Monks on tour

Last night we stayed in for a delicious dinner of biriyani prepared by Ammachey.  After that we went to see a recital by violinist James Ehnes and pianist Andrew Armstrong both of whom treated us to a spectacular show.  Mr. Ehnes played a few familiar pieces one of which both Jamuna and Maya have played (Praeludium and Allegro by Fritz Kreisler).  We ran into a few of our Aspen acquaintances which is always fun.

Today Prema, Maya and Ammachey went to the rec center and Matt and Chris went for a run.  I walked to the bakery only to be disappointed that all the day-old bread was gone (maybe there wasn't any left from yesterday).  I selected an assortment of breakfast treats so the trip was not wasted.  Prema and Maya headed off to the music campus for rehearsal and studio class.  The rest of us roamed around town for a while and had a nice seafood lunch.  We stumbled onto a shop that is now occupied by a touring group of Buddhist Monks who are in Aspen for just one week.  I'll report more on this but the main attraction is that they are creating a mandala which is a ritual-based sand painting.  The "painting" is created by careful placement of colorful sand on a board, each line, pile, curve, and color representing a significant spiritual meaning.  Above is a an overview of their work of two days.  Below is a close up.  One gust of wind or errant Frisbee would ruin this beautiful creation.  We will be following their work and reporting more over the next few days.  I'll also tell you about one of the Monks with whom I had a nice conversation.

I'm rushed for time now as we are going to leave in a few minutes to meet some friends Prema and Jamuna met at the Colorado Suzuki Institute Camp several years ago.  We have seen them a few times since then.  They live about 40 miles north of here so we are meeting in Basalt which is about half way between Aspen and Carbondale.

This afternoon Matt, Chris, Abe, Jamuna and I went to the rec center for the usual while Ammachey and Appachen did some window shopping (and Maya practiced even more).  Here we are waiting for the bus.

There was a nice rain storm on our journey back from the ARC affording us the chance to walk in the rain (very light rain but rain nonetheless).  On the bus ride I had a nice visit with Eric, a percussion student we met a few weeks ago.  His girlfriend who's name I cannot recall is second chair in the Aspen Chamber Symphony and will play on Friday at the concert we will attend.  We will try to say hello.

Maya is playing for us as I type.  Then it's off to Basalt.