Happy birthday to me!

My birthday celebrations were postponed a bit due to the meeting in Phoenix. But it was worth the wait…First off, I got to wear the birthday hat at lunch with the pétanque club…

Then a couple days later I got dinner at a favorite French restaurant complete with a flaming crêpe…

which was followed by a spectacular present: my very own orchestra!

Ok, not really. But I do look pretty smug in my balcony seat. In fact, we went to see a famous clarinetist Annelien Van Wauwe, who slayed Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. In the second half of the programme, the orchestra played a fascinating piece called Circulating Ocean by Toshio Hosokawa. I tried to imagine playing such a thing… it was mostly without discernible rhythm or melody. But somehow the conductor waved his arms at strategic moments and everyone played what they were supposed to and it was great!

Sooo… #58 is off to an excellent start!