I think Hell just froze over
6:58 p.m.
Several days ago an English professor who walks to work was hit by a car with a snowplow attached when it lost control on the icy bridge, in almost exactly the same place where I wiped out five years ago. From what the prof who is teaching her classes told Hubby (they play squash together), she suffered internal injuries, and has had to have reconstructive surgery done on the bone of one of her legs after it was crushed. As a result, one leg will always be a bit shorter than the other. She is very depressed and doesn�t want any visitors at the hospital, or flowers or other gifts. It�s very sad. I keep thinking back to my accident and how lucky it was that there were no pedestrians on the bridge when I smacked into it. There was no traffic at all. My accident was a totally isolated occurence. But this is why I will not drive when the temperature is -30� anymore. Even with all-wheel drive, I am still leery.
In spite of the inhospitable climate we live in and my extreme state of fatigue, Hubby and I are going to a concert at the music department tonight, put on by Ensemble Musica Nova. This is a performing ensemble that Hubby started in 1989 with Tom and Marc (both of whom having since left the area) for the express purpose of putting on new music concerts. Tom is a musicologist who was interested in historical recreations, and the first thing the group put on was Stravinsky�s Histoire du soldat complete with recreated set and backdrop. The next concert was a mixed bag that Montreal CBC came out to record. I sang Webern�s Op. 12 songs with piano, as well as �Lied der Lulu� from Berg�s opera Lulu and Sch�nberg�s Herzgew�chse, both to synthesizer accompaniments. Hubby had painstakingly input the orchestral score of the former and the organ/harmonium/harp accompaniment of the latter into the computer. On the same programme was a piece by George Crumb (the one with whale sounds, unfortunately I�m having a middleaged moment here and have forgotten its name).
After that, the group went in strange directions, but I continued to perform with them for several years. The three original founders found that they didn�t have time to administer it, and let others take it over. It changed after that. I was no longer asked to sing, Hubby�s music was rarely programmed, and we felt that the original mandate was being compromised. Recently the directors went through another sea change, and we were invited back. Now it looks as though it will just fold. Hubby, who somehow got himself elected as president of the board, simply doesn�t have the time or energy to devote to it, and the woman who has been applying for grants year after year and doing the books is working on a doctorate in clarinet performance and also doesn�t have the time for it. We don�t want the bother of doing the bookwork, and no one else does either.
But in any case, there is a concert tonight, and we are obligated to go. I would much rather read by the fire or just go to bed early, not venture out into the arctic breezes again. I already did that once today when the sun was shining. If I have any energy left when we get home, maybe I�ll tell you how it went.
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