(I cropped these and lightened them, but Blogger ignores all that work and publishes as taken.Blah to Blogger.)
A few weeks ago I started brainstorming for a fun way to celebrate his accomplishments. I like things that have a special significance, so I started searching online for businesses nearby (in south Mississippi "nearby" means within 60 miles of home) that were in restored school buildings. It would be fun just to go out, but if it could be in a school with another purpose, that would be better. Did you know that there aren't a lot of school buildings around us that are being used for restaurants, gift shops, museums, etc? There used to be one in Hattiesburg, MS that was an antique store, but it had fire damage and was closed down. There are former schools in big cities being turned into apartments and condos. I finally found one that now houses the Mary C O'Keefe Cultural Center. The school was built in 1927, and has been restored, "providing an environment for artistic activities including music, visual and performing arts and education" (so says their site). I was looking through their calendar of events and was excited to see that pianist George Winston would be performing there on May 14, two days after Matt's official "I'm done with school" day. He and I love listening to the December CD by Gerogie-boy, but I wasn't sure how Matt would like 2 hours of his music. It tends to be good music to sleep to, but I went out on a limb and purchased tickets online.
I arranged for babysitting, read lots of reviews on restaurants, and told Matt I was taking him out. I wanted him to be surprised, but also wanted him to know the significance of his outing, since I'd looked hard to find that old school. :) I also needed to know if he wanted to eat light (coffee shop) aka fairly inexpenively, or fine dining (Phoenicia's gourmet restaurant) aka known as pricey. After we'd decided on the place to eat, I told him we were going to an old school that was now a cultural center to hear a performance, but I wasn't going to tell him what it was. He was quiet a minute and then asked, "So is George Winston coming to the coast?" I kicked him involuntarily. He must've heard it on the radio. But no, it was purely a guess. By that time it was obvious he'd guessed it (why else would I have kicked him?). He explained how he came to guess it: Cultural center. Hmm. What kind of performance would be there? Piano, maybe. What music have we listened to together and liked? George Winston. I told him if it weren't for the dangers involved with the job, he ought to be a detective. He said, "I'd have to know my suspects as well as I know my wife."
Despite his knowing all about my surprise before we even left the house, he still had a great time. :) We ate some amazingly delicious food at Phoenicia's, then drove less than a mile down the road to the Mary C. Because we got there early and got in line, we were able to choose seats right up front, just four rows from the stage. The auditorium was small (seats 383 people), but just right. George came onstage in a button-up shirt, jeans, and socks. He performs without shoes on. We had a great time, didn't fall asleep, and decided one live concert of George Winston's music was enough. He has basically one style, so all his songs start to sound alike. But he is an amazing pianist and being close enough to watch his fingers fly over the keys was a thrill. He even performed our favorite song, Variations on Pachelbel's Canon in D. Listen all the way to the end at 4:38, where he does a sort of trill of notes in the melody. I have the sheet music to this and have tried to play that part. It's beyond my skill level. :)
~~Rose
1 comment:
Congrats to Matt!!!
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