GimletBlog

The time has come for Thing Two to move from a 1/4 size violin to a 1/2 size.  Now that he can play a few tunes and is learning what he likes and doesn’t like about particular instruments and bows, the sizing up process has been a little more complicated.  We took home two violins and three bows on a limited trial basis over the holidays, but for various reasons none were quite right.

At the beginning of the process, Thing Two teared up at the thought that his 1/4 size violin would be returning to the violin shop.  He said, “My violin is like my friend, and I can’t send my friend away!  I’ll miss it, and it will miss me!”  Fortunately as he has spent more time with the 1/2 size violins, he has grown used to their size and the smaller violin feels more like a toy, as he describes it.

We found a 1/2 size violin of the appropriate make and model on Craigslist and set out to look it over.  Our visit was everything one could hope for from Craigslist:  a journey across town in the dark of night to a neighborhood best left unvisited in the dark of night.  When we found the address on a dead-end street, we parked behind the hearse in the driveway, climbed a steep flight of stairs through a garden populated by broken statuary (an unnerving experience for Whovians), to a tiny front room packed with a dizzying array of tchotchkes and of reeking of incense and other substances.

While it did appear to be authentic, the violin had been sadly neglected and was not in playable condition, although it appeared to be repairable.  Our visit became a rescue mission:  much like finding a stray, bedraggled kitten or puppy, we decided it was worth the risk to remove this violin from its current circumstances and give it a good home where it would be well cared for and played.  Given its condition, we were able to bargain the price down by half, and the violin was soon on its way to a new life.

When we first brought the violin home, the pegs wouldn’t turn.  We were worried we had thrown away our money, but another violinist suggested that this could be simply the result of storing the instrument in a cold place (like the storage unit we suspect it had been in).  She recommended leaving the violin out in a warm, dry room.  After a few days, the pegs turned!  Things were looking up and we took the violin to the shop for repairs.  The damage assessment from the shop read as follows:

• New soundpost
• New bridge
• Glue back to body again
• Neck broken at some point.  Decent repair of that.
• The violin had come with a 3/4 bow, which was beyond repair, and a mouldy 3/4 case.

After a week, the violin was ready.  When we picked it up, Thing Two tried out several of their available 1/2 size bows until he found one he liked.  At his first lesson with the new violin, his teacher was very pleased with the results.  It has a nice, rich sound.  With a little effort (and some anxious moments), Thing Two is the happy owner of a good quality violin and a new friend.

Related posts:

This year’s Christmas season was much simpler than usual.  Between a second holiday season where the Gimlet is still searching for work and my new Relief Society duties, Team Gimlet had neither the resources nor the time to send cards, bake cookies, or shop for gifts.  I’ve always heard about families who opt for a service-only holiday season and while finding it admirable, it was a surprise to find ourselves having exactly that experience this year.  It was a joyful and humbling experience to have the opportunity to bring cheer and happiness to others, especially when our own circumstances are similarly reduced this year.

Thing One performed in his school orchestra’s annual Hollyberry concert, where the chamber orchestra played Beethoven’s Sinfonia No. 7 in D – Allegro.

The Sunday evening before Christmas, we welcomed Santa into our home for an early plate of Hå’s cookies and a short visit, as he has done every December since Thing One was born.

Thing Two has grown progressively more excited about Santa’s visit over the years, but he still keeps a respectful distance when Santa is actually in the house.  Note that this year he is using the armchair and his big brother as a buffer.

Santa requested a little holiday violin music, and it is safe to say that Thing Two was much more nervous about playing one tune for Santa than he is when playing a set for a full room.

Christmas Eve was the usual family party with plenty of delicious food and lively conversation; we didn’t return home until midnight.

Originally we expected that Christmas Day would be unscheduled and quiet, but the Sunday before Christmas, we learned that the LDS missionaries assigned to our congregation didn’t have anywhere to go for Christmas.  This looks like a job for the Relief Society President!  And how do you throw together a Christmas dinner on short notice?  Hå offered to sponsor our favorite (and ridiculously easy) holiday meal:  Dungeness crab.  One of the missionaries was from Alaska and his Utah companion had learned to love seafood, so they were as excited about the delicacy as we were.

We joined the crowds at the grocery store on Christmas Eve morning to throw together the rest of the menu before the shops closed and we had to begin the drive south to our own party.  Hå also contributed some Christmas crackers to the festivities, which were a new experience for the missionaries.  Their favorite part of the evening, however, was the time they spent Skyping their families, as Christmas is one of the two times per year that the missionaries are allowed to talk with family.  One missionary chose the desktop and the other used the laptop, so they didn’t have to take turns and both could enjoy long holiday conversations.  Next Christmas we will be Skyping or FaceTiming with Elder Thing One from wherever he ends up serving his mission, and we hope his Christmas host family takes good care of him.

