A Rare Day

Today was one of those rare and sacred days where I had absolutely no agenda. No where I must be, and nothing I had to do. Since today was my last official day of winter break, I savored every moment.

I have been nursing a serious case of the sniffles the past two days, so I did not set my alarm for this morning. I slept until nearly 10:00- *Gasp*! My body needed the rest, and I know I will not have the treat of sleeping in so late into the day for quite some time. Also, I decided I would stay in my jim-jams until it reached afternoon. I brewed a huge cup of echinacea tea, and settled in on the couch with my kitties and trusty laptop to watch cartoons and surf. The I took a very long, hot shower, making sure to take the time to soak in the steam.

My favorite feel good tea: I am not sure if it is the combination
of peppermint and star anise or the adorable koala bear.
Image courtesy: Celestial Seasonings

I spent the afternoon reveling in my craft. A large portion of the afternoon was spent practicing for the opera The Marriage of Figaro. While it sounds like something I had to do, honestly it was not. I was tickled to keep working on Mozart's deliciously silly comedic opera. Also, I spent time working on a beautiful selection from the Mass in B minor by J.S. Bach. A supremely talented mezzo-soprano at school asked me to accompany her on the piece, which features a mezzo voice and oboe. I was flattered that she asked, and of course I am thrilled to get the opportunity to work with her.

As any good oboist would do, I tinkered with my growing crop of reeds. I tied two more and spent a little time scraping on others. Nothing near playable yet, but I can feel a good batch at hand. Finally, I gave my oboe some love. The keys were polished, corks cleaned, the wood wiped down with soft linen, and the joints were lightly oiled. A very productive afternoon at a very leisurely pace.

A lavender candle and lotus blossom incense accompany a mellow evening.

When my Muffin returned home we made a very complicated gourmet dinner of grilled cheese with avocado sandwiches and creamy tomato soup. He has been battling the sniffles as well, so we brewed up some hot liquids and cozied up for the evening. After a bit of reading, I think I shall turn in for the night. What a splendid nothing kind of day!

What do (or don't) you do on your nothing days?
Merry writings.

Fruits of My Frustration OR Rude Neighbors Are Good for Reed Making

I managed to muster up some post-PRAXIS motivation yesterday to do some much needed oboe reed maintenance. Initially I had planned on only shaping about a half dozen pieces of cane and tying 3 blanks while I did some laundry. My concentration was low, and I was looking forward to slipping into a cane-shaping trance. As I let some cane soak, I wandered down to the laundry room in my building. There is only one washer and dryer for the 8 units, so I am not surprised that someone else has laundry in the machines. It is a Saturday, afterall.


About a half an hour later, and well before I got myself too involved in reed making, I found my way down to the laundry room. The washer was open. Sweet! I throw in a load and head up stairs to get to work. Once I am done shaping my 6 pieces of cane I decided to pop into the laundry room and see if the dryer is vacant. Nope. Well, not big deal- the clothes in the dryer are still warm. I tell myself, I will just keep working on reeds until my laundry gets dried. Nearly 3 hours later, 9 pieces of cane, and 8 tied-initial scrape-tip started reeds later, my neighbor has yet to claim their clothes. Now I am feeling less than congenial. Usually I will not take someone's laundry out of the machines and put mine in, but I felt I had waited long enough and did just that.

While my laundry was finally drying, I went back to my reed maintenance. As I was sharpening my reed knives and re-organizing my tool box, I could not help but worry about the laundry. I begin to wonder... Will my neighbor be really upset, or will she realize she left her things in a shared space a bit too long? Would she do something to my laundry? Oh, don't do anything to my green sweater- I love it! No, she won't be upset. I reassure myself, I doubt she'll even come down to get her laundry before mine is done. Sure enough, she did not retrieve her clean laundry. I quickly stuffed in back in the dryer and scooted back to my unit. How ridiculous of me.

My *Helper*: Carmen waits for me to turn my back
so she can steal a spool of thread

On the bright side, my determination to keep working on reeds until my laundry was dry was a rather fruitful decision. At the end of this little adventure I have 8 reeds in progress. Look how much happier my reed case looks! Actually, I am feeling motivated to do even more reeds today. Perhaps I will have an almost full case before the semester start. Woo!


What is your next project?