not on the seasonal calendar, I chose Puccini’s La Boheme. It is the second most performed opera in the world with very lovely music. Understatement!

The performance we will attend does not happen until late January so I have three and a half months to prepare her for this experience.

Since I have taught opera classes in the past, I know the drill very well. But this is the first time my student has been so young. So I need to back up a bit before I get into the real nitty-gritty.

I will start by talking about love and hate. This is the backbone for all opera librettos. There must be conflict and

Can you recall the first time you ever really looked up and noticed the sky at night? I do.

I was with my dad and my brother. We were sitting around a campfire. It was a cold Colorado night, and that campfire felt really good! I was gazing into the flames when all of a sudden I just looked up… for no reason, just did.

The sky was so big I had the sensation I might fall over backward trying to take it in. I was awestruck by the beauty. My dad must have been watching me, because he said, “It’s very beautiful, isn’t it, Carolyn!” I agreed. We were all three quiet then, just looking up at that sky and listening to the crackle of the fire. It was heaven.

Then a few months later, my brother asked me if I would like to go outside and look at constellations through his new telescope. He really knew his constellations, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn from him…. plus, I just loved being with my brother no matter what we were doing together.

He pointed out all

If only. The two words that when you put them together they say a world of pain and disappointment.
If only I had not given him the money to buy the car he would be alive today, or…. if only I had practiced piano this week Mrs. Temple would not have given me so much work, or… if only I had slept last night I would never have hit Hubby’s car.

If only if only if only. These are words from the mouth of the devil… if only. They don’t take a person anywhere good, they just make one unhappy and keep people in a holding pattern.

“If only” are words that my goddaughter could say with full emphasis on pain and suffering. When she was just 12 years old with the world before her… student body vice president, straight A student, ballerina, harpist, pianist, violinist, and sister to two lovely girls… Rebecca’s life came to a screeching halt. She suffered a massive head injury in an auto accident which left her with brain damage to her short term memory. She suffered months in a comma and awakened to find that

Indiscretions. It is a simple enough word but when the indiscretion is your own, this takes on an entirely new meaning. It points the finger in your face and says, “You either are or you aren’t a person of ethics.”

Let us pursue this with the subject of cars.

As I’ve mentioned before, Hubby LOVES his cars. In fact he loves them so much, if they would fit in the bedroom I would perhaps be in the garage. This said, he is a man who has been humbled more times by accidents to his beloved vehicles than anyone I know. But never by me.

First it was every car on the road in Ohio who chose to aim itself directly at his beautiful Porsche 911Targa, and try to eliminate the engine. It was hit, I believe, three times and had the most expensive fixes ever. I recall one in Ohio… I had just been picked up by my father to go to the church to be married. I am… looking good if I do say so myself. And Bill walks by the car covered in grease, wearing a T-shirt I loathed and jeans that

It may or may not be known that I am and have been a musician and performer all of me life. I began performing at the age of five. I still recall that first event in vivid detail. It was for a ladies’ luncheon at the Presbyterian Church in Rocky Ford, Colorado. My mother had me dressed to the nines. I was to sing “Here Comes Peter Cottontail.”

The room was loaded with women all talking at once. And then came the moment for me to sing; that same room began to get quiet. No one could see me half way back in this large hall, so it was suggested to have me stand on a chair while I sang. Someone lifted me onto the chair.

Now this was great for everyone else but for me it meant that I could now see all of them. And suddenly I was terrified! I recall my heart pounding in my chest and breathing sort of funny. I wondered how on earth I was going to remember those lyrics when all I could think of, were the many pairs of eyes all

One of my favorite things to do, as the sun sets here in Arizona, is to sit out back and watch the sun go down, and the stars come out. With drink in hand and the desert floor as my palate, I paint a picture in my mind of what the wildlife is doing that I can hear, but cannot see.

The temperatures are still in the hundreds. The air is sometimes very still but as the clouds roll in … and they do that often this time of year… a little breeze ruffles my hair now and again. I sip my drink and settle into the soft cushion of my chair to relax. I allow my body to become quiet in the heat.

Some times I think and other times I just sit and watch the scene of beauty unfold. I see all kinds of wild life on the other side of the fence while I am still, there in my yard. Bob cats. havalina, many kinds of birds, once a puma, tarantula, scorpions, coyotes… sometimes in packs and sometimes a lone coyote. They notice me. We stare

Some things there are I must not do;
To self I must not be untrue.
I must not for for a profit’s sake
A false or mean advantage take,
Or risk an everlasting stain
For selfish pride or paltry gain.

I must not thoughtlessly deride
The things which are my neighbor’s pride,
Or hold my head so high that he
May fear to make a friend of me.
I must not, though it be my right,
Disturb his comfort, day or night.

I must not disregard life’s laws,
Or think myself secure because
The vile may prosper and the cheat
May seem to flourish in deceit.
If happiness I hope to reap.
Both health and honor I must keep.

Lord, when temptation comes along,
‘Tis then I pray Thee, make me strong.
Let neither fame, nor wealth or prize,
To what is manly blind my eyes.
Let it be said, when life is through,
Some things there were I would not do.

“The Things I Must Not Do” from The Light of Faith by Edgar Guest

This was a man who wrote poetry and was often called the “poet of the plain people.” He preferred to be known as a newspaperman. He was a reporter, exchange editor, and a columnist at the Detroit Free Press before devoting his life to poetry.

Things somehow must be done now;
Tomorrow might never be;
And with some done, then I have won;
But yet if I should see…
Just one more day, just that far away,
I’ve got to do once more;
Those things to be read and things to be said,
For Death can take its score..
“Moments” by Thomas Wayne Wright

Somewhere along the way someone thought up this phrase: TGIF… Thank God it’s Friday. This Friday was a long one. Everyone of us was remembering where we were when the Towers went down. It was a sad day! It was good and right for us to remember 9/11 but it was also painful and sad.

Now that the sun has set, I want to remember them by living my own life to the fullest whatever good thing it may entail. Join me. If you can’t think of something to do for the weekend, here are a few suggestions.

Go for a walk.
Bake cookies.
Invite friends over to play cards.
Clean a closet.
Plant flowers, or vegetables in the yard.
Visit a senior’s center and share your life with the residents.
Take a nap.
Read a book.
Write a letter to a

Many people know that I have been teaching music to adults and children for most of my adult life. I don’t think I teach like most teachers because for me, it’s not about the subject matter as much as it’s about the student… my motto is “Better lives through music.”

I believe that learning [a musical instrument or understanding music history, theory and composition, etc.] should enhance one’s life and help make life better… the things you learn in music will relate to other areas of your life once we open ourselves up to it. As time passes for me and my students, we do end up believing that this is indeed what has occurred.

Each of my sons tried to learn a musical instrument, sometimes with me as their teacher, and other times from someone that I trusted admired. One by one, though, the eldest three bailed out in favor of other avenues of life. (And, understand that this is not a bad thing. It’s just the way it went.) Tory lasted in piano until he was able to sit at a grand with a bevy of beautiful girls around him swooning over