Highlight Day

Not sure where to begin on this wonderful day full of many great experiences.  Maya had another excellent rehearsal with Tamara while Jamuna practiced her violin in one of the practice rooms at the music campus.  Abe and I programed some stops into the van navigation system.  Shortly after 10 AM we headed toward Paonia.  It was a beautiful drive and we arrived just a few minutes late for our lunch appoint at The Flying Fork Cafe.  We had a delicious lunch, met a playful kitten named Peek-a-Boo, and put on a little show.

   The highlight of our day was meeting and spending time with Ms. Maria Hodkins, a highly talented artist and journalist.  We were so fortunate to get to spend a few hours with her.  She travels around the country presenting workshops on nature journaling and other artistic endeavors to groups of paying customers, and we had her all to ourselves today! In addition to her journaling work she is a volunteer DJ at the Paonia NPR affiliate KVNF.  She took us on a tour of the studio and the idea of including the kids in an episode of their "Talkin' Music" program came up.  The facility is about as sophisticated as a radio studio can get, and the shelves of music CDs and LPs seemed to go on forever.  Take a look:

Here, on the left is a shot of the kids in the control room during a broadcast, and on the right Abe and Jem look down a long hall which is completely covered with CDs from floor to ceiling.

After the tour we headed to a nearby park only to find it packed with BMW motorcyclists due to a rally of some sort.  We proceeded just a bit farther to a neat winery called Black Bridge Winery.  We sat at a large picnic table under shade-giving trees by a soothing creek.  While there the kids received a lesson on journaling, sketching and water coloring.  A great time was had by all.  I'm rushing through this so I can get it posted before we walk to the tent to see Robert McDuffie play the US premier of a Philip Glass composition called "American Four Seasons".

I'll have to write more about this day as there are a lot of details worth remembering.  Here are some shots of the afternoon: