the best day ever

Yesterday was seriously the greatest. Actually, the entire weekend was pretty dang good. Had a nice day off on Friday. Started off at the children's home where I had a pretty good time, did a few errand type things and ended up at a youth hockey tournament in the evening with several friends. It was great people watching, the kids were really decent, and there was great company of course. Saturday was cleaning, the gym, a movie (In Bruge...very good) with some friends and a quiet evening at home. Sunday brought its usual business, followed by a potluck and a beautiful nap. Rounded off the evening with Ignite, some sweet conversations afterward, and then Hit or Miss back at our house with friends.

Yep, and I'm not even to yesterday yet!

I had decided last week that I wanted to get some people together to go on a hike on President's day. After doing a bit of research I decided that Sugarloaf was our best option. So a group of five of us met at the grocery store at 10am, bought our lunch together, and then headed out to the park. It was an absolutely perfect day for a hike. Nice and sunny, but plenty cool. The 2.5 miles to the summit were definitely a work out, but nothing too strenous. About 2/3 of the way up we stopped for a while and took in the sights. We had climbed above the cloud cover, so it was beautiful and sunny. The clouds were covering the valleys like a blanket. Some of the group took off to another poing to explore, while Ashley and I lay down in a field and just relaxed. We were probably there for twenty minutes, and only two bikers came by during that time. Beside that, it was just us and the sound of the wind swirling about us. It was so beautiful. When do you ever get to lay in a secluded field, a few hundred feet above your every day life and just drink it all in?

We made it to the summit at about 12:30 and had our lunch there. I have never had a bad meal on a hike. It's probably due to the fact that you're ravenously hungry. We relaxed a bit more on the top and then began our decent, down around the other side of the ridge. All in all we were gone for five hours. It was a beautiful hike with even better company. We had great conversation and great times of silence. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

But there was more!

That evening I was able to see the SR Symphony with a woman from church. On the program was Henri Dutilleux (a contemporary French composer whose style was definitely 20th century and intense), Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2, Faure's Masques et bergamasques, and Debussy's La Mer. We got there early to catch the pre-concert talk. I had forgotten how much I love this stuff. Honestly, it made me want to go back and read my music history textbooks (which I definitely didn't read at all when I was doing my undergrad). It's all so interesting. And it was so inspiring to hear the conductor and his interviewer (who I assume was an orchestra member) talk about the various pieces. The passion they have was so evident, and it was amazing to hear about how these pieces inspire and challenge them. There is so much depth to music. Just when you think you've reached the bottom layer you find it peals back to reveal more. Well, that's how it is with truly great music anyway.

My favorite by far was the Beethoven. The soloist was absolutely amazing. Honestly I cannot put into words all the emotions the music brought up for me. Being at the symphony and hearing something of such power, depth, beauty and intensity brings something out that I cannot begin to explain. All that I can say is that it makes me more aware, more alive. Music is so powerful, and it's so important. All the arts are so important. And it totally breaks my heart that 90% of the people at the performance last night were over 60. I saw a couple of people my age and a few kids. I think that one of the biggest tragedies of our educational system is the removal of arts programs. The arts - creativity - is one of the things that makes us most human. What are we left with if we don't teach our children how to be artists? Do we want them all to be masters of production, nothing more? Like little money making machines? Does everything have to be about efficiency and productivity? What about emotion, beauty and truth?

I didn't think this was going to turn into a political rant, but this is one large reason why No Child Left Behind needs to be either removed or completely overhauled (removed has my vote). So, get out in nature, support the arts, and vote democrat!