I really love our new home office!  And Spencer and Spicy love it too!   They come down with me at 5am and get copious amounts of scratches and pets.  I sit and watch CNN go on and on about the debates and then I switch to the Weather Channel. I love the Weather Channel!  I don’t know if it is because my Dad loved it or because I am a sailor and always wondering what the weather will be.  But I could watch it for hours.   It drives Larry nuts.

From the couch I can see the screen saver on Larry’s computer and I am reminded what a great life I have.   Pictures stream by of great family pictures,  our little Lucas at the wheel of Cantabile this summer,  family gatherings, Larry and I on board Cantabile in some gorgeous Chesapeake cove, and very happy pictures of hundreds of Encore singers.   Better than a movie.  And Larry has hundreds of pictures.   And all the singers have huge smiles.  Yes, it is a reminder that all the driving and eating yogurt and a granola bar en route to my next rehearsal is well worth what I receive.  Encore has become a way of life for both Larry and me.  And over 540 singers!

It is a balmy 60 degrees outside this am and the tide is running very high.  But colder temps and windy conditions are expected this pm.   Gee, don’t I sound like a weatherman.   Next career!

It has been a long time since I have blogged.   After all the eleven Encore Holiday Concerts, I took a badly needed break.  December 24 and 25 were quiet and the family and our dear little Lucas came on December 26^th.  Christmas takes on a whole new feel when you have a grandchild.   I imagine many of you reading this will be nodding your heads yes with a big smile.  Larry bought Lucas a Radio Flyer wagon complete with seats, drink holders, a bag for his small toys and a canopy for the sun.  Oh my!  Wagons have sure advanced since I was a kid.  Lucas loved it.  We took him for a ride thru the house and he had a big smile on his face, but not as big as our smiles.  We are just crazy about Lucas!

We had some huge projects after January 1^st.  We decided that the office was way too close to our bedroom…….ten steps.  So we moved the office downstairs.  Now when I can’t sleep, I am not going to trot downstairs to do emails.  It’s a much better scenario.  In the mornings, I make the coffee and go downstairs and cuddle up on the couch with my two kitties Spencer and Spicy, one on each side of me enjoying their morning scratches.  They are very territorial when it comes to their time with Mom.  Then they climb on the back of the couch where they look out on the bay and watch the birds and the heron and the neighbor cats strutting by.  They have it good!

On January 3th, I  picked up about 3,500 pieces of music for the Encore singers.  That is a lot of music!  We have already started six of the Encore Chorales for the spring session and everyone loves the music.  That takes a load off my brain.  It is always a scary moment when I introduce the music and wait to see reactions. 

Our “Singing at Sea” Voyage to the Caribbean leaves in about five weeks.   I am ready!   But many of us are already looking forward to the May 2013 French River Cruise from Normandy to Paris.  It is certainly something fabulous to look forward to.

I’d better go and make sure all is ready to open our Washington Conservatory of Music at Glen Echo Encore Chorale today.    But first, I must go to Baltimore and rehearse the Myerberg Encore Chorale, which began last week.  Drive, drive, drive!

In the world of sailing, we have a saying:   Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.  Spicy and I watched an absolutely gorgeous red sky and a huge sun appear, only to be covered by a band of grey sky from the west.  After listening to the weather and seeing snow flurries on Sunday, I have decided to have a new slogan.   Red sky at night, singer’s delight. Red sky in morning, singers take warning.  Two years ago our Kenmore Holiday Concert was totally wiped out with about two feet of snow.   It snowed and snowed.  The entire area was shut down.   That was the year we had “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow” in our repertoire.   I decided we wouldn’t do that one again. 

But snow flurries won’t stop us.  I am really excited about these weekend concerts.   We except lots of folks to come out.   Free concerts seem to be a thing of the past.   And these days, some families just can’t afford to buy tickets for a holiday concert.   Encore is proud of our “free concert” tradition. It is our way of giving back to the community.

