Ride the Wind

So, it's been awhile.

It felt good to come home today. There were a few freshly-laundered shirts on the bed, candles burning in the dining room, the smell of toasted bread and chicken heating in the oven. Sinatra cooing softly over the XM-radio, all the lights on the first floor burning bright. The house is so clean when I'm not in it - I'm like the Green Man only instead of flowers dirty clothes spring up at my feet. Mum indicated that dirty clothes in bags begin to literally decompose - news to me - so I'm trekking to the laundromat tomorrow night for my first adventure there after 11 PM. Spoiled doesn't quite communicate it. I lived next to a washer and dryer, literally right next to them, and still couldn't bring myself to make the trip from the bedroom 10 feet out and to the left. I used one bottle of fabric softener in a year. My water bill was $17.49 a month, which boiled three boxes of spaghetti and washed me off twice a week. Delicious.

Back at the homestead until August 1st, living with Mom, the whole bit. It's been refreshing in a way I didn't expect. I know who to be here. No real questions. The best part has been the silky black piano that I can play whenever I want. I missed so much the ability to create sound, real sound, loud music that shook the floorboards with my stomping foot.

Had a great trip to Rochester. Left early Friday morning, arrived Friday afternoon. We had our first lesson from 4-7. Tony was really pleased to see me I think, as I was him - and man did we have fun at the piano. I played through all 12 pieces I had prepared, making notes of each of his comments afterwards. He told me later in the trip that the key to effective teaching could be summed up in three words: What, How, and Why. It's all in the questions - first you find out what the composer is doing, what the music is telling you. Then, the mechanics, the structure. How is it being communicated. Lastly, why? Why do it that way?

I took he and his wife to dinner at P.F. Chang's, which is what happens to Chinese food when you let a Californian cook it. Dark cherry walls, dim, domed lights, resin-cast statuary at the front door, five-dollar bowls of soup. We had three waiters, and each seemed to move faster than the other. We were bodies in the river eating up a booth, but the wontons were the best I've ever had, and don't ever let anyone tell you that a fried banana sounds unappetizing.

Every time I'm with the Caramia's I find something new, a few hours every two years like a lifetime of lessons. Exponential improvement. He was pleased, even helped me finish my new rag! He called it "one of the best contemporary rags... there's nothing else like it." He even gave it a name: "Ride the Wind," and when I played it for Mum tonight, she said it sounded like a "western rag... You hop in the saddle and ride off into the sky." Sweet. I'm still nervous for Sedalia, but it will be a blast. Mr. C told me not just to have fun, but to LOOK like I was having fun.

In other words, fly casual.

1200 miles later and the Honda needs new brakes. 1200=$120 in gas. I'm a fan of Peanut M&M's. I got a sour one and almost drove off the road trying to spit it up.

I know, I know. I missed you too.

Martin