There are small poetic moments in our everyday lives, that tend to happen in the corner of our eyes --the way the dog curls up on a chair, the way a simple vase with flowers catches the light in the kitchen window, the sudden uprising of sparrows from a bush, a girl riding a tricycle in her tutu-- and then there are those larger moments that seem to embody all of the smaller ones.
This weekend two of those moments have come together and though one is not at all related to the other, I see them as complimentary. First, and probably most importantly for the Washington DC area, the National Symphony is celebrating the start of Christoph Eschenbach tenure as Music Director. My sister, Rachel, is a cellist in the NSO and after one rehearsal is feeling more inspired than she has in years. If you click on his name above, you will be taken to a promo that left me welled up and reminded me again of the power of music to reach inside us and fine tune all the settings that make us human.
Simultaneously, our son Liam and our daughter Eliza are competing in the National Whitewater Slalom Championships this weekend here along the Potomac in Dickerson, MD. Paddlers from all over the country (and the world) will be racing tomorrow in this small sport. The Washington Post gave it very nice coverage today, as did the Baltimore Sun. Our kids were thrilled that someone was paying attention. Several years ago, when asked why she liked the sport, Eliza answered "It is like dancing on water" and the picture on the front page of today's Post speaks to the beauty of the motion of boat and paddler and the water as partner.
As I picture the kids racing tomorrow, in my mind I see the arcs and turns of their boats, their pivots and their rolls all against the backdrop of the Mirant Power Plant, accompanied by the powerful and evocative sounds of the orchestra under the baton of Eschenbach. Water music!
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