It is Friday, December 16 and I actually have the entire day in the house. HOORAY! Lot of work to do in the office, but no concerts. It was a real treat to sit with my kitty Spicy and watch the day unfold. Spencer had already eaten and was on the screened-in porch. Down here in Tracys Landing on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay, it seems like we are hundreds of miles from the hustle and bustle of the city. We have our own different kind of Christmas decorations. Some of the sailboats have colorful lights running up the rigging and they are so much fun to look at. And of course the blinking red and green markers add to the delight. Some of the docks are all lit up. I will take this any day over the city. I smile when I think we don’t even have traffic lights. Real slow down here.

Last night our Southern Maryland Encore Chorale gave a performance at Asbury~Solomons Retirement Community and it was standing room only. They kept on bringing extra chairs until there was no more space for anyone or anything. And boy did the chorale perform! Their conductor, Krystal Rickard McCoy, is fabulous. Now I know why I waited so long to find exactly the person I was looking for. She is perfect. The audience loved the performance. And I loved just kicking back and sitting at the piano, accompanying. No pressure. Just pure pleasure.

This weekend is the big one. Two huge concerts.  But our Saturday concert was printed in the Washington Post as 3pm, and it’s at 4pm! So right now I am doing damage control. All in a day’s work. But that @$% grant is out the door, so nothing could bother me. I am just excited about the next concerts. FA LA LA!

4 down and 7 to go!   The Encore Chorale Holiday Concert season has begun and it is fantastic!   The singers are psyched and singing with boundless energy and spirit and a great, confident sound.

The great thing about these concerts is that they are not only entertaining but a huge educational experience.   After our Goodwin House Alexandria concert last evening, I asked if they learned anything and their response was a resounding YES!   And that is what it is all about.   By the time we get to the Kennedy Center on Dec. 23, our 11th concert, we will be perfect.

It is has been quite a while since I have “blogged” and I must say I miss it.  But December is a really crazy month.  Not only are we into concerts, but fliers have to be completed announcing our spring season, press releases have to be written and sent, and that takes constant attention to who gets what.  And then there are the grant applications that have to be out the door by December 18th.   Wow.

We are also into our annual second) contribution campaign and it is going well.  Every day there are at least two in the mail.   It confirms that people believe in what we are doing.   We have set a high goal of $60,000, twice the amount of last year.   Come on Santa!   Please deliver lots of contributions!   We have all been good girls and boys, singing our hearts out!

The days are long, very long, during concert season.   With so much to accomplish in and out of the office, I get up early…..5am.  So I see the gorgeous sunrises.   This morning, the sky was incredibly aglow in oranges and pinks, with a bank of clouds in the east that looked like islands in the sky.  A fishing vessel was going thru the jetty at 6am.   It must be pretty darn cold out there.   I love to see the blinking red and green day markers.   Quite appropriate for Christmas!

Better get going.   Two concerts today – one at the National American Indian Museum and one this evening at Friendship Heights Community Center.    And that grant!   

I actually sat out on the patio overlooking the Bay at 5:30am and had a cup of coffee. It was delightful…breezy but warm. Hard to believe it is November 15. I was trying to relax from my fifteen hour day yesterday. So much has to be done for all our upcoming concerts.  And then there are the grant deadlines, etc. But it is all worth it. The rehearsals have been amazing. And when the singers watch me, they are fabulous. So Watch Me!

There are ten concerts and although they all have the same repertoire, the concerts are still different. There are different soloists, musicians, spaces and that makes it interesting but the planning is very time consuming.

And everything has to be perfect for these concerts. And it will be. Our first concert at Anne Arundel Community College isn’t far away.Dec. 9. So Watch Me!

Our second annual contribution campaign is underway and it is like Christmas going to the mailbox every day. The singers have been so generous. And that makes me confident that Encore will be around for many years to come.; Some day I am going to sing in an Encore Chorale. Just simply sing. No work. And I will watch!

