Back in January of 2010 I decided that I needed to change my life. Why? Well, it had to do with men… Ok, not the way you are thinking… I was jamming with some friends and one of them decided to weigh himself. It turns out that he weighed less than me, and he is not a small man. Then, at a rehearsal with some other guys, one decided to sit on the hearth at his house. I watched him sit down and thought, “I’d like to be able to sit on something that low that easily!” Here I was feeling envious of two guys…

So, January of 2010 I decided that I was too young to feel as old as I did. The floor was getting further away, as were my feet! I do not claim to be any sort of expert, but here is what has worked for me.

I decided not to join a gym or any sort of program that would tell me what to eat. I pretty much knew what I was doing that was bad for me… I’ve got to say, I enjoyed it too! I enjoyed the late night eating, the snacking, the sweet, the salt! It was all really tasty!

My goals are to eat much better. I always eat better when I am busy, which I know seems counter-intuitive. When I am teaching I make sure to cook food ahead that I pack away in meal sized servings. There is no option of going back for seconds. Also, when I am teaching, I am not wandering around the house eating whatever I can find. Once I eat the food I bring along, I am done. Other things I am trying to do is only eat fruit and vegetables between meals. That is, of course, never what I desire! My other big rule is not eating after 8:30pm. I know that some people say that time should be earlier, but with my life, 8:30pm seems to be working. Last thing is that I have been trying to drink more water.

The other thing that I have been doing to try to improve my health is exercise. I have been walking 30 minutes a day and have also been doing some weight exercises off and on over the last couple of years. There seems to be disagreement about exercise and weight loss, but no matter what, it is good for my health to be active.

One thing I find interesting about this is that by now it is not all that hard. This is one of those times in my life when I am thinking “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” I have not given up any foods… I still eat pizza, ice cream, chips… I just don’t eat them as much or as often as before. I am not winning any sort of race for the speed at which I am losing weight, but my aim was to do it on my own terms, at my own speed, in a way that I thought I could maintain! I am not depriving myself, but am also trying not to binge too often!

I do feel much better now that I have lost a total of 47 pounds. I am certainly not at a point where I am going to stop trying to improve me health, but am delighted with the results so far! This is one of those things that I think is a life-long project.

Alasdair is a Scottish fiddler who now resides in California. He tours quite a lot, most recently with Natalie Haas, a cellist. I don’t remember when I first heard Alasdair, but have been able to see him perform many times, and have enjoyed it each time! One of my earliest memories of watching him perform was at the New Hampshire Highland Games at Loon Mountain.

So, why is this man my idol? It has all got to do with his tone. Various people like different things in fiddle music. For me, one of the big things that I listen for, and also aspire to, is a beautiful, singing tone. Alasdair has that tone!

There is no extraneous sound and no scratching! His sound is very clean. His playing also seems to be completely effortless.

One of the things that I have always loved about the Scottish and Irish styles of fiddling is the lilt to the music. The fast tunes are energetic and driving, but there is a swing to the music. A lilt that always brings a smile to my face!
Perhaps one of the reasons I have been drawn to Alasdair Fraser is that he is classically trained, as am I. This means that he has been trained to listen to his tone and has also trained to work on bow control. Sometimes you will hear people comment on a fiddler being classically trained as if it is a negative thing, but to me it seems to work well for Alasdair.

If you want to hear my idol in action, check out Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas in Boston on YouTube.

You can also visit his site at: www.AlasdairFraser.com

This is what I aspire to be and to sound like!

This is not the first time I have had a student who would not speak to me.  I had another who did not speak for about two years.  The thing I find interesting with quiet students is that often their parents try really hard to get them to talk to me.  I actually have no problem with non-speaking students.   I relate to these children!

When I was a child I was extremely shy.  I did not speak to my teachers unless it was absolutely necessary, certainly did not talk to my neighbours, and often managed to get my teachers to let me stay inside during recess.  This was my public face.  At home I was a talkative, bubbly child.  It was always a surprise to my friends to come over to my house and see me in my home environment.  My mom was telling me the other day that she thinks I was in junior high before I actually spoke to any of our neighbours.