Our New Year’s Eve also ended up being more fun than expected!  Hå decided she would like to see the zoo’s WildLights Winter Festival and invited us to join her.  The night was cold, but it wasn’t raining, which is enough incentive to get outdoors for a good walk.  The light displays were pretty and we’re looking forward to doing the WildLights walk again next year.

After dinner at a nearby burger place, we drove Thing Two to a New Year’s Eve party where he and his teacher would play together to start the dance.  This was Thing Two’s first experience playing for dancing, but his teacher encouraged him to keep his eyes on her and not be distracted by all the activity and noise around him (in Scandinavian folk dancing, the musicians stand in the center of the hall and the dancers move in a circle around them).  He played three tunes with his teacher and managed to keep up, although he was a little tired by the end of the set.  Then he got to watch his teacher play for two more dances, including one tune he is currently learning.

Thing Two enjoyed a cookie after his performance, and he and his entourage (formerly known as Thing Two’s parents, but we can see that entourage is in our future, so we’re trying to get used to it) visited with the party guests.  After the hosts set the glögg aflame and poured a few fiery ladles into the pot for dramatic effect (Thing Two was asked, “Isn’t this better than Harry Potter’s Goblet of Fire?”), it was time to drive a sleepy Thing Two home and tuck him into bed just before the beginning of the new year.

It’s been a while since we’ve managed to take a photo of the entire family, and here we are, all bundled up at the zoo on a frosty New Year’s Eve.  When did Thing One get so tall?   For that matter, isn’t Thing Two about the size Thing One was when the blog began?

In the spirit of moving onward and upward, best wishes to you and your families for a happy and abundant 2013!

Related posts:

We’re happy to report that the Gimlet residence has officially been rat free for one week!  Hooray!  The exterminator caught six rats, we rat-proofed our house as per the exterminator’s recommendations, and we are ready to move into the cleanup phase.  For now we try not to think about how many pounds of rat droppings are just over our heads in the attic.

Christmas is a busy time for churches, and in addition to the expected holiday festivities and charity for families in need, it was also necessary to coordinate another memorial service (that makes two in two months for my tenure).  As our congregation meets in a different building now, and we’re still getting used to where things are, the Sunday before the service we planned to check out the resources in the kitchen and cultural hall.  At the entrance to the cultural hall we stopped, stunned by the sight of a massive Meso-American-style pyramid which took up almost one-third of the space in the hall and reached almost to the ceiling.  The ward council was of one mind in calling it a Rameumptom.   We soon found out that it was actually Samuel the Lamanite’s wall from the other ward’s Book of Mormon-themed Christmas party, and as the party had already taken place, the Rameumptom/Samuel’s wall/ziggurat could be removed before the memorial service.

Fortunately the very impressive structure was still standing the following day when we were doing some preliminary setup, so it was possible to take a photo:

Before the (Rameumptom-free) memorial service, we attended the annual ethnic brunch at Thing Two’s school:  a holiday party for all the first grade classes to celebrate world cultures and friendship.  The children sang several holiday songs, and then Thing Two played his violin.  Earlier, when the children were practicing for the brunch concert, Thing Two told the music teacher that he played the violin and volunteered to participate.

Thing Two was eager to perform and enjoyed himself immensely, playing a set of three tunes from Denmark and Sweden.  We seem to have a showman on our hands!  (Meanwhile, Your Humble Narrator was probably nervous enough for both mother and child.)  Long time GimletBlog readers may recognize Thing Two’s festdrakt, or Norwegian folk costume, as the one that Thing One wore when Thing Two was a baby.

Related posts:

Thing One’s high school is known for its world-class drama department, and one of the department’s great traditions is its annual fall festival of student-directed one-act plays.  Thing One was very active in drama when he was a middle school student, participating in almost every play, but aside from taking drama classes it was challenging to fit after-school rehearsals and performances into his high school schedule.

Now that Thing One is in his senior year, he had time to audition for and participate in Dramafest.  He was chosen for Garrison Keillor’s one-act play, The Prodigal Son, and played the part of the narrator (aka Garrison Keillor).   Bopa was a great fan of Garrison Keillor, never missing the Writer’s Almanac or Prairie Home Companion, so he would have been especially pleased to watch his grandson’s performance.

After several weeks of after-school rehearsals, it was time for Dramafest!  Two or three plays were performed after school every day for one week.

Friday night was “Best of the Fest”: repeat performances of the top-judged plays and an awards ceremony.  The Prodigal Son won awards for costume design and best direction of a large cast.  The cast had a lot of fun and celebrated their success with a pizza party.

Related posts:

It’s been a little over six months since Thing Two began violin lessons so it’s time to check in on his progress!  The first milestone was growing out of the 1/8 violin to a 1/4 size, which happened much sooner than we expected.

Thing Two has developed a pretty good friendship with Bodhi the dog; he’s not completely comfortable with Bodhi sitting on his feet during lessons, but he likes to pet him and give him treats.

