Spring Break Field Trip

Thanks to the Los Angeles Foothill Philharmonic Committee, our district orchestra students were given tickets and bus transportation to Disney Concert Hall to attend this season's final Toyota Symphonies for Youth concert.

Upon arriving, the students were able to play drums and other percussion instruments in a drum circle for 1/2 hour. They also had a chance to make puppets to the theme of the Americas since that was the musical theme.

On the program was Copland's Rodeo and Ginastera's Estancia Dances. Enhancing the music were peformances of four dancers from the Luminario Ballet of Los Angeles. The show was so well done, all the kids in the audience sat still and enchanted for 50 minutes.

After the concert, we ate our lunch in the little amphitheater and were treated to an informal talk by one of the cellists who talked about working hard and practicing, and then the dancers and conductor came out and took questions.

All that, and we made it back to Claremont by 1:35.

Garden Walk

On our daily stroll through our yard / garden to see what is flowering, we found this mushroom.

More Food in Fort Collins

Today's eating extravaganza in Fort Collins started with coffee at Starry Night coffee shop where I met my college friend, Lynn. The mocha was one of the best I've had.

For lunch mom and I met Erika and three of Erika's friends at Rainbow, a restaurant with good vegetarian fare.

Mom and I had the enchilada special with ground soy and lots of spinach and cheese inside. Delicious!

Feast or Famine?

I'm spending a few days in Fort Collins, CO visiting my family during spring break. Today's activities revolved around food. My mom and sister and I drove to Boulder for lunch at the Dushanbe Tea House where we met two friends for great food and conversation.

I had the Moroccan Stuffed Acorn Squash, but then split it with Erika's Spicy Indonesian Peanut Noodle. Both were excellent.
For dinner we went to the First Presbyterian Church for an experience post-Lenten focus on hunger. We were each given a packet of Monopoly money and a menu. I ended up with a packet of $100 which was enough for me to eat about 2 1/2 meals, while others at the table had other amounts. We decided to share the wealth, and we all had plenty to eat. I bought the clean water, but we were given the choice of "river water" for free.

Moloka'i

Upon the recommendation of a friend, I chose the book Moloka'i by Alan Brennert to read for our book club next week. Following the life of Rachel as a young girl, the novel traces her story as she is sent to live in the leper colony in Hawai'i as a young girl. While the writing is ordinary, the story is compelling, the characters real.

Easter

Scenes from Easter yesterday:

The flowering cross at church

Some of the 99 eggs (77 plastic, 22 hard-boiled) hidden for Ben and Aaron by the older boys before Easter dinner at the Mawhorters.

Earthquake

Sitting outside at 3:40 this afternoon with friends, we looked at each other and said, "is this an earthquake?" It was! It felt rolling and lasted for a little while. Turns out it was a 7.2 in Baja, well over 200 miles away. Quakes are much quieter if you aren't in a building.

Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve

A rare treat today - a whole day with nothing scheduled for either of us. The original thought was to drive to Joshua Tree National Park to see the wildflowers, but after remembering that it takes 2 1/2 hours to get there (and then 2 1/2 hours to return), we looked for a closer place and discovered the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve near Murrieta. It's only about an hour away.

The Reserve boasts Vernal Pools, as well as wildflowers, and with the lovely rains we had this winter, it was a great day to take a 3 1/2 mile loop to take in the pools, the rolling hills with great live oak trees, historic adobe house and grinding stones. I have a new album at my picasa site with photos from our hike.

I love using my macro on my little camera - and with the blue sky today, I took this poppy photo looking up instead of down.

Teacher Ed

Last night I had the opportunity to be a guest presenter in my friend's teacher education class for young children (ages 3-8) at Chaffey College. I brought in a pile of instruments, scarves, beanie babies, books and recorded music for an hour of singing, chanting and moving. If we could just get all teachers in all schools to incorporate music into their classrooms on a daily basis, then children would benefit greatly.

April Fool of Yesteryear

No student tried to fool me today, but I remember a year when kindergartener got me good. She came to school with her arm in a sling. I asked her what happened and she told me with a very straight face that she had fallen and broken her arm before she looked up at me with a big smile and said, "April Fool!" Boy. A kindergartener. Today she is one of my 6th grade viola students.