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Showing posts from June 1, 2011

Magical Moment 488, "Opposite"

I have so many magical moments that I accidentally see from my corner at the piano when I play for the Beginner's Ballet class. Here is another. ~~ The 5 year olds had a substitute teacher, a serious looking, tall Russian man with a thick accent. A bit intimidating compared to their regular, petite ballerina instructor. "How you make  plie ?" He boomed to the little girls. They struggled to understand his words. A few picked up on it though, and they demonstrated a  plie , squatting clumsily in their white tights that sagged on their tiny bodies. They giggled at his funny voice, snickering through their nose behind their hand, as if that would mask their silliness. At this level, the girls were still learning the difference between left and right. It was a 50/50 shot in the dark, and something they weren't too interested in getting it right. "Fiyrst (first), we do combination to za right, zen to other side." He explained. I wanted to tell him

Magical Moment 487, "Favorite"

This is a short story I wrote years ago. I wrote it in high school, then revised it for a college writing class, then about a year ago sent it into an online magazine where it was published. It's one of my favorites and I hope you enjoy it. "I Knew You'd Come"  By Elizabeth Grimes I have the best granny in the world, or so says the homemade, brightly colored, baked clay  clumsily glued to a safety pin “broach” I made for her in first grade. Constantly levelheaded and always sensible, my grandma can be found in the front row of every Christmas play, piano recital, and cheerleading competition, bursting with pride for her grandchildren. Each of her co-workers know by heart the lives of my sisters and I. “Oh!  You’re  Mary’s granddaughter,” they say when she introduces me. “Boy have I heard a lot about you!” She drags every person she can club over the head to one of my boring jazz band concerts or just to listen to me play the piano at Lee’s Restaurant and sip coffee

Magical Moment 486, "Lazy Sunday"

These pictures of Emily the cat pretty much sum up how lazy this Sunday has been. I put a treat right in front of her face, but she couldn't expel the energy to eat it. She wanted it, but she just couldn't muster up the strength. That's about how I felt at 4 in the afternoon when I realized I hadn't eaten anything yet. I was so hungry, but the kitchen was sooo far away. Good thing Eddie offered to take me out tonight. If I can just make it to the bedroom to put on shoes....

Magical Moment 485, "Try to Remember"

After 6 hours of playing piano for ballet rehearsals today, I began to grow weary of my usual song selection. I've spent the last few months building my ballet repertoire and no matter how much I practice, my song list seems to barely increase.  For an Adagio exercise, I flipped through one of my song books that I rarely use for ballet, The Big Broadway Fake Book. I stopped at the first 3/4 song I saw, "Try to Remember." All I knew about this song, was that it's a corny Tom Jones song, but rather than repeat an old song, I decided to just wing this one. As I played the music though, I got caught up in the lyrics written beneath the notes. Maybe it's because we just celebrated Memorial Day. Maybe it's because I saw a photograph recently that triggered a memory. Whatever it was, I was flooded with thoughts of my friend Kevin, an Army Lieutenant who was killed in Iraq 4 years ago. Of course I thought about him on Memorial Day. I remember him on 9/11, the Fourth

Magical Moment 484, "Top of the Rock"

Sitting on the top of the world (Rockefeller Center), you can see many things... The countless remarkable structures that reach towards the sky and make us wonder, "How did they ever  build  those?" "Heights by great men, reached and kept, were not obtained by sudden flight, but while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~~ A picture perfect, lush green park, becomes all the more remarkable when you consider it's surroundings... "Surround yourself with people who believe in you."  -Brian Koslow ~~ A symbol for the Party of the Year, Decade, Century, Millennium (or whatever seems to fit that particular December 31st evening). “But I always say one’s company two’s a crowd, and three’s a party.”  -Andy Warhol  (I wonder what a millions is!) ~~ When you look down, you may just get a little disoriented.  (Those are  regular  sized cars down there, not doll cars). "Never look down to test the g

Magical Moment 483, "Fauna"

I met Fauna  a few days ago  in the National Park where my husband is a Park Ranger. I haven't gone back to see her yet, but I asked Eddie to keep a look out for her. I want to follow her progress, and since the Park is surrounded by an urban area, I want to make sure she stays safe from passing cars.  During one of his late security checks, he was near the parking lot and was shocked to find that he literally almost stepped on her. He was so close he could reach his arm out and touch her if he wanted. Instead, he snapped this picture for me, then carried on. He called me from work to tell me what he saw, but that he hadn't seen the mother.  I was a little worried. It may be hard to tell from this picture, but she is  tiny . Really the size of a dog, and her fur is still fuzzy. So why wasn't her mother with her late at night when the predators are out?! Google, or as I refer to it, my smart best friend, came to the rescue. It turns out that fawns who are less than 3 weeks

Magical Moment 482, "Chase"

A few years ago, I took my nephew, Ethan, to a beach in North Carolina. He was only 3 at the time and it was his first visit to the shore. He was  terrified  in awe of the ocean, and the endless sand was new and fascinating. But above all, he was  most  amazed at the seagulls.  They were  everywhere , and so close too! Why, he could almost reach out and grab one! Well, this became a novel idea and it's exactly what he tried to do. Over and over. It didn't take long for him to learn that they fly away awfully fast, and so he had to be ready to run. He would get close, they would get ready for take off, and then just like that, Ethan would be toddling down the shore at full speed trying to catch that tricky bird. When it flew away, another was right there,  so  near his grasp. He ran up and down the beach all day long and it never occurred to him that he might not catch a seagull after all. And I never told him that it was unlikely. I hope he always thinks he can catch a seagul