Cache of the Day - New Season for the Symphony

The Bloomington Symphony Orchestra began its 38th season this past month, and I am enjoying my ninth year playing flute with the BSO.

We started our season this year by playing at the local mall. As part of our community outreach, we look to playing in venues that will allow us to reach potential audience by going to places our audience goes ("If Muhammad won't come to the mountain....").

Not only was our audience fairly large and diverse, we were also able to show them that we are not a "stuffy" symphony. Our program was all about PIRATES (notice my tattoo on my arm - aarhh!!), and we played music from "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Pirates of Penzance" and many more seafaring ditties.

Before the concert, we introduced young audience members to the instruments of the orchestra. I had my flute and piccolo, and several children had the opportunity to blow (or they tried to - no one actually made a sound). Taylor participated by showing off her pirates beard.

It was a great start to the season. Check out the BSO site for upcoming concerts. Would love to see you there!

Cache of the Day - The Best Place to Live

I guess I left my heart in San Francisco and I didn't even know it. Seems the Trolley City is the best match for me in terms of places to live, followed by Boston, DC, New York, and Los Angeles. I must be a "city girl".

Austin was #86 (that would have TOO freaky if it made the top!).

Where should YOU be? Take this quiz to find YOUR list of "Best Places to Live".

Cache of the Day - Festival Fun

Saturday was a full day of festivals and the difference between them was radical!

Taylor marched in the Persimmon Festival parade. The Persimmon Festival lasts all week in Mitchell, Indiana, and is quite the event for the small town of 4,500. This was the last day of the event, which includes midway rides, arcade games, and lots of "fair food". Persimmon pudding and ice cream - and anything else you can think of that you can create with this fruit - is everywhere. The competition is fierce for the best pudding.




The first year I experienced the parade was right after we had lived in California and we had just gone to the Rose Parade in Pasadena. As I stood on the streets of this small town, watching the firetrucks and tractors drive by, sirens and horns a-honking, I had to laugh to myself. But I have since appreciated the charm and the small-town atmosphere. Here are some shots of Mitchell friends on the street, as well as some shots of the parade. Taylor is the clarinet-player.

Later that night, we headed into Bloomington for the Lotus Festival. This is a VERY different event. Going into its thirteenth year, the Lotus Festival brings the world to Bloomington by booking musicians - bands, vocalists, unusual instruments - from countries everywhere. The diversity of the musicians and the diversity of the crowd add to the energy of this event. We saw just about every group (albeit sometime for only one or two songs). My favorite was the a capella group Chic Gamine and the improvisational oud and vocals of Dhafer Youssef. The Tuvan throat singing of Chirgikhin was also pretty cool.

A perfect day for a festival!