Maine

Last weekend I was up in Maine for my sister's graduation. I hadn't been up since January, and getting to Maine this time of year regardless is a must. There was family, friends, food, a quick male sailing adventure while the women organized the evening (Merepoint Bay had more seals out and about than I had ever seen), and general merriment.



I ran into a couple former teachers while they lined up for the graduation processional, got to hear some speeches (including Johanna's salutatorian address), and realized just how far away high school feels at this point.

Johanna also gave a senior recital for her clarinet studies, and one of the pieces she chose was a duet that we played together, so I had been working on that for the past little while. It was really nice to see my former teacher again. He couldn't get over how well our sounds meshed, belying the fact we'd only rehearsed together a couple of times.



It felt surprisingly good to be playing clarinet again regularly and working back up to some semblance of ability. As a matter of fact, I was pleasantly surprised with how, aside from some dexterity and mouth strength, it was as if I never set it down. I brought back some more sheet music from home so that I can dabble when I feel the urge. I'd also like to experiment more with adding clarinet to some recordings. If anything, it will be a plus to have slightly noisy keys and a dark sound. I'm still half-tempted to get to a music store and give it a good one-over.



Unfortunately I only had time for the weekend. I'd like to get in a solid week, perhaps in August, to enjoy more time at home (DC should be notated home′). Congrats, though, to the final sibling, and soon my parents will probably need more pets.