Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fiddlin' Around...

" Oh this learning, what a thing it is!"
~ William Shakespeare




Life has picked up speed these last few months.  Good thing, because it makes it easier to ignore the long dark of winter.  No sun rise here until almost 8 AM.  The evenings have improved though as it is not dark until nearly 5:15 PM.   A renewed interest in learning something new has been spurred by a desire to look just past the darkness that is  this very long winter.  This January finds me studying the Celtic fiddle.  What a challenge it is but exciting when something other nerve killing scratching issues forth from my student violin.  My Grandfather's family was from Edinburgh, Scotland.  So part of this feels a nod to part of my genetic code and family history.  Decided to take the course offered for adult learners at a local college's evening division.  There are 11 of us who meet one night a week with a wonderful and talented instructor who happens to know how to work well with adult learners.  The age of the group span from 50 to 70.  I sit comfortably in the middle range.  We learn by ear rather than reading music.  One challenge at a time seems to be about right.  

"That knowledge is great riches, which is not plundered by kinsman, nor carried off by thieves nor decreased by giving"
~ Bhavabhuti

Attended a day long Photoshop Elements class this week-end.  Ah, just what the doctor ordered ~ finally I can make use of this program.  It has reignited my passion for photography.  The instructor was wonderful.   He managed to be so funny for the entire 8 hours of class time and still meet all the course objectives.  No one was left in the cyber-dust as he seemed to know exactly who was lagging and gave each person some individual tutoring as it was needed.  Of course it helps to have 10 in the class.  I can hear a collective sigh of the cyber village  teachers who have been trying to make just that point for years.

"To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within out reach, is the great art of life."
~ Johnson

This past Autumn some friends asked if I would join them for an afternoon at the Opera.  The day has arrived!  How very exciting as I have not been to listen to live Opera since leaving Boston back in what...2000.  Today we will drive to Seattle for a matinee performance of the Barber of Seville.   What a joy this is.  Wrapping oneself in a celebration of site and sound is a delight. 


Back to a work-a-day life in the morning.  But for now I can continue to celebrate the week-end and pretend as though I had the luxury of being retired.  :-)



7 comments:

Donna said...

Wow, you got busy all of a sudden! Glad to hear that you know your way around Elements now!

Donna said...

Love the fiddlin' class! And Photoshop class...How wonderful to have somewhere close by, to attend!
Hope you enjoyed the Opera!!!
hughugs

WR said...

Hi Donna! It has been nearly six months since that darned surgery and just now I am feeling like a normal person again. The recreational activities have helped me do something other than work. Am excited about the Photoshop Elements. Just could not focus on my own but now after a live tutor I'm rady to rock and roll! :). Always good to hear from you!

Out on the prairie said...

The classes all sound fun, and the opera exqistite.It is the cultural activities that are now not close that I miss the most.I forgot I could go to a museum on a whim.

WR said...

Hearing from both Donnas...Wonderful!

The Opera was a delight. It was family day and many little children were dressed up and sparkling for the occassion. They all looked so sweet! With the advancement of teleprompted translationors above the stage they and their parents could follow along. As it was the Barber of Saville it was funny and the children all laughed and giggled at the right places! Made a funny opera even funnier. :-) Worth the drive to Seattle!

WR said...

Hi OOTP: The Opera was indeed exquiste and funny (a rare thing in the land of Opera). I vote for a trip to the museum! Any community theatre out where you live?

Out on the prairie said...

I have a bit of theater , more in the next town. I see a few at the high school and community college. I like to listen to a variety of genres in music. When I write my blog poems at the end of my blog they are oratorios as used in opera.For me to see something real good I rely on state coleges or travel to neighboring states which isn't as often as when I lived in a more diverse and larger town.