With my students, I always try to give them the time and space to become comfortable with me and to start speaking on their own terms.  There has so far always come a time when the child has started speaking, in both cases calling me by name.  Even as a person who is shy by nature, it still surprised me, however I did my best not to react too much.  Nothing will make a shy child clam up more than someone making a big deal over him/her speaking!

I know that for some people who are more outgoing it is odd to run into someone who is not interested in speaking a whole lot.  With most children, it really is just a matter of time and comfort.  I went from being a very shy child to now being a musician and teacher.  I have been self-employed for at least 6 years now and have to be in communication with others all the time.  I love being on stage and in the spotlight.  You never know that a child will end up doing later in life!

Goal #1:  Continue working on improving my health.  I have lost 40 pounds since January of 2010.  The year 2011 was a hard year as I lost weight, gained it back when my father died, lost weight again, and then gained weight at Christmas…  I think in 2011 that in the end I stayed the same weight.  I know that weight is not the best way to evaluate your health, but for me a number is something to work with…  No set goals, but I want to continue on my path of improving…

Goal #2:  Perform the cello in public.  I have been taking cello lesson for two years now and have only played in public at student recitals and the Fredericton Music Festival.  I think it will soon be time to take it public!

Goal #3:  Give back to my community more.  I am really lucky to be able to be a professional musician.  It is a lot of work, but I feel like I am lucky to be able to work for myself doing something that I love!  I really can’t imagine working a day job now.  I quit my last day job in 2005…  I do feel though like I take a lot and don’t give back as much…  I feel like I am always asking people to buy my CD, pay money to come see me perform…  I have a project in mind for giving back, so more will come of this later!

Goal #4:  Become more proactive in all of my business so that I can deal with everything in a timely manner and not end up always being reactive and working in a panic.  I have been working on returning phone calls and e-mails more promptly yet feel there is still room for improvement.

Goal #5:  Record and release a CD of Christmas music.

Goal #6:  Start a series of intimate concerts in the style of house concerts.  Keep posted for the first concert in February!

There are many more goals I am sure, but this is what has come to mind for now.  Hopefully I will accomplish some of these goals.  They are all achievable, so now to work!

Skip Holmes and Katherine Moller at the ECMAs in Charlottetown PEI

At this time of year everywhere that you look there are stories of “The Year that Was”, the year in photos, the stories that got covered by the media, the stories that should have been covered. So, in that spirit, I thought I would write up a blog on 2011 and what happened in my life.

Let’s start with the highlights! The year started off with a bang as I was chosen to showcase at the ECMAs. The actual event took place in April in Charlottetown, PEI and was excellent. Another big highlight was being nominated for two awards at the Music NB Awards: Female Recording Artist of the year and Educator of the year.

Sadly, also on my list of all things exciting has been getting an iPhone. It is embarrassing how much I like my phone. Those who know me and work with me love my iPhone as it has actually made it so that you can reach me. It has made my life much easier!

Always a highlight for me is going on the band trip. I run the string ensemble at Leo Hayes High School and each year we go on a trip. This past year the trip was to Montreal and was excellent! I went to university at McGill so it was like going home in a way. I get at least as excited as the kids about going on these trips. Other than the school trip, it was a quite year as far as travelling goes. I went to Maine to visit family and also went to Cape Breton to meet up with my bother and his clan.

Teaching has gone very well this past year. I guess one of the biggest highlights in that realm has been starting a string programme at Park St. Elementary School. This is actually the school where I started playing the violin all of those years ago! We had over 40 kids in the programme and put on a concert at the end of the school year with a full orchestra including all the kids in the band programme and string programme. It was quite a sight to see!

As far as disappointments go, my second CD was not nominated for an ECMA and I did not win either of the awards at the Music NB Awards. I had also applied to Contact East for a showcase and was not chosen. I must say though that these pale in comparison with the death of my father. My father passed away in August, and that put a damper on the rest of the summer. As with all things though, there is always a silver lining! It was amazing to see the turn out at his memorial and it was great to have been able to go on one final vacation together!

