I started January in a state of anxiety—my boss was going to be out of town for much of the month, and for the first time I would be running things. I remember I kept telling myself that I was ready, but I still didn’t feel that I fit in on a personal level. Thankfully the days went quietly without disaster, though it would be some time before I really felt a part of the business. In another part of my life, however, friendships and kindness opened up to me as I truly began to integrate with my church family.
February and March were peaceful. I went to see a marvelous play written by my good friend Meredith Levy, “She Made Space,” a one-woman show about finding one’s place in the world and in culture. If you have the chance to see it, I highly recommend it. In what is becoming a tradition, I took my sister to the movies for her birthday. She already has her selection picked out for next year.
April was full of friendships—breakfast with girlfriends (and a baby!) one day, dinner the next. We watched Doctor Who together when it reappeared, always a noble pursuit. There was music this month, too, as I sang Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. It was an extraordinary opportunity, particularly the performance we gave at Liberty University in their new concert hall. There is a moment in the fourth movement of the piece, when the orchestra reduces down to the deepest instruments—the upright bass in particular, a dear favorite of mine—playing the main theme as softly as possible, and it was exquisite. Then, when the choir entered, and the bass voices rang out in triumph to the vaulted ceiling…I can try, but there are no words for how beautiful it was.
At the end of April, our church broke ground on our new church building, and May saw the beginning of site prep at our property. I was delighted that the property lies along my route to work, and all this year I have been watching the place that will be a home and a haven to me take shape. (We have roof panels now!) May was also a month of graduation for two dear friends, one from her undergrad program, the other from master’s. I was and am so proud of them both.
I spent a portion of June housesitting for a family I often help in this way. They have horses, so it’s harder to find someone who can take care of the place. Would it be called farmsitting, then? I always enjoy it; it’s like a vacation, in a way. Then, at the end of the month, I took a long weekend and drove up to Washington, DC and Baltimore. I took some time in DC to play the tourist and visit with my uncles in Alexandria, which was simply a delight. After that it was onward to Baltimore, where I spent a few days celebrating the wedding of a friend. Have you ever noticed that true friendships are the ones you can sink back into, like into a warm bath, and find that nothing has changed? I am grateful for that.
July, my birthday month, was hot and wonderful. I was celebrated first with roller coasters at King’s Dominion, then with Taming of the Shrew at the Blackfriars, the Shakespeare theatre in Staunton, VA. The Blackfriars is one of my very favorite places, and the shows performed there by the American Shakespeare Center are marvelous. Less marvelous was the moment when I bid farewell to a dear friend of mine, who set off for Boston for a year. I have missed seeing her regularly as I used to.
Midway through July, a friend talked me into taking a trip out to Utah in August, so with far less planning than I normally put into trips, I flew out with her to Salt Lake City. The Rocky Mountains are beautiful—I couldn’t take my eyes off them for the whole first day. We went hiking up one of them to a gorgeous waterfall. It’s strange how when you have exerted yourself for such a view, it seems more wonderful than it would have if you had driven up to it. You have earned it, somehow. We also went to a Shakespeare festival in Cedar City and saw the stark beauty of the red rock canyons on the way back. Much of the rest of the trip was spent in hanging out with friends, which I think should take up more time on vacations then it usually does. After all, what is the point of any vacation if you don’t get any rest? My one regret was that I missed the performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The three of us shared a stomach bug during the week we were there, and that was my day to be sick. Another time, maybe.
In early September my sister came into town with my mother, and we three went dress shopping for her wedding this spring. She found a beautiful dress in the first shop we went into, and they even managed to scrounge up a dress for me, as well. Later in the month I made a (very) humble dinner for a friend’s birthday, and we started watching “Outlander” weekly, which is a brilliant show filled with drama and Scotsmen.
I celebrated Sukkot with friends in October, the festival of waving branches and building Jew forts. I mean no disrespect, of course—it was a fascinating evening, and the music played there was some of the loveliest I’ve heard. October was also the month that I selflessly offered to help a friend in her new business, becoming one of her massage clients. I haven’t regretted it—she is gracious and very good at what she does, and it allows me to keep in touch with her. At the end of the month the RSO took hold of me again, and I sang with the choir in a concert celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Lots of German in that program, and some truly beautiful music. More music happened in November with the same choir’s performance of selections from Handel’s Messiah, a piece that is truly unique and wonderful.
December, as ever, was devoured by Christmas, although I did everything I could to avoid the music (it took three audiobooks to get me through the season). Performing Christmas music, of course, is different from hearing it ad nauseum on the radio. I enjoyed the RSO’s holiday performances very much. At the yearly Pops performance in the Salem Civic Center, a monster of a concert, the Virginia Tech sousaphone players joined us for a delightful show called “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Hokie.” Imagine a kickline of people playing instruments about the size of cars. It was beautiful. Just as wonderful, though not as well-advertised, was the first performance of my own little children’s choir on the second Sunday in Advent. It was their idea to sing, not mine, and I was so proud of them for doing it and doing it well. After that, there was nothing to do but find Christmas presents for my loved ones and celebrate the reason for the season.
Now here I am, gifted and grateful, my heart warm and my toes cold. In this drafty little house, my home of more than two years now, I am content. What will come in 2018, I do not know, but I refuse to be afraid of it. Today was a good day, and I hope for many more to come. I hope that for you, as well. See you next year.
