smooth move

My week began at 9:36 am on Sunday. It isn't normal for me to remember such a thing with precision, but the moment I rolled over and looked at my cell phone that morning remains just a little bit seared into my brain. There is nothing quite so bracing as waking 24 minutes before a sound check.

The kicker is that I somehow knew I was going to oversleep. I'd been one week back in Vienna post-Texas, truly worn out from teaching, socializing, staying up until all hours, and finally getting sick just in time for my flight home. Then came catching up at work, rehearsing for said recital, still recovering from illness, and jet lag. I hadn't slept well in many days. On Saturday night, I knew I was exhausted enough to crash. I went to bed early, I chose a new alarm tone, I upped the number of repetitions of said tone. And when I opened my eyes, that little electronic salsa tune was two full hours in the past.

I was at the Staatsoper at 10:05. Juliette and Norbert and I proceeded to have our sound check and then do a very beautiful concert to end our series in the Mahlersaal.

Lessons learned:
1. still alive in this middle-aged body is the sleek young thing who could make a morning church gig in ten minutes, thanks to short hair, perfume, gum, and plenty of dark clothing.
2. No one in NYC will stare at you for applying makeup on the subway, which is different than in my current location.
3. I could probably kick my caffeine habit if I just got up really late for everything. Exciting.

What a stroke of luck that dear pal JB was in town that day, and that we could have a leisurely breakfast after the recital. Spring rain fell and the sun dried the streets off while we caught up with each other. The week's been full of beauty like that, cafe visits with old friends, good performances, good rehearsals. A family visit draws closer (and with it some needed time off), summer plans come into focus. My bike carries me around the Ring, we're ending our season and organizing the next.

I can almost say: done. I can almost see what actually happened, past and above the noise of opinion and worry. The great adventure, the big risk, the drama - it all continues to smooth out into a normal, bumpy, silly, beautiful life.

dkz