Holding the Fort
Today I took my parents to Seattle to board their cruise ship. They're taking a week long cruise to Alaska on the Norwegian Cruise Line. The ship was enormous! I can't believe anything that huge can actually float. Anyway, I assume they got off alright 'cause I didn't hear from them again. They were pretty excited. My dad has dreamed of going to Alaska for a long time. It's his "last frontier" -- the only state he hasn't been to. My mom's not as thrilled about the Alaska part, but she did get more excited about the cruise itself! If you think of it, please tuck in a prayer for their safety and a wonderful trip.
So here I am holding the fort. I had the opportunity to go with them, but I declined. Alaska doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me, and threesome vacations just don't hold the same attraction when you're 26. But then on the way home I was wondering why I didn't go with them! I mean, how many more chances will I have to go on a cruise or go to Alaska? Expenses paid! So besides missing my parents and being lonely, I'll probably wallow in regret all week.
I played at an outdoor wedding this evening. It was a beautiful, warm day, and the location was perfect. I didn't know it was going to be an outdoor wedding till I got there. They changed their minds due to the weather. Well, playing the harp outdoors has a sort of romantic charm to it, but I'm never real crazy about it. For one thing, I was on the grass under this huge tree. Great, that means dropping bugs and stuff. When the spider crawls up my harp toward me or the ant skitters across my page, it simply isn't proper to jump and scream. One must continue playing without a hint of concern. Just swat off the trespassing vermin between songs. I played the longest bridal processional I've ever played because the bride was coming from a distance. Must have been about three minutes (to infinity and beyooooond!!!). Sometime during this foreverness, a creepy crawler (hopefully an ant) found it's way up my leg and was tickling behind my knee. Aaagh! Then the breeze occasionally got a little frisky and turned my page for me. I was so nervous that would happen during the bridesmaid processional, but it didn't. Phew!
But the most annoying thing was this teenage boy that leaned against the tree near me and just stared. He was there when I was tuning and setting up. I glanced over and there he was staring at me. I pretended I didn't notice and ignored him. I really didn't know what else to do! He stayed there for most of the prelude and then wandered back after the ceremony. Occasionally he took a picture. It was really unnerving. I didn't know if he found harp music totally enthralling (he looked more like a drum fan) or if he thought I was the most beautiful specimen of womanhood he'd ever seen. Ha! Most probably the harp. His dad casually explained afterwards that his son was a musician. Ah. On retrospect, I should have smiled and said something friendly to the poor kid, but at the time, I was a little annoyed at being stared at.
Oh, well, another day in the life of a musician.
So here I am holding the fort. I had the opportunity to go with them, but I declined. Alaska doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me, and threesome vacations just don't hold the same attraction when you're 26. But then on the way home I was wondering why I didn't go with them! I mean, how many more chances will I have to go on a cruise or go to Alaska? Expenses paid! So besides missing my parents and being lonely, I'll probably wallow in regret all week.
I played at an outdoor wedding this evening. It was a beautiful, warm day, and the location was perfect. I didn't know it was going to be an outdoor wedding till I got there. They changed their minds due to the weather. Well, playing the harp outdoors has a sort of romantic charm to it, but I'm never real crazy about it. For one thing, I was on the grass under this huge tree. Great, that means dropping bugs and stuff. When the spider crawls up my harp toward me or the ant skitters across my page, it simply isn't proper to jump and scream. One must continue playing without a hint of concern. Just swat off the trespassing vermin between songs. I played the longest bridal processional I've ever played because the bride was coming from a distance. Must have been about three minutes (to infinity and beyooooond!!!). Sometime during this foreverness, a creepy crawler (hopefully an ant) found it's way up my leg and was tickling behind my knee. Aaagh! Then the breeze occasionally got a little frisky and turned my page for me. I was so nervous that would happen during the bridesmaid processional, but it didn't. Phew!
But the most annoying thing was this teenage boy that leaned against the tree near me and just stared. He was there when I was tuning and setting up. I glanced over and there he was staring at me. I pretended I didn't notice and ignored him. I really didn't know what else to do! He stayed there for most of the prelude and then wandered back after the ceremony. Occasionally he took a picture. It was really unnerving. I didn't know if he found harp music totally enthralling (he looked more like a drum fan) or if he thought I was the most beautiful specimen of womanhood he'd ever seen. Ha! Most probably the harp. His dad casually explained afterwards that his son was a musician. Ah. On retrospect, I should have smiled and said something friendly to the poor kid, but at the time, I was a little annoyed at being stared at.
Oh, well, another day in the life of a musician.
posted by Kristi | 9:44 PM
9 Comments:
You probably didn't have an extra hand, but the best cure to staring people is to start picking your nose. That should get rid of him. Tuck that away for the future.
Ahh, don't worry about it. If some teenage guy was staring at me while I was playing the harp, I'd be abit unnerved too :)
Glad to hear they got on the ship safely! That trip sounds like so much fun! I am looking forward to hearing details from them!
And interesting to hear the details of the problems of playing at an outside wedding! You managed to survive though, so that is good!
I think you did the right thing to not go. It might be a bit boring to not have someone your age to do stuff with. It probably would have made you more aware of your single state, which is never fun. I hope the week fills up for you and you don't get too lonely. Wish I could pop in on you in the evenings and watch movies or cross-stitch and drink shakes. :-(
It just couldn't be your luck that Mr. Talldarkandhandsome O'Eligibletwentysomething would lean against the tree and stare, hah? Spose they don't teach you how to handle stuff like staring teenagers in harp lessons. By the by, I've got Mon-Fri off. If you want to drink shakes or watch movies at MY house, I'll be here!
I don't know anonymous, that's a good way of getting rid of peers, but probably not staring teenagers...
But Kristi, are you SURE he was only a teenager? Maybe he just looks young for his age, and he's really 26. The next time something like this happens, I think you should ask him out, and see if there's anything to this "most beautiful specimen of womanhood" theory.
Thank you, Jill, for the affirmation. You're probably right. And thank you, Lori, for the shake and movie invite! I'll keep that in mind, but I'll probably be pretty occupied all week.
RedSox, I'm quite sure he was a teenager. :-) And if I were the asking out type, I'd be kind of nervous to test out that "theory"! Angelo's got a powerful attraction all his own.
OH! that crass and immature anonymous comment was me. Not one of my better moments...thought I'd better own up to it so the right person gets dropped in everyone's estimation. I've never actually tried it. It just popped into my head one day as a possible solution when Kayla was complaining about being stared at. I mean, I would stop staring right away! But it's true, prob wouldn't work on a teenager. (might prompt him to ask you out...)
Krishna, if you want to come cross-stitch and drink shakes at my house, you're welcome to. No one will be here, but our door is open. (such generosity)
WHAT always works for me when people are annoying me is that I look at them then pull my eyebrows together and don't smile and look at someplace on their face, ( I have noticed that staring JUST below the left eye really freaks people out) or someplace above their head, and just glare at that selected place, and they really will freak out, meaning: they will scream and run. And the greatest thing about this is you could do this while playing the cello standing up on one toe with a priceless vase on your right ear.
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