all is certainly groovy

Tuesday morning I left the Baxters (sad, sad, sadness....), hopped in my car with a bag of snacks and a variety of other bags holding a variety of other things, and headed South. I opened the windows and heartily sang along with Simon and Garfunkel as the wind whipped through my hair. (You can just imagine the condition of my hair when I got out of that car....) I stopped frequently along my way to refill on drinks (so you can imagine what other types of stops I was making....) and wrapped myself in the warm southern air. It is safe to say my general feeling was blissful joy.

That Simon and Garfunkel were on to something I think: Life I love you, all is groovy.



I arrived at my friend Christin's house in the evening just in time for a truly southern dinner prepared by her truly southern (and truly lovely) mama. Then Christin showed me around town, and took me to the church where she has been newly hired as the Music Director (the reason why she has very recently moved back home). I personally approved all the pianos in the whole building, so she has my permission to stay. I think this is the perfect thing for her, and am so happy for her to be back with her family and starting a new chapter in her life.




The next morning I tore myself from the breakfast table and took myself over to the Hawthorne Inn for the 2nd International Conference on Music Learning Theory sponsored by the Gordon Institute of Music Learning. I had submitted a poster proposal that was accepted, and so I set my rather large and bulky tri-fold board up and then took in the varied sessions being presented. I met some nice people and reconnected with some others that I'd met at previous conferences, so all in all it has been a good experience.



The best part of this little trip though has been re-connecting with Christin, who was my roommate when we were in grad school in Princeton and with whom I haven't really spent quality time in years. (The ironic thing is that she took my job at Prince of Peace when I left Princeton, and then took Andrea's job when she left Princeton, and so we have this little legacy going....and ironic that I was with Andrea before I came here...huh, irony)


We finished up our little visit by having lunch at the Salem Tavern in old Salem, a charmingly historic little area of town that I had no idea even existed.

The food was good (but are Salmon Corn cakes with cilantro mayonnaise and a lime cole slaw historic? I wonder....) and the atmosphere was a breath of the past. A lovely way to continue my embracing of my last week of summer!