Up, up and awaaaaaay!!!

Hawaii, here we come! I can't believe the time has finally arrived. We signed up for a Hawaiian cruise a year ago in October, and tomorrow we will actually be going. We took an Alaskan cruise two years ago that was a dream of a lifetime for both of us - we did feel a little bit entitled to it, since we have never been big spenders on ourselves, but we wanted to do something special before we got too old to enjoy it, and this seemed like something we could actually afford at the time. We had lectures from some well-known people of our LDS culture, we saw some whales, heard some Alaskan folklore and saw a glacier close up even though it was foggy and gloomy that day. The best part of that cruise was meeting another couple we liked who live in a neighboring community, Tony and Marielen. I never thought of going on another cruise, but the internet is a wonderful thing, and somehow I came across this cruise in Hawaii that was very inexpensive and included airfare. I actually talked to Tony and Marielen before I mentioned it to Randy, but everyone was agreeable, so we all signed up. Since we were "saving" so much money, we decided to take each and every side trip that was offered, and by the time all the fees and charges and trips were taken into account, we ended up spending $5000. However, that was for both of us, and it is about $3000 less than what people paid who signed up at a later time. I have had time to research a little bit about Hawaii and our ship, and certainly to dream a little. We paid off the trip about two months ago, so we have been saving up ever since for spending money. We fly out to the islands, then get on the ship to cruise the islands and fly back. We have both worked hard and saved as much as we could by cutting corners wherever we could. Now we are so ready for a good time! Our first day will be at Pearl Harbor, and even though it is a week before December 7, we are really looking forward to visiting the Arizona Memorial. I think it is important to remember that time in history. Then we have a wonderful week full of lovely things to see. Some of my children have not had to wait this long to experience cruising. I am glad for them, but I am sort of glad it took this long for us to get to this point - I think we appreciate it partly because it was so long in coming.

Okay, I'm home alone today - maybe I can get some thoughts together enough to write a little blog. The Orchestra - Nebo Philharmonic Orchestra! We played a concert on October 21st in Nephi and October 24th in Spanish Fork. It is remarkably difficult to get an orchestra organized. I never knew anything about that - I just played violin (started in 5th grade) at school and then college and knew that I loved it. Not enough to major in music or seriously take lessons - just enough to play whenever I had the chance. I made a feeble effort when my kids were little to teach them, but they all hated it. I think even now they don't like it, so it is hard to explain to them how beautiful good violin music is, or how marvelous it is to play in an orchestra and come together to create a beautiful sound, or what kind of effort goes in to creating that performance. Music is so easily accessible today, that I think most people don't realize the magic of a live performance. I know, too, that most people dismiss serious music as being too difficult to enjoy. We lived in Riverton for 15 years total, and most of that time I only picked up my violin to play in church maybe once every couple of years or so. Then I read that Riverton wanted to start a community orchestra, and if we were interested in playing, we should come to the first rehearsal. So I thought, "I could manage to play one night a week!" The kids were pretty much grown, and I thought it might be fun. A bunch of us showed up that first night, and we played a Christmas concert a few months later. Somehow we struggled on, and eventually I became concert master, because of my dependability more than because of talent. When you play in an orchestra, you have to practice, so it began to take more and more of my time. And then I was asked to come to monthly orchestra board meetings to represent the orchestra as concertmaster. By then our conductor was Benjamin Winkler, who, I must confess, I did not like at all when he began leading us. He was too demanding, I thought. At the board meetings I began to realize how much he knew about the "business end" of orchestras. Then we decided to move to Spanish Fork, and I was devastated to have to give up my spot in the Riverton orchestra, even though Ben told me I was welcome to come play any time I wanted. I mentioned to Ben, who was my friend by then, that if I had to I wanted to organize an orchestra in Spanish Fork if there wasn't another orchestra close by, and he said he would help. Eight months later, I contacted the Spanish Fork Arts Council and talked to them about organizing an orchestra, and they actually said, "Yes, here's some money and here's where you can practice." I called Ben, and now he conducts this orchestra as well as the Riverton orchestra, I am the president of the orchestra board and play in the first violin section, and we are gradually becoming known. It really does take a lot of effort to grow an audience. I would go on, but this has taken too long, so I'll sign off for now.