All in all, I would say that 2011 was a great year! You can’t have life being all positive… We all need a few disappointments in our lives to keep it all in balance! I however do chose to focus on the good that has occurred. I hope that you have all experienced a wonderful year as well!

So why do I love teaching Christmas music?  Well, my students always get excited when we start.  I have a rule in my studio that we don’t start working on Christmas music until after Halloween.  This is to help maintain my sanity, but also to build excitement.  Kids love Christmas music and are always excited to play music that they have heard all of their lives.  They love playing music that their family immediately recognizes as well.  Often they are looking forward to playing for their extended family when they visit over the holidays.  That is one of the many joys of this time of year!

I also love teaching Christmas music because my students learn it really quickly.  It is amazing the progress that they are able to make during this time of year.  I try to balance music that they like with music that will help to develop their skill.  I am a great believer in being able to read music, so I do get my students to play music that they don’t hear all the time.  This means that when Christmas comes, they have the added bonus of having heard the music their whole lives, so they are able to learn it much quicker.  That is satisfying for them, their parents and for me!  I do love this time of year!

We headed down to Cape Breton for a really quick trip to deliver my mother and meet up with my brother and his family.  Mom then continued her journey with my brother and family.  I kept meaning to book a hotel room for me and Kim, but would only think of it as I was running late, or when I was not near a phone or computer…  Finally, the day before we were to leave, my mother offered to  make arrangements.  She booked a hotel room for us in Port Hastings.  She and my brother were staying in Port Hawkesbury, just down the road.  

The drive to Cape Breton was lovely and uneventful, but once we arrived, we headed confidently to our hotel.  There was no reservation.  The very unhelpful lady at the front desk wanted to know if we were sure that we had reserved there and not at another hotel, which apparently is connected to them.  Mom had accidentally ended up booking through Hotels.com.  She had phoned what she thought was the phone number for the actual hotel, and ended up talking to someone at a call centre.  Our reservation confirmation did have the name and the address of the hotel where we were at that moment standing, but no room had been reserved.  The lady at the desk called their sister hotel to see if we were booked there, but no luck either.  We had wanted a room with a queen size bed, but all of those rooms were already booked, so off we went to look for somewhere to stay.

Our first stop was at the sister hotel, but we did not even make it into the office…  The place was dark except for the office, and really just had a closed down look to it.  It was probably fine, but I don’t get the creeps often about hotels (we have stayed in some jems!) so when I do, we tend to move on.  We decided to stop in to the hotel where Mom and my brother were staying to see if they had space.  The same call centre that supposedly booked us a room had said that this hotel was full, so we figured they might be wrong about that too…  Turns out they weren’t.  We drove a bit longer before returning to our first hotel and booking a double room.

Through all of this, my brother, his wife and kids were at a concert.  They got out of the concert at about 11pm and went to their hotel to check in.  They had two rooms with two double beds each booked…  or so they thought.  Turns out that they only had one room with two queen size beds, and 5 people to accommodate.  My brother came to our hotel to share the news with us.  Our room only had one double bed, so that was not much help.  My mom went to find out if we could move to another room with two double beds.  We were told that we would have to pay for the one we were in (which I understand) as well as a new room should we move.  My mom felt that if we straightened the bed that the room would be as good as new…  There was a thick film of dust on the TV screen (and probably everywhere else too, but it was obvious there) and the carpet looked as if it had not been cleaned in a while either.  According to our “reservation” we were staying in deluxe, one star accommodations…  In the end, we did managed to get a cot for my mother so she could sleep in our room and my brother and his clan could sleep at the other hotel.  

We still don’t know if Mom’s credit card has been charged for the room that did not exist…  We will find out soon enough I guess.  It was an adventure though.  Kim assures me that from now on he will be booking our accommodations as I tend to leave things to the last minute, and Mom somehow managed to make a reservation without an actual room!

Kim and I love going to Cape Breton, but we wonder if it is meant to be…  The first trip we took Kim ended up with pneumonia, on our honeymoon we missed a call from our hosts telling us that they would not be there and that we should just move in, so we almost called the police thinking that they might be injured somewhere in their house, and this time, despite our efforts, we almost ended up with nowhere to sleep…  Never a dull moment!

