Ramblin' On

          I had a whirlwind tour of sorts a few weeks ago. In between a wedding in Pennsylvania and a recital in the same state, I took the week in between to visit and catch up with friends and relatives that I don’t get to see very often. Being a traveler and houseguest has its own wonders and challenges.

          Sat, Sept. 10th, 2011: I no sooner opened my mouth for the "Ave Maria" at my college roommate’s outdoor wedding ceremony, than the bride Amanda’s chin started to tremble. Several times in college, I watched her unexpectedly weep in front of the television, and infamously, she would cry every time she watched “Ghost”, despite the fact that she had seen it hundreds of times. (I told her later that day that I was proud that my singing elicited the same reaction in her as a Hallmark commercial.) Fortunately, a few bars into the song, a helicopter flew directly overhead to distract us. As often happens in these situations I had to maintain composure as the caterer waved frantically at the sky in back of the crowd, pleading in vain for it to fly away. Good thing I had planned for 2 verses.

          Monday, Sept. 12th: Once Amanda’s lovely and fun wedding was over I headed to Philly for a few days to visit my friends Emma and Adam. I slept surprisingly well, probably due to a very good mattress and my own room and bathroom. The “making myself comfortable” in their home thing presented only one significant problem while they were at work. Emma received the following email from me during her workday:

          Soooo, you may want to pick up eggs on your grocery run today. I know, you are thinking that you have a new carton of eggs, but it’s a long story.

          P.S. Where do you keep your extra paper towels?


         Thursday, Sept. 15th: Now, at some point after he finished a few gigs, the boyfriend was supposed to also head south for a presentation at Penn State and then come see my recital at Muhlenberg. When I’d asked him several times ahead of the trip when he was coming and if he needed a place to stay, he had said he didn’t know yet. So, when two days before he said he needed a place to crash, it became evident that the leg of my trip that he would be joining was not at Emma’s house, but at my cousins’ house in New Jersey.

          So Brendan came along on my week as a houseguest just in time to miss a private guestroom and guest bathroom and instead found himself on the pullout couch in my cousins’ basement, surrounded by half-naked Barbies. My cousin Claire’s house is not exactly a relaxing place. With 3 adorable children all under age eight, it’s more of a circus. I was mildly nervous about whether the kids would take to Brendan or not, but within minutes he was throwing them around the living room and Benjamin (5 years old), told Brendan that he could sleep on the floor next to his bed in a sleeping bag. He then told me: “Aunt Katie, you can sleep in the basement…by yourself”.

Other observations made by the children during my stay:

1. “Aunt Katie, why do you sleep so late?”— (they wanted me to play with them at 7am.)

2. It was apparently freaky that I know the names of their grandparents


          Saturday, Sept. 17th: The recital at Muhlenberg was a success! Thanks to the music department at my undergrad, I was able to spend time preparing and performing a recital of art song. The wonderful thing about this genre is that unlike opera, no one can tell you that you can’t sing a certain kind of song repertoire. It is all available for consumption if you choose to make it yours. And on my last overnight stop in Allentown I got to catch up with one of my favorite professors and his family, as well as Brendan and I having our own guestroom once again in their home.

          Sunday, Sept. 18th: Naturally, after singing an ambitious, hour long recital program, my usual inclination is to sleep in and mostly be a useless lump all day. But why would I want to do that? Because there must be something wrong with me, to round off my week of travel and work, I instead headed to New York City for a Sarasota Opera audition.

          And what was my great reward for this busy week? I reached Boston on Sunday night and had a cup of tea in my own living room and slept in my own bed. As my dad always said; “Sometimes the great part of travelling is coming home.”