A Marvelous March

Eleven Orff courses. Eight flights. Seven countries. Five hotels. Four houses. Three trains. Two books finished. One day at home in San Francisco. Time spent with friends from near and far— Andrea, Shirley, Barbara, Elisa, Rodrigo, Petra, Tadeja, Mandana, Peta, Christa, Samantha, Mieke, Katrins, Johanna, Melanie, Rainer, Mine, Sue, Elley, Kofi, Zukhra, Melonko, Matei, Tonmai, Tik, Wittaya, Ga and sorry for anyone I’m forgetting! Not to mention all the new friends (particularly the Salzburg Special Course!) and acquaintances made. And 31 blogs to try to capture the marvels of this extraordinary March.

That’s my silly fascination with statistics, but it’s the quality of those lived days that leaves me so grateful for each and every minute. At my age— and perhaps every age— we long for Time to slow its relentless forward march and there’s few experiences so dense and intense as travel. A month in the school routine passes swiftly, but all these 31 tiny lives lived here, there and everywhere do indeed create the sensation that a year’s worth of memorable experiences have been packed into a 4-plus week-span.

And not over yet. Tomorrow I begin my three-day Jazz Course for the Thai Orff folks, some 50 people coming to sing, swing and step their way into a basic foundation for America’s greatest export. Then a happily anticipated week with daughter Talia in Bali where we last took her when she was 2 ½. It would have been sweet for Kerala and Karen and Zadie and Ronnie to come as well, but with Kerala 6 months pregnant, time off from jobs being saved up and airline tickets being the cost they are, we opted for the Economy Package. And as Talia pointed out, she went to Patagonia with her Mom, but never did a trip like this with dear old Dad. I’m honored she’s excited about it, though also well aware that the gift of the airline ticket for her 30^th birthday helped light that enthusiasm! Then she returns back to school and I go on to Singapore for one more week of teaching before finishing the school year and returning to the quick flip of the calendar pages.

But as March slips into April, this quick peek back at what has been sheer joy— never an unhappy day or unsatisfying workshop, the weirdness of going from San Francisco Spring to European end of Winter to Asian 90 degree Summer feeling, great books to keep me company (thanks Meg Wollitzer, Jonathan Tropper and Lisa See!), fun movies on long plane rides, good food everywhere and the grand adventure of the Lone Ranger of Orff doing his good deeds and rearing back on his horse shouting “Hi ho Silver!” as he gallops away to the next venue.