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.