Midd Message, at last!

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Celebrating the end of my second week here in Middlebury. It seems like I’ve been here so much longer – this is my 25th summer here, and it always feels like home. It’s the closest thing I really HAVE to a home at the moment, in fact, and it’s the first time I’ve felt really strange about not being mobile since the accident.

It’s not normal to have to wheel my way around the campus, it’s odd to have conversations with people I’ve known forever (it seems) from a permanently seated position… I have to change my years-old habits, go in doors I’ve never used because they’re equipped with automatic openers, take elevators instead of stairs, make detours when moving from one place to another because I can’t wheel across gravel. I’m on my own a lot more than usual, because people don’t always think to walk next to me while I’m motoring along (although to be honest, I can get from one place to another a bit more quickly on my own!)

Arriving here two weeks ago was a delight. Jane and Ann came to Boston to pick me up, and after squeezing my suitcases and various mobility aids into Jane’s car, we drove for several hours, appreciating the scenery… until we realized we’d missed the turnoff in Concord, New Hampshire. Our trip took a few hours longer than expected, but such was Ann’s delight in discovering the beauty of Vermont that I felt that it was almost worth it. The three of us had dinner at Tully & Marie’s, on the riverside, and they spent the night before returning to Maine the next morning. It was a lot of driving for them, and I shall be eternally grateful for the trouble they took to make sure I could get here in comfort.

My first days here were somewhat relaxing; we had a few meetings, but it was mostly a time to settle in and spend some time reconnecting with old friends. I admit that my legendary “décor” skills are being sadly underused this year – I have no energy to set up my room in its usual color-coordinated splendor. The curtains, tablecloths, bedspread, doodads have all remained in their crates in the attic. Too much trouble! Even making my bed in the morning takes a combination of courage and physical prowess. Ah, well, time for all of those nice things later!

My new toy was awaiting me when I arrived. Jen had set it up, charged it, and even tried it out. I now have a red and black Go-Go scooter. It’s not really a toy, of course; without it I would be completely unable to negotiate the campus. My dear old Rough Rider is snoozing in the basement of the Château, waiting for the day when we’ll be reunited – in a flatter place! The hill leading to the dining hall would make a professional wheelchair driver blanch…

It’s been raining almost constantly since the beginning of the session. Worse, it’s been COLD!!! Unfair, unfair. I knew when I left SE Asia that I’d have some trouble adjusting to the cooler temperatures, but I never expected to need three blankets and socks on my feet in bed in Middlebury!! I never leave the building without my fleece and my wonderful rain cape (a gift from Michèle) in the basket on the back of the scooter. Some have called it my “Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak”, which is kind of a laugh, because I am anything BUT invisible wearing it. But it works, and I am one very grateful camper.

The opening ceremonies of the Language Schools were quite a cultural experience, as usual (lately). It’s actually more of a pep rally than a ceremony; Emory was playing the organ during the “prelude” and the Portugese school arrived with drums, whistles, chants and lots – lots – lots of enthusiasm. At one point, as I craned my neck to see what Emory was doing, I saw him sort of flap his hand in disgust, and the organ ceased shortly afterward. We couldn’t hear it anyway!

One lovely moment was when a student at the Portugese school sang with her husband – it was Stacey Kent (http://www.staceykent.com/) who is studying here for the summer. I loved her voice, and instantly went onto iTunes when I got home and bought an album. It’s fun having famous people here (as we once had Hilary Hahn in the French school) – there’s something really nice about spending weeks in the company of someone you’d first seen on the cover of Time magazine (Hilary was actually one of my students her second summer here).

We’ve had several all-school dances, in the Grill (there’s another this evening, an early celebration of the 14th of July.) I manage to do a little dancing, on one foot, thanks to the assistance of friends!

Last week I had the immense pleasure of hearing the group from Québec, le Vent du Nord, once again. I spoke on this blog about them last year, and I can confirm that they are a most talented and intelligent group of musicians. Earlier that day the teenagers enrolled in the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy, a sort of mini-Middlebury summer immersion program in Massachusetts, came to spend the afternoon and evening with us. Their presence made McCullough (also known in the French school as “Ma Culotte”) rock… They danced the evening away, listening to the Vent du Nord!

My class – every day at 9 am in Axinn hall, the new and improved version of the old Starr Library – is a true pleasure. I have 9 students, and they are all, without exception, lively and interesting. This year we’re again working in a “lab” classroom, which means that we all have access to computers, and… halleluia!… they’re Macs! Beautiful, gleaming, powerful iMacs. Drool, drool. (My poor MacBook is getting a bit fatigued. I think the time in Cambodia was hard on it too.)

The choir is tiny, but has a very good sound. We’re working on some Fauré, some Duruflé, and maybe even the Randall Thompson “Alleluia”. For my 25th summer I want to do pieces that I love, even though some of them are in Latin. I’m hoping the people who are now in the group will stay through to the end, because they’re doing a good job of learning the scores, and the sound is so lovely that 13-year-old Elie heaved a sincere and very vocal sigh as we paused after a final chord in the Ubi caritas… I absolutely love it that a boy that age can be touched by the beauty of choral music!

Last night we went to hear Diana Fanning (piano, and the wife of organist Emory, above) and Dieuwke Davydov (cello) in concert in a small, charming church in Salisbury, Vermont. Diana is a fabulous pianist, and I have enjoyed hearing her for years. The concert was lovely, and the perfect thing to be doing on a Vermont Friday evening.

This evening, as I left Proctor (our dining hall), there was a (double!) rainbow over Mead Chapel, which is where the choir rehearses and where our concert will be held in August. A sign – you all know how much I love signs – that lifted my heart. It’s tough to be here and not to be able to be “myself” (morning tennis, drives through the countryside, shopping in the village…) I don’t ever really feel depressed, but I find it hard to keep my spirits really “up” when it rains all the time. And it’s so cold… The weather forecast doesn’t look too gloomy, however, and I am absolutely, profoundly thrilled to be here and to be working, singing, directing, chatting… Activity is what my soul needs, I’m learning, and my Middlebury Summer is the right balance of just about everything.

Health-wise things are progressing: a local orthopedic surgeon took some x-rays and has authorized me to begin putting a little weight on my left leg (the weight of the leg itself.) I’m going to start using crutches for shorter distances. It will be fun to be able to look people in the eye when I’m speaking with them!

A couple of things to keep my eye on, however; my INR (related to anti-coagulants, for those who have never had to deal with that issue) remains too low, but we’re upping the meds and it should move up soon. In addition, a pin in my right foot has decided to make a move to free itself, and I’m going to have to make sure it stays right where it is until I can get myself safely back to Socialized-Medecine-Land in September and have it taken out.

Otherwise, all is well. I’m enjoying the company of some new people here as well as my old friends, and, except for the fact that I can’t quite seem to get enough sleep, I’m feeling better than I have in months and months and months and months and months…

Time to take off for the Grille to go to the “Bal des indépendences”… a glass or two of white wine and some one-footed jiggling, and I’ll be ready to crash… Tomorrow is Sunday, and I can sleep in! Hooray!

XOXOXOXOXOX

B