March has been hot (hottest on record, in fact), but worse still, there was very little rain, and we’ve already been operating at a deficit, even with last July’s torrential rains and the resultant catastrophic flooding and loss of life. We had one wackadoo weekend where the high on a Sunday was 97 with a low of 39 the next morning.
The first big thing that happened in March was Maya’s band UIL competition. Sean and I went down that morning to watch the band do their stage performance and their sight reading performance. (One of the pieces Maya’s band played was called “Darklands March” by Randall Standridge, her favorite of the things they played.) The kids and band director did a great job, and it was fun to watch them perform.
Between Pre-UIL for both Symphonic and Concert bands and UIL for Symphonic band, Maya missed a few class periods and she was scrambling to get everything finished up and turned in by the end of the quarter. As the parent who primarily tries to help her stay on track with schoolwork, I was stressed to the gills, and I was not sad to see the backside of that quarter.
Maya also performed in another Soundwaves Symphony concert on the 12th. That was the Thursday before spring break, and yep, she came home afterward and finished more homework.
That Sunday, Ian had another gig at the artisans market near where his guitar teacher lives. I didn’t get to see this one, but I hear it went very well.
We elected not to travel for spring break this year, so mostly the kids just got to hang out and decompress while the grown ups worked. Still, we worked in a few things. On Monday evening, since we didn’t have most of our rash of activities and events to rush off to, we drove out to Muleshoe Bend to take our annual bluebonnet photos. Around town, things were looking awfully thin, and last year we tried to wait it out and essentially took photos in front of someone’s yard because everything else had either not bloomed much or shriveled up. (The showing was even more impressive a couple weeks later, but I didn’t want to miss out again.)
Muleshoe Bend reliably has at least a passing crop of bluebonnets, so that’s where we went. It was a comedy of setbacks. First we told the kids we’d grab ice cream along the way. Alas, our drive got real rural real quick, and we found no suitable options. They grumbled a little, but no worries, we’d stop at Freddy’s on the way back after photos. They could have their favorite burgers AND frozen custard.
It was cold while we took photos, so we didn’t bother having the kids dress up, but that aside, the place looked nice enough and there were really no other people out there, except campers. On the way out, Sean went to put the location of the Freddy’s we’d normally go to, only to find it had permanently closed. We drove well out of our way to get that damned meal.
Next year, Sean has vowed, the kids will dress up and we’ll try to get nice photos again. We’ll see how events transpire.
On Tuesday, for St Pats, I made a nice Guinness chocolate cake to have after a nice dinner of chicken fried steak. That’s not normally something I do on a weekday, but hey, I didn’t have to rush out the door to pick anyone up immediately after school, so things were more relaxed.
On Friday, Sean and I took the day off, and we all headed out to the Sherwood Forest Faire. We haven’t been since the kids were little, but things seemed significantly the same. Going on Friday was nice – things weren’t super crowded, and it was easy to get around. We managed to watch the cool falconry show and one oddball play. Otherwise, we mostly wandered and hung out with friends. Our kids ran around with their kids, so it was honestly pretty relaxing.
Ian got to ride a horse, which he seemed to love, and he got to buy an intricately carved and bejeweled dagger, which he seemed very proud of. Maya was brave enough to strike up a conversation with a bagpipe player who seemed happy to discuss the finer points of bagpipes and double reed instruments in general. Then he blew her mind by telling her about an instrument she didn’t already know of – an uilleann horn. I hadn’t heard of it either. It’s a bellows driven Irish bagpipe type thing. Maya was delighted and the man chatting with her seemed to enjoy her curiosity. Hooray for positive interactions!
Ian got to attend the instrument test drive at Murchison on the last weekend of the month. I think he tried every single instrument they had available to test out. His score sheet showed that he could have played just about any instrument they had, but ultimately, after some back and forth, he decided on the clarinet. He liked the way it sounded and felt that it was the most fun to play. He seemed so adept at the brass instruments, we honestly thought he might go for one of those.
A nice woman named Meredith, who is familiar with Maya already from her Soundwaves involvement, was there helping kids try out the cello. She was delighted that Maya’s brother was testing out instruments and insisted he come try out the cello. I can’t remember exactly how she phrased it, but she said something to the effect that with this musical family, she’s pushing to “get” Ian for cello. I looked at Sean and asked if this is how parents of sports kids feel when different teams want their kid to play for them. It was very funny.
We ended our month by heading to the movies to watch Project Hail Mary. I dearly loved that book, so I was excited to see the film adaptation. I couldn’t get anyone else in the house to read, but we all loved the movie. Amaze amaze amaze!
