jiggity jig!

(Don’t know the poem? Well, maybe I’ll rewrite it and give you my oboe player version in a moment.)

It’s good to be home. And safe. The roads weren’t too bad driving to Napa, but coming home was something else. The rain was the sort that doesn’t allow one to see very far … but some fools were still driving with their lights off, which amazes me. I had planned on having a salad somewhere on the way home, planning on finding, as well, free wireless so I could relax for a while and spend some time checking out my favorite blogs. But the bad weather just convinced me to keep driving and get home to avoid any traffic jams that might occur. I managed to do just that until right when I arrived in my very own city. Kind of figures, doesn’t it? And of course the day I remember to bring my camera is the day that snapping pictures would have been pointless. Ah well.

My listening for the trip was of many of my recent emusic purchases. The first was this CD which contains Dvorak’s Serenade for Winds, Enesu’s Dixtuor, and ends with Mladi by Janacek. That nearly got me all the way to Napa, but not quite. It was followed by a Barber CD. As you can see if you visit the link, I heard Capricorn Concerto, which I mentioned earlier, and then went on to hear many works I had never heard prior to this CD purchase. The first was A Hand of Bridge (a nine minute opera), followed by Mutations From Bach. After that it was his Canzonetta for oboe and strings which is incredibly beautiful, and the Intermezzo from Vanessa. I’ve played that opera, but I have to confess I don’t remember it at all. Is that sad? Yes, I suppose so. Finally, from that CD, I heard Fadograph of a Yestern Scene. (What DOES that mean?! Guess I’ll have to read up on it! Because I had room to put two more works on the CD, I added his Summer Music for Woodwind Quintet (played by the Bergen Woodwind Quintetand Dawn Upshaw’s recording of Knoxville, Summer of 1915. (Her recording includes other stunning works as well and I highly recommend it.) Talk about enjoying myself … what a good listen this was! When those were completed I listened for a short time to NPR, but then decided I needed something light to get me through the storm. So Bing Crosby crooned for me until I was nearly home. Then it was news. I could have done without that last choice, but oh well!

Anyway, here I sit, with a bit of clam chowder. Yeah, I was craving salad while on the road, but getting into the cold house convinced me that hot soup would do quite nicely.

And the oboe? The reason for this long trip? The oboe is fantastic! I can’t recommend Mark Chudnow highly enough. He does beautiful work. And he’s a nice guy, too. So if you are looking to have your oboe repaired, or if you are looking to purchase an oboe, or if you need supplies, do check his place out! Napa is a very nice place and you can even spend some time wine tasting or shopping at their outlets (that center is quite close to his place; I skipped it because finances aren’t allowing shopping these days, but eventually I’ll get there!). Next up for repair is the English horn, which has its appointment set in March. I can’t wait to see (and hear) what he does with that, since it has needed a good going over for quite some time.

I did ask Mark if he fixed the oboe case so that every time I opened it I would find a new, good playing reed. He did not. I suppose I can’t have everything.

Note of minor interest: gas is around ten cents cheaper up in Napa.

To Napa, to Napa
to pick up my horn
home again, home again,
tired and worn.

Sorry … I’m not even giving you a second verse. And if I were a true poet I probably would have been able to find something in the second line to rhyme with “jiggity jig” right?
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