Katherine and Chris at FREX

This was my second year playing at the FREX.  Last year I received a call asking if I would accompany the Bonnie Kilburn Dancers during the stage shows.  I had a lot of fun and was delighted to get the call again this year.  

Bonnie Kilburn Dancers, Tom and Katherine

During the week we did 11 shows in 6 days.  Last year I was asked several times whether I got bored of doing the same show.  I don’t.  I actually really enjoy doing the same show many times.  Really, they are never the same.  There are always things that go differently, some times well, some times poorly, but it makes it interesting.  It is also interesting to see the show change as the week goes on.I enjoy being at the FREX and end up spending quite a bit of time in between the stage shows taking everything in.  

Alpaca

One of my great delights was the day that the alpacas arrived.  I love to knit and love alapaca yarn.  It is very expensive, but very luxurious!  I didn’t buy any this year, but certainly enjoyed looking around.  

Wheel of Destiny

Last year I became fascinated with watching the aerial act outside.  I had not really expected to like watching them, but became interested in watching their faces.  I recognized the looks that sometimes come across the faces of performers.  This year the outdoor show was put on by the Fearless Flores Family.  Their acts included “The Wheel of Destiny”, “The Sway Pole” and “The Globe of Death”.  The Wheelof Destiny was a pretty neat contraption where he could walk around on the inside or outside of the white cage and control the speed of the rotation of the whole thing.  

Sway Pole

Their sway pole had a unique feature which was that it was a break-away sway pole.  She climbed up the top and then started swinging it “to the breaking point” at which point the top of the pole would swing down towards the ground.  

Globe of Death

Their final act was “The Globe of Death” in which they rode motor bikes inside a metal globe.  At first there was just one person on a motor, then one person on a motor bike and one person standing in the middle, and then the grand finale was both of them riding motor bikes in this 14 foot globe.  It was impressive to see.

Pole Act

The stage show, with which I became quite familiar, included 4 acts.  It opened with a Romanian family who did a pole act.   This was a very acrobatic act.  We were the next ones up with fiddle music and step dancing.  

Claude, Mustang Jr., and his dogs

After us was Claude and his trained horses and dogs.  It was nice to watch the relationship he had with his animals.  Finally, the Romanian family came back to do a quick change act. I had never seen one before and was really impressed with how interesting the act could be.  I did not take any photos as really it would just look like people wearing different clothes.  It is the kind of act that you would need to video.  

I did not go on any of the rides or try any of the games, but I did enjoy my time watching the shows, visiting the alpacas and enjoying the food.  Another good week!

Music stand, music, Dad as santa and rugs for his tubas.

Dad’s memorial concert was amazing!  When Mom and I first returned from Maine we had decided that we didn’t want to do any sort of memorial service and that holding TubaFest in May would be our memorial to Dad.  Well, after having spoken to many people in the community, it became obvious that we needed to hold an event much sooner than May, not for ourselves, but to provide closure to all those in the local community who had known Dad.  We needed to give them a chance to pay their last respects to him.  So, the planning began.

We decided that a concert would be the best way to remember my father.  He had become quite central to the musical community in Fredericton and at UNB.  As an undergraduate advisor, he often asked students if they played instruments and encouraged them to join local groups. 

We had initially wanted the venue to be Memorial Hall on the UNB campus as that is where Dad spent many an hour, rehearsing with the Fredericton Chamber Orchestra, performing with the Fredericton Concert and Marching Band, rehearsing and performing with the UNB Concert Band, and also planning and holding the Fredericton International TubaFest.  Unfortunately, Mem Hall was not available, so we looked for other venues.  We ended up holding the concert at the Christ Church Cathedral, which was also an appropriate venue.  Dad played with the Brass Menagerie, a brass quintet that rehearsed at the Christ Church Cathedral in return for performing at some of the services through the year. 

Photos of Dad and family through the years.

Mom’s sister had come to visit from Arkansas and was a great help as we had decided not only to hold a concert, but also to have a display of photos from different times in