Always an Adventure

She came home from school like this.  There’s always something crazy happening with this kidlet.

For example, on Wednesday, she played her violin at two important recitals:  a solo piece at the first recital, followed by a difficult trio with another violin and cello at the second recital.  She was dressed in an elegant long black skirt, a fancy solid black shirt, black tights, and a delicate necklace. Her hair was braided in a special way.  She looked elegant and professional.  On stage she wore black dress shoes, but until that moment?  Until she got onstage she was running around the music department at our local university in her concert black with purple dinosaur slippers.  (Somehow I didn’t get a picture because we were rushing like crazy to get to the recital from YaYa’s oboe lesson).

Let me tell you, it lightened the mood for all those kids who might have been having a little bit of performance anxiety before the recital.  It lightened the mood for her mother, who was accompanying her onstage and who was definitely having second thoughts about the decision to do public accompanying.

Right before she played her solo piece, she was supposed to look over at me at the piano so I would know when to start.  Her demeanor on stage was perfect, professional.  She has beautiful stage presence.  The girl just doesn’t get rattled.  But every time we practiced she would look over at me with a demon possessed snarl on her lips and a crazy look in her eye, and inevitably I would BURST out in howling laughter because it was just so . . . wrong.