well-intentioned

It's no secret that Baltimore is not my favorite city in the world, although it does boast of being "The Greatest City in America."  It took me awhile, though, to figure out just what was wrong.  I don't even know when it hit me - but all of the sudden, I knew.  Baltimore is always well-intentioned, it just lacks a little bit on the follow-through.  Let me give you a few examples.

Scenario #1:

It's Saturday morning.  I'm sitting at the desk at work.  Across from me, there are two bins: one for garbage and one for paper recycling. The recycle bin is clearly labeled with a large sign: PAPER ONLY.  Good idea, right?  
I watch as the janitor comes in to clean the lobby area. First she takes the bag out of the garbage can and replaces it. She sets the full bag on the floor, and picks up the paper bin....and then proceeds to DUMP THE PAPER INTO THE TRASH BAG.

well-intentioned.


Scenario #2:

It's Wednesday evening. I'm on my way home from school and I decide to stop by our neighborhood grocery store to pick up a few things. As I go to check out, I notice the large sign next to the cash register. "Plastic bags available only upon request."  Awesome idea, right?
The cashier takes my items, rings them up, and proceeds to place them directly in a plastic bag, without a second thought.

well-intentioned.


Scenario #3:

When I moved into my apartment one year ago, it wasn't quite finished.  One of the problems I inherited was a leak under my kitchen sink.  It had probably been leaking for months, if not years.  And as a result, the boards underneath it had rotted out.  The leak got fixed right away - but the cabinet was going to need to be replaced.  Which never really happened.  I was OK with that - the boards weren't too gross, and with only one of me, I wasn't desperate for cabinet space.

Fast-forward one year. With a new roommate moving in, I decided it was time to put in a work order and get it fixed.  Lucky for me, the maintenance manager and property manager are fond of me, so they decided it would be best to give me all new cabinets and countertops.  Basically, a full kitchen remodel.  I didn't complain.

So it was a Thursday afternoon, when I came home to beautiful shiny new cabinets. I walked in my kitchen to admire them. It looked great - definitely an upgrade from before.  But in the back of my mind, I realized my garbage can wasn't where I'd left it that morning.  I didn't think too much of it.   Because we'd had to move everything out of the kitchen, I figured it was in one of the other rooms under a pile of dishrags or plates or something.

6 hours later, when I was fast asleep, Rebecca came home and, as I had done, wandered into the kitchen to admire the new cabinets. She did so, and had only taken a few steps, when she realized that her feet were wet.  She opened the under-the-sink cabinet door to find the garbage can that I had missed a few hours before.....full of water, and overflowing.

Which means this:
1. The leak was back.
2. The cabinet (the original inspiration for this whole remodel) was ruined a second time. Granted, it's not nearly as bad as the time before - and it is still usable.  But still, it's sad to see such a lovely cabinet end up warped....in less than a day.
3. The maintenance manager KNEW about the leak!! He put the garbage can there to hold the water until the plumber arrived the next day....but didn't think to inform us about it.

well-intentioned.


See, in all of these situations, someone had a good idea, a good intention.  Let's put a paper recycling bin in the lobby.  Let's force people to use reuseable bags and not give out plastic bags automatically.  Let's put new cabinets in this kitchen.

But somewhere along the way, someone didn't quite follow through.

I was lucky enough to have a fellow-Northwesterner here early this summer. Emily and I went to Whitworth together and were excited to discover that our time in Baltimore overlapped by a few months.  We were able to share coffee a few times and share in our homesickness for the NW.

I shared with her my epiphany about Baltimore being so well-intentioned.  She agreed that it suited the city perfectly. But I was not prepared for what she said next,

Well, you know what the road to you-know-where is paved with....

Touche, Emily, touche.

Please forgive my absence....

...I've been busy.

I just realized that it's been nearly a month since my last post.

Somehow, October is just around the next bend, and I'm left wondering what happened to September.

and then I remember.

Practice.   Rehearsal for Don Giovanni.  Classes.  Practice.   Rehearsal for Ariel's Tempest.  Lessons.  Practice.   Rehearsals with singers.  Homework.  Practice.  Performances.  Meetings.  Practice.  Practice.  Practice.

I spent September in a practice room.  And October will probably not be much different.

This last week I pulled double duty as I helped the new cast and music directors of Ariel's Tempest (the show Nadja and I directed last year) get things started.  It was fun to be there and help them get a feel for the music, but I remembered how much I don't miss being in rehearsal until 10:00 every night.   I am also gearing up to begin playing for Giovanni rehearsals, so I have been observing those as much as I can, to glean information about tempos, etc.   But that meant that, at times, this week, I was in rehearsal from 4pm-10pm.   There really is nothing pleasant about that.

My schedule has been full, to be sure.  But as I consider what it was a year ago, I can't help but be thankful to be in such a different place than I was then.  I am still busy, still exhausted, still overwhelmed.  But there is somehow a peace present in me, a lightness of being, that was oh-so-absent last fall.

I attribute part of that peace to a church community that I recently joined.  After a year of feeling not-quite-at-home at church, I have finally found a place to call home.  I am reminded of Michael Dennis Browne's words in the text entitled "The Road Home":

there is no such beauty as where you belong.

And I know that I belong in this community, for this season.


I am also looking forward to the opportunities ahead in the coming weeks.  One of my singers was selected to sing in the Denyce Graves masterclass this week, so I will get to play for that.  And another has been chosen to sing for the Thomas Hampson masterclass next month.  It will be an incredible opportunity to get to play for these incredible artists!

So there is much to be thankful for.  Sunny days.  The crunch of leaves beneath my feet.  The opportunity to work with some of the best musicians in the world.  Mornings spent at the keyboard - is there really any better way to start the day?    Church services that fill me with life and energy.

places to belong.