Thing Two’s teacher is the director of the Seattle Lilla Spelmanslag (or Lilla Lag).  During the summer, while she was away in Sweden learning new music, Thing Two took lessons from the Lilla Lag’s assistant director and made friends with her cat, Dory, who is less intimidating than Bodhi but runs away when the violin music starts.

At this point Thing Two has learned a little over a dozen simple harmonies and melodies for folk tunes from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.  He learns the pieces by ear and plays along with his teacher, and practices with or without recordings at home.  He’s also been able to play with more advanced students when lessons occasionally overlap; they play the more complicated close harmony or the melody, and he plays the simple harmony or sometimes the easy melody.  He especially enjoys playing with others; the music really comes alive when more than one instrument is involved.

He is making great progress! (Can you spot Bodhi in the video?)

This year Thing Two isn’t old enough or experienced enough to join the Seattle Lilla Spelmanslag for the entire 2012-2013 season, but he was invited to join them to perform at the Swedish Cultural Center last Sunday.

Thing Two was able to play two simple harmonies: Ganglat av Selim Bengtlars and Jomfru Jisken, and he played the melody for The Witch’s Cat Caught a Mouse.

He had a lot of fun meeting and playing with all the kids, and he did very well!

Related posts:

Thing One’s high school orchestra recently held their annual Pumpkinseed concert.  Thing One is the principal cello for the chamber orchestra, which is a nice way to end out his senior year and high school orchestra experience.

The chamber orchestra played the first movement from the Serenade for Strings by Tchaikovsky and Czardas by Vittorio Monti.  Well done, Thing One!

Related posts:

Over the years, Thing One has been a very good sport about helping his little brother at the Trunk or Treat:

Now that it is very likely Thing One will be serving his LDS mission during Halloween 2013, it seemed like a good idea to take one last Halloween picture of the two brothers … at least for two years.

Thing One had to admit he enjoyed being asked what his costume was, and when he answered, “I’m the Doctor,” the inevitable response followed.  Nerd humor for the win!

Thing Two was delighted to meet one other Dalek (a fourth grader) at the school’s Halloween Prowl.  Uncharacteristically for Daleks, they participated in the parade (including climbing the staircases) without exterminating their classmates.

Related posts:

Two recent changes in our religious community — one policy change on a worldwide church level, and one change on a local level — have had direct impacts on our family, so it seems useful to share those changes and how they have affected life for Team Gimlet recently.  Don’t worry; it’s all good!

The worldwide policy change was announced during the October General Conference, when the current prophet, Thomas S. Monson, announced that young men can begin full time missionary service once they have graduated from high school beginning at age 18, rather than age 19 as had been the previous rule.  Young women can now begin full time missionary service at age 19, rather than age 21.

Thing One had been planning to serve a mission, but it still seemed like quite some time away.  He had been considering various opportunities and activities to fill the time between high school graduation and when he turned 19, but nothing had really seemed like a good option.

Now the plan is for Thing One to submit his application papers after his eighteenth birthday in the spring, with an availability date set for September to accommodate the summer plans he has already made (BSA National Jamboree, a family reunion, and work at Camp Pigott).  It is a little sad to realize that the time has come for Thing One to leave the nest, but mostly we are excited about where he might be spending the next two years and what a great time of personal growth it will be.

• President Monson announces change in ages for missionary service
• Summary of the press conference
• Mission preparation by David L. Beck, Young Men General President

 The second change has been the reorganization of our stake, or group of congregations in our area.  There had been four family wards in the stake; now there are six smaller wards and as ward boundaries were shifted around to create the new wards many families, including Team Gimlet, find themselves attending a new congregation.  Our congregation is even meeting in a different building, at least for a while.  The changes were made just before General Conference to allow the ward leaders two weeks to put the basic structure and functionality in order before the new wards held their first church meetings.

This would seem like enough change to impact Team Gimlet’s routine, but with the reorganization also came many opportunities for most, if not all, of the ward callings (or church jobs) to be reassigned.  And so it happened that Your Humble Narrator, who is happy to spend as much time in the background as possible, has found herself in the daunting and front-and-center position of Relief Society President.

• Orientation and Training for Relief Society Leaders (I should probably read this.)

My term as president got off to a less than strong start as I spent the first week completely wiped out by a norovirus, which made for lessons in patience, compassion for other sick people, and delegation.  Now that I’m back on my feet and in the midst of a little of everything (meals for families of newborns, a funeral, rebuilding the Relief Society Board and Visiting Teaching structure which was decimated by the boundary reorganization, and the congregation’s Christmas party, to name a few items on the to-do list), I find myself wondering if I’ll have ever have the time to stitch, or blog, or read a book again!  But even this early on, the willingness of the Relief Society women to volunteer their service and talents is impressive and humbling, and ultimately reassuring that all this work doesn’t have to be done by one person alone.

Related posts: