Who knew that a Mourning Dove's face could look all pinched up--just like my mother-in-law's when she doesn't put her dentures in?Just a simple visual I chose to share with you. I learned all this nature as I regarded the birds flitting around the feeders and the tree canopies at my parents house this morning. On the right I posted a new photo album of some of the birds lurking around at my Dad's North Raleigh home.
My eldest daughter and I went to Raleigh this weekend to visit my parents and to have her participate in her next to last cello audition of the hectic season. This one was the biggie. She was invited to participate in a state-wide competition and let's just say, the competition was enormous. 400 of the state's best and brightest musicians gathered in one auditorium to practice prior to their musical existence being reduced to a five minute audition. Every instrument known on the planet was bleeping, honking, shrieking and thumping in frantic desperation. I was amused as a clarinet player found a hidden stairwell to tweet out his sonatina. All I could think about was how many times his poor mother had to listen to that one song played over and over again.
I wanted to hug one poor cellist as she literally quaked in her skinny jeans. "I'm so scared,' she cried to no one in particular. My own daughter was remarkably cool--resigned to the fact that the odds were against her, yet determined to give it her best shot. My favorite moment was when I sat impatiently in the lobby with about 100 or so other parents and she burst through the doors like a scene from "American Idol". Her hands were thrown in the air and she dramatically yelled, " Free at last! I'll never, ever have to play that piece again. It is over! Hey Mom, I smiled during the audition because it was going to be over soon. But, I nailed it Mom, especially the site reading". A room full of people burst into laughter because she voiced exactly what everyone else was feeling. Complete relief that the audition was over and for at least our family, it was done on a positive note.
