Rowan of Flourish

We came home from Washington DC last night, tired but happy. I had a lovely time visiting with Tron, and the Lumberjack was also able to come in to town and have dinner with us on Thursday night. Tonight we tried to attend a symphony concert. I really enjoyed the first two pieces. One was a world premiere of a piece by an American composer, Jeremy Crosmer, called "Ozark Traveler: A Celebration of Americana." It incorporated homages to Bernstein, Copland, and Charles Ives, and it was beautiful and fun. The next was a piece commissioned by violinist Sarah Chang. David Newman created a "mini violin concerto" based on West Side Story, "Suite from West Side Story for Violin and Orchestra." Sarah Chang herself played, in an amazing virtuoso performance. I was really enjoying the evening when my eyes started watering, and I nearly choked myself in an effort not to sneeze until the melody ended. It's just misery having a coughing spasm in a concert hall. The Sparrowhawk was kind enough to take me home and skip the second half of the program. I guess I was a little over ambitious.