Blown Away.

No, I'm not talking about the weather although it's been snowing the past two days. I truly love the snow and there's nothing more spectacular than watching the snow fall gently outside my apartment. It's about the simple pleasure of life! I did drive in the snow kind of early this morning because the 2nd Sunday group sang at John's church in Norwalk. It took me 25 minuntes to get there when normally it would take 15 minutes. Driving in the snow can be and is fun as long as there's no ice underneath it.

When I said blown away, I was talking more about being blown away by the DM Symphony performance yesterday evening. There were two parts to the symphony performance, and the first part featured this 20 year old lady who is the student of the legendary Itzhak Perlman for the past six years. She played a wonderful piece by Bruch. Talk about being mesmerized by her violin playing. It was magnificent to say the very least. Before the performance, John and I attended the talk about the music that would be played later in the evening. The lady did a very good job explaining the piece and letting us know what to pay attention to. She mentioned that Mahler's 6th Symphony which would be played after the intermission was a long piece. I learned quite a lot about Mahler and his compositions. Needless to say, I was looking forward to it.

The Mahler piece lasted close to 90 minutes broken up into four movements. I was downright in a trance when listening to the second and third movement. The best word to describe the piece would be robust and a little haywire at times, but all in a very good way. The conductor, when he spoke to us said you'll either like it or you won't. I liked it lots. John on the other hand did not like it and thought the piece went on forever. A difference in opinion I guess! I'm planning on borrowing a cd of this piece from the libarary in the not too distant future to listen to it again. Wow, what a great way to end a Saturday night. By the time we got out (which was close to 10:30PM), snow had already started falling and it was one of those light snow that you can very easily brush off the car. I've said it before and will say it again, there's nothing like listening to any classical piece live. Granted, listening to a cd of any piece would be good, but if the opportunity ever presents itself, go to a live performance. I have a much deeper appreciation for classical music now than ever before and there's still so much more to learn and listen.

Later this evening, the RE group will be meeting and I'll be showing them the movie, "Shawshank Redemption" which in my books is one of the best movies ever. I have probably seen it no less than five times, but I still love it and am mesmerized by it each time I see it. Talk about another great way to end the evening. Life is good ... actually life is very, very good!