Sunday 3 February 2013

Goodbye to January 2013 - Monday 28th - Friday 1st

 A moment's pause to look back over the last week..



Actually, much of it is a bit of a blur.

I was given a "One-Word-a-Day" Diary for my birthday; I thought that I would have no difficulty keeping that up! How wrong could one be! I stalled out on 8th January...

 
Every day involves loading the car with the instruments that I will need - a selection chosen from  djembe, repinique (for samba), extra surdo mallets and items from my junk samba kit to pad out the equipment at one or other school, ukulele, descant recorder, treble recorder.

Then there is the rest of the stuff; amplifier, lap top, mobile phone (left to charge overnight and therefore at risk of being forgotten), packed lunch (flask of cuppa-soup, flask of porridge, banana, smoothie, water bottle, yogurt and a spoon), rhythm flash cards, mp3 player (which I sometimes listen to at night and so is also at risk of being left on the bedside table), my "how-to-play-samba" book  as I am forever getting mixed up between all the rhythms, intros, breaks, the relevant file of paperwork for the different roles I do - sometimes I am employed by the county (Mon/Tue/Wed - purple file), sometimes as a freelancer (Fri - wodge of sheet music), sometimes as a class music teacher (Thurs - green file).





Before I leave, I sometimes try and load the crock-pot. I've replaced the small one for a family sized one, so a pot of food will provide a couple of days of meals. (2 packets of diced beef or pork or lamb, a couple of sliced carrots, and onion and a three or four chopped sticks of celery, mixed herbs, salt and pepper, and stock, or 2 jars of curry sauce, or 2 cans of chopped tomatoes - give it all a stir and set on auto, leave to cook until done; bung a couple of potatoes in the oven or zap some rice to serve with it)



 Once I set off, I travel between the schools, a round trip of between fifty and sixty miles on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thursdays and Fridays are different: those are the days I spend in just one school. It's not all go go go: if I am lucky with the traffic, and haven't filled time with chores, I can stop off at my favourite cafes en route for a coffee and a toasted teacake or croissant... and rattle away on the laptop getting the "paper work" up to date.

Once I'm home, I'll start teaching piano and theory pupils between 4 and 6:30.

So, why am I not insane, mad, crazy, stupefied by all this rushing around?

It's because the skies are so beautiful, the bare branches of the trees make such interesting shapes, the birds are singing, I think I can just see the first flush of green on the willow trees  by the hump-back bridge, children come up individually and thank me for the lesson, the child who couldn't manage the chords/notes/rhythm has stuck with it and overcome the problem, the class at last pulls together, the irritatingly cheeky little brat behaves in an exemplary manner...

It's because my mother is making so much progress in so many ways, because my father is looking happier, because everything seems to be working out for when she returns home to their flat in maybe a week or so... (fingers crossed).

It's because I am so aware of how fortunate I am with my family and friends all around to help and encourage and support me.



 

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