Violin Lesson

 My purple girl in braces on a sunny day is tuning her violin over Facebook with her instructor.  She frowns in concentration and her bangs hang past her eyes.  The grandma violinist tries to channel this rushing spring creek in the proper violin techniques.

The scanty overwintered geranium by the window glows red in the sunshine, and the violin squeaks and grinds out the notes.  I wrestle with embarrassment over my daughter's practice habits, pride at how she picks out the notes by ear, and pleasure over how she has stuck with this instrument.  The lesson is not about me.

"Wrist straight, watch your pinkie."

"Ode to Joy" takes shape.  "One more time, take a deep breath.  Let lots of oxygen in."

The little violinist is honest about what she has practiced and what she has not.  The grandma chides and cheers in turns.  We may be a little exasperating, but today we are also providing a needed distraction.

Witches broom mulberry branches divide the blue sky outside the window, while minuets are pieced together.  Music vies for my girl's attention, competing with worlds that dance in her head.  Sunlight defies the world-care in my gut and teases out a smile.  The woman child on her violin defies my self-imposed busyness and teases out half an hour of sitting, seeing and hearing.  She is so beautiful.

Snow Tubing

 A week ago, we went snow tubing in Indiana.  It was one of Paul's Christmas presents.  He had fun, but he was funny, so laid back about it.  I never saw him go down on his belly.  He seemed to enjoy just flopping down into the seat of the tube and letting the lane manager get him started down the slope.

It was above freezing and mostly sunny.  After a few rides, Steve and some of the kids shed a few layers of clothing because they were overheating.

Petra enjoyed the exhilaration of whisking down the hill.  She didn't love dragging the tube back to the escalator belt, and became tired and thirsty sooner than the rest of us.  I think she was also reveling in the independence of directing herself around. 

We were allowed to grip handles on each others tubes and go down the hill in chains of up to five people long.  Nathan rode tandem the first three or four times before he worked up the courage to fly solo.  Once he tried it by himself, he never looked back.  He would get to the bottom of the slope and start right back up whether there was anybody he knew around or not.

Julia has been hungry for some high adventure activities, so tubing was right up her alley.  I think she was the first one to fly down the hill on her belly.  She did keep an eye out on Nathan after we all had a snack break.  She led him to some newly opened lanes when they became available.  While tubing, she was also eyeing the ski slopes and agreed with Petra and me that we should try those someday.