As you might imagine, I've recovered from my "horrible, no good, very bad day." (Remember that wonderful children's book by Judith Viorst, Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day...and that marvelous tag line..."I think I'll move to Australia." Love that :) At any rate, the past two very normal days have done wonders to restore my equilibrium. And the weather here...well, no one could paint a more perfect picture of early autumn. I must say, I have loved being a Michigander for the past four months. If only the economy here were as glowing as the climate.
But no talk about depressing things like the economy (or teeth or gynelogical disorders). Instead, here are a few of the things that have improved my mood and my outlook on life:
- A stellar concert last night at the Detroit Symphony, featuring the orchestra's own principal french horn playing Gliere's Concerto, as well as a rousing Leonard Bernstein transcription, and a Sibelius symphony. The DSO is such an exciting orchestra these days, with lots of new, young faces and good energy surrounding the appointment of Leonard Slatkin as music director. It's extra fun for us, because we happen to be friends with another of the horn players, so we occasionally get to "hob nob" with the musicians and hang out around the back door. In addition, Jim and I have both been involved with musical groups that performed as guests with the DSO at Orchestra Hall, and when you do that you get to sign your name on the wall backstage - yep, there's our signatures in black Sharpie, along with everyone from Vladimir Horowitz to Billy Joel. Cool.
- Getting an email totally out of the blue from a high school friend whom I haven't heard from or seen in 27 years...she found me on Facebook.
- Facebook is making me smile because I'm connecting with so many of my former high school students. It's such fun to see where they are in their lives these days.
- And best of all, Brian and Nantana are coming on Wednesday night to spend a few days with us. The prospect of seeing them always makes me feel better.
All in all, a much better day today.
How about you? What's raising your spirits these days?