We New Englanders know better than to trust any weather that's too spring-like, especially this early in the calendar year (though the feeling has been known to persist into April, even after the advent of the baseball season). We're so used to relaxing and enjoying warmth and sunshine, only to get bombarded with snow and more cold weather. People "from away" think we're not trusting, and they might be right. We're too used to being betrayed by our climate.
I've seen a few indications that spring might arrive this year, though. Yesterday a lovely female cardinal spent some time in the pine tree outside my office window, eyeing the boughs as nesting prospects. (They were occupied by a family of robins last year.) Okay, cardinals don't migrate, so I shouldn't get so excited at having seen one... but I did catch some early-morning birdsong recently when letting Charlie out at sunrise.
With the new season comes a new choral repertoire. Sunday night we started our first rehearsals for the Rutter Magnificat, which we'll perform in the spring. (Yes, I know it's Christmas music. I don't program these things; I just sing 'em.) The Rutter is lots of fun to sing, though, and it's the kind of piece our chorus can really get into. We're also learning the "Dies Irae" from Verdi's Requiem, with an eye toward performing that piece in the fall. The donors who responded to our grant applications have graciously consented to let us hold on to the money for a few months, while we try to raise more funds to pay the orchestra. In the meantime, we can rehearse, and dream.
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