I sit in my living room every morning, looking out on the gorgeous Chesapeake Bay, dreaming of the day that Larry and I will be cruising down the bay into the open ocean and heading south to the islands.   Yes, that is how we want to begin retirement.  I know it is fall when I see the fishing fleet leave their slips at 7am instead of 6am.  It is pitch black at 6am, so they leave later.   And about 6:30, I see the sailing yachts motoring out the channel heading south.  They are the very lucky ones heading for the islands.  I can only dream right now.

I know when I am too darn busy and consumed with my work.   I was in the shower yesterday and my brain went into a crazy spin thinking about the spring repertoire, the summer Institutes at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Chautauqua and choosing their repertoire.   I honestly could not remember if I had washed.  I knew I did my hair, but the rest of me??????  Now that is just plain nuts.

I've been  asking the Chorales about potential interest in taking a France river cruise May 2013 and the response was overwhelming:  YES!  So I am starting to make inquiries.   We would do three concerts in beautiful old churches or halls.  Sounds spectacular to me!  Stay tuned.  But until then, we have lots going on stateside...

I have added a new job to my job description.   I now direct traffic.   Yes, that’s right.   I drove down to our new Southern Maryland Encore Chorale at Asbury Solomons Retirement Community in Solomons, MD yesterday to make sure everyone was parking in the correct parking lot.   I wore my black Encore tee shirt and had our Encore sign.   When anybody drove past, I pointed to the Encore sign and pointed to the parking lot.    Lucky for me it was a gorgeous sunny day.    Actually it was fun.   And it was such a joy to meet all the singers.   What a great group they are!   They are in excellent hands with Krystal Rickard McCoy as their conductor.   And many of the singers have sung their entire life.   They have quite a wonderful sound.    I could not be more pleased!

 All the chorales are a few weeks into rehearsals  and all is well.   We keep getting new singers every week.    I keep ordering music.   Encore is exploding.    And this week I spoke with folks out of the Boston area who are interested in starting an Encore Chorale.     Word is getting out.  

 Larry and I took 0ur Cantabile out for a motor spin last night and it is just what we needed.   It was only for an hour but aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.   The evening weather was perfect, the sea calm, the temperatures lovely and the Jack Daniels was tasty.   We need to do that more often.  Puts things into perspective.

I got in my car yesterday to drive to our first fall 2011 Encore Chorale rehearsal and I just could not believe how fast the summer went.   How on earth could it be fall already?  

Chautauqua was a complete and awesome success.   We had 98 very happy campers (see photo), more than twice as many as any previous year.  The rehearsals and classes were great.  And the mixture of personalities from all over the country were great.

As I sat and watched the final performances of the theatre and dance, I wanted to just sit and cry. But I smiled instead! And when I stood in front of 75 fabulous singers in concert……..wow.    I was so darn proud of what we had accomplished.   Sometimes I feel that I work so hard to make this all happen that  I don’t realize what is actually happening.  But as I watched, I realized that Encore was all and much more than I had ever imagined.  I was so proud. Encore was simply superb.

Our first Encore Chorale rehearsals yesterday were energizing.   The singers loved the music, lots of new singers and tons of energy.   Potomac Academy of GMU at The Woodlands had the first rehearsal…….great readers and singers.   Then Langston folks poured thru the door to celebrate our tenth anniversary together.    Many of those wonderful singers were with me when we did the Creativity and Aging Study.   I guess they love it!   We had a fabulous and energetic rehearsal and then Arlington County Office of Senior Adult Programs came in with two beautiful cakes to help us celebrate.   It was a grand afternoon.  

When I got home, I sat out on the screened-in porch for five minutes to try and clear my brain, and enough time to watch our Great Blue Heron take flight and land very gently on top of the shed on the pier.   His landing reminded me of how I describe how singers should gently glide from the top into a sound.   I smiled and then my thoughts were on Smithsonian’s first rehearsal with over 100 singers and the start of our new Springfield Encore Chorale today.   Go go go !