GimletBlog

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!

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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!

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Back in the very early days of GimletBlog, Thing One had just begun cello lessons.  Thing Two was quite intrigued; he liked to play next to the cello and especially crawl over to tug at the endpin or touch the strings.

Six years later, it’s time for Thing Two to begin his own music lessons on the violin.

We’ve been clients of a local string instrument shop for several years for Thing One’s cello needs, but this time it was Thing Two’s turn, and he was delighted to be fitted for his own 1/8 violin and accessories.  Later at home, Thing One taught his little brother the similarities and differences between the cello and the violin.

He enjoyed his first lesson; he’s practicing learning how to hold his violin and bow properly and how to care for his instrument.  His teacher has a large (but very gentle and friendly) dog who likes to sit at the student’s feet during lessons; Thing Two is very nervous around dogs, especially large ones, but by the end of the lesson he felt brave enough to feed Bodhi a biscuit.  During the course of the lessons, Thing Two will learn to play the violin and to become more comfortable around dogs — a bonus we didn’t expect!

Thing Two will be learning traditional Scandinavian music.  As he progresses,  he’ll have the opportunity to join the Seattle Lilla Spelmanslag, a local performance group of young musicians ages 8-18 who play Nordic folk music for dances, community organizations, parades and festivals such as Yulefest at the Nordic Heritage Museum, Skandia Folkdance Society’s Midsommarfest, and the Northwest Folklife Festival.

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Today Thing One picked up his tuxedo for the high school chamber orchestra.

He also had his braces put on, so no more popcorn until his 17th birthday.

Which probably explains his serious expression.  He was a good sport about having his picture taken, sore mouth and all.

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As Thing One’s time in middle school draws to a close and he prepares to start high school, we had planned a sentimental look back, because it has all gone by so quickly and we’re sure high school will be over before we know it as well.  But on the morning of the next-to-last day of school, we got the phone call nobody likes to see on the caller ID:  the school nurse’s office.

During Field Day, Thing One had fallen and his arm wasn’t looking good.  A trip to the doctor and X-rays confirmed that he had broken his wrist.  Thing Two asked if his brother’s arm would fall off and he would grow a new one.  The doctor said that was unlikely, but the arm will be in a splint for one week, followed up by a cast for six weeks.  An exciting start to the summer!

Phone calls to the various scout camps were in order, and happily his cast shouldn’t interfere too much with any of those activities.  (The Philmont doctor suggested wrapping him up in bubble wrap until he arrived safely there, to prevent further injury.)  Cello practice, however, is probably not going to fare as well.

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Editor’s Note: Thing One recently returned from a four-day musical retreat with his school’s senior orchestra held at the Icicle Creek Music Center near Leavenworth, Washington.

Last Thursday the senior orchestra went to Icicle Creek, and they have for more than 5 years, and I came this year. Icicle Creek Music Center is near the German themed town Leavenworth. The snow there is not too powdery or icy, and there is a great view of the mountains.

After unpacking, we went to the main building and played the music we have been practicing: the 3rd movement of the 3rd Bach Brandenburg concerto, the last movement of the Tchaikovsky serenade, and also the Divertimento by Bela Bartok. After rehearsing music and doing sectionals on the music, we went to our cabins, and went to sleep. The next day, we practiced music again, and watched the James Bond movie “From Russia With Love”.

On the third day, Saturday, after playing music (again), we went into Leavenworth and came to a block of German stores. The stores had things like candy (not just German candy), hats (like my coonskin cap), and funny t-shirts. They also had Cuckoo clocks (which all were over $100.00 unfortunately), little statues of gnomes and bears and birds (Oh My!) and of course, Leavenworth magnets. After about an hour of shopping at the stores, the entire orchestra went to a German restaurant, where they had spaghetti and meatballs, and also a band playing German songs, which people (including me) danced to. After that, we went back to our cabins. It was someone in our cabin’s birthday at midnight, so in our cabin (curfew was 10:00) we celebrated with the candy we bought in Leavenworth.

There were awards, too:  I won the prize for best hat with my new coonskin cap.  Icicle Creek was a fun experience, and we also got a lot of work on the pieces done.

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The middle school’s annual autumn concert is the first opportunity of the school year for all the orchestra parents to enjoy the fruits of nagging their children to practice.  It’s an especially exciting time for the parents of cellists and bassists, as we’ve spent the past few months listening to just the bass line of each performance piece — no melody — and have wondered how the complete piece will sound.

Thing One is finishing up his middle school career* in the senior orchestra, and they sounded great.  Even Thing Two sat through the entire concert, which he has never done before, and he was thrilled to see his big brother on stage.  But don’t take our word for it; here are the three pieces they performed (all in Quick Time format):

• Allegro from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by J.S. Bach (15 MB)
  Poor Thing One:  The Gimlet set up the tripod in just the right spot, only to have the cellist in front of Thing One scoot his chair back, blocking our star from view.
• Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni (6 MB)
  The Gimlet relocates and Thing One is revealed.
• Hoedown from Rodeo by Aaron Copeland (8 MB)
  How does one deal with an itchy nose during a performance?  Thing One shows how it’s done.

* Aside:  Can Thing One really be almost a high school student?  Wasn’t he in kindergarten, like, yesterday?

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Just when we left Team Gimlet teetering on the edge of Kilauea (check out what’s been happening since we were there – wow!), Thing One’s homework, cello practice, and musical practice schedule really picked up and has been taking most of our free time. But I’ve resolved to bring the blog up to date. Upgrades are available for the blog and photo gallery programs, so expect a little down time while those are installed. The Gimlet and Thing One went to Walt Disney World for spring break, so look for a post and some photos; meanwhile, Thing Two’s new interest in birds led us to install bird feeders in the yard, which has made bird watchers out of all of us.

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