It was a great success, judging by the numbers of fellow cyclists and bikes in the bike rack at Ordway! S. bit the dust going around the roundabout, but the drivers were wary and watchful and several people called out to ask if she was okay.

She was, tough kid! K. has developed a lot of stamina; she pedaled almost all the way up High School Road without stopping. And A. did great on the trail-a-bike, despite being fearful at first. It’s a big shift for him to go from the completely passive bike trailer to the tandem, where he has to hang on, pedal, and do his bit to keep balanced.

Later in the day, A. and I walked back to help with Ordway Gives Back day. Bright, sunny, and hot! Tonight, surveying the damage, we range from sun-kissed to downright sun-scorched. Time to keep the sunblock handy.

My lesson with C.F. was encouraging yesterday; sometimes I just have to consider my lessons with him as intensive practice. Whether I’m ready to acquire new skills or really need to go over and over certain passages, I count the hour well spent if I’ve been making music.

Oh, and I wanted to show you what happens when you don’t practice enough:

I think the spider web doesn’t show up, but boy, this little guy was trying to weave a fast one on me!

I took the girls to BPA’s current musical The Secret Garden yesterday for Mother’s Day. It’s a beautiful production with a very talented local cast. The set was inspired by the Little & Lewis gardens here on B.I. Which reminds me, I’ve got to go see their gardens!

The Treehouse Cafe in its lovely location next to the Lynwood Theater is one of my favorite places. They serve a really good Cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing; unless you like lox in thick-cut hunks, stay away from the bagel and lox sandwich. (Maybe they thought extra lox is a good idea, Seattle and all?)

We tried San Carlos on Friday (when they’re open for lunch), and they served superb grilled halibut tacos, the best B’s ever had. My order was quite good too, a really satisfying grilled veggie quesadilla with goat cheese. We’ll be back for sure.

Last weekend we took the kids to eat at Aladdin’s Palace in Silverdale. It’s mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine, so I loved just the idea of it. We ordered the appetizer platter, which included pita bread, hummus, baba ganoush, spiced cauliflower, tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves, and falafel. S. got an order of soup (lentil and fava bean, I think), and we all shared an order of chicken shish kebab.

The fact that we were sharing everything isn’t because their portions are too big, it’s that everything was so incredibly good (and oh yeah, the kids had eaten a lot of candy at a party earlier). The host was really attentive and wanted to know if everything was perfect — I felt a little as if I were a guest at someone’s home. That’s a good thing. On the way out, their Lebanese chef heard B. speaking French, so he and B. conversed a little in their second tongues. As for my tongue, it’s been happy for days. I can’t wait to go back!

When they’re not in my garden or snacking on my buds, I’m quite fond of the island deer. We came upon two fawns while we were walking on the back pathway of St. Barnabas church yesterday, as they were thoughtfully trimming the weeds around a stop sign.

Speaking of St. Barnabas, we attended a remarkable organ and trumpet concert there last night. The church itself is like a little Gothic gem, with its polished gleaming wood and red brick interior contrasting with the blue coolness of the stained glass windows.

One of the side windows was open during the first half of the concert, and one of my favorite moments was hearing the birds chirping in the gardens during Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Minor — an unorchestrated and utopian touch.

Mel Butler was the organist and Robert Gale was the trumpeter, (such an appropriate last name, don’t you think?) and together they performed beautifully.

I was asked to put together a children’s piece for the island’s upcoming IFC Music Festival, and here’s the song I chose (I absolutely adore the UU hymnbook, where this and tons of other American poets’ work can be found):

In Time of Silver Rain

In time of silver rain
The earth
Puts forth new life again,
Green grasses grow
And flowers lift their heads,
And over all the plain
The wonder spreads
Of life,
of life,
of life!
In time of silver rain
The butterflies
Lift silken wings
To catch a rainbow cry,
And trees put forth
New leaves to sing
In joy beneath the sky
As down the roadway
Passing boys and girls
Go singing, too,
In time of silver rain
When spring
And life
Are new.

–Langston Hughes
Music is by George Walker, and it’s amazingly, hauntingly beautiful. I think the kids singing this will be perfect.

S’s class is putting on a marine science play soon, and she’s got the great role of Marsh Wren. While she had visions of full MarshWrenRegalia, we whittled it down and I cobbled together this mask this afternoon:

This template is quite helpful for any other bird roles or say, an avian masquerade party!

Great lesson today. We worked through the first piece in Suzuki book 4, a sonatina from the classical period. We’re moving out of the baroque stuff and into some melodic, sonorous pieces, so I’m working on developing a rich, bel canto quality to my tone. This classical music, courtly music, is like the era of construction rather than deconstruction. Everything beautiful and measured.

Double stops are gradually getter easier, though they’re still tricky if one of the notes isn’t an open string.

I learned something about dynamics today: the alternating piano and forte parts are called terrace dynamics.

Our outing to Fay Bainbridge State Park coincided with a great low tide this afternoon, which gave us lots of squishy dark silt and little warm tide pools to play in.
B’s handprint:

S. and friend:

Isn’t that particular corruption of asparagus delightful?

What’s that white shoot? A spear I guess.

This afternoon I put in 25 asparagus plants, and I found they take a lot of room in the garden. I split them into two beds, and I’m interested to see which bed produces better. These are one-year-old crowns, so harvest time will be three springs out.

But then! All the sparrow grass I can eat!