Immersed

It's amazing to me that I spend seven hours straight each day immersed in nothing but music. The occasional teen problem or paperwork issue, but mostly music. I never left my band room today, the students just came and went like ocean waves.

A long time ago, I was totally immersed in music. About the age of 16-17, I lived, breathed, and spoke music. School band and orchestra, two regional ensembles that had weekly rehearsals, public school regional band and orchestra, weekly private oboe lesson, and regular paid gigs.

And then it trickled away. In college I continued my oboe lessons for another year. I played in the concert band for one year. I took guitar lessons after that, so I didn't really ever quit music in college, but I laid the oboe aside for a while.

Quite a long while, as it turned out.

Once done with college, I pursued other interests--art, mainly, and went back to school for a degree in art history and got a job at a big city art museum.

I sang in the church choir for a while, and my singing voice got better, and I went back to playing oboe a little bit, at funerals and occasionally in regular services.

Finally, I moved to Colorado to get married. A couple of years later, I found myself with that teaching job I mentioned, the one where I blurted out, I could do that. I hadn't played piano in twenty years, I hadn't played my oboe in four, and hadn't even opened the guitar case for about fifteen.

And now, it is a wonderful blessing to be able to sit at the piano and describe the circle of fifths to a student wanting to become a better bass guitar player. It is wonderful to be able to play a phrase on my oboe to show someone how to articulate that phrase. And despite the students' struggles with talking and fidgeting and dissatisfaction with having to meet my high expectations, I even think it's pretty cool to sit and conduct a 36-member middle school band.

I get to play piano whenever I can, and show 5th graders how cool a trombone is. On open house night I brought my 3 year old son into my room and he sat at the drum set banging away. When I set my little baby girl at the piano, I get to watch her face explode with delight.

I suppose if you have to immerse yourself in a job, it couldn't get too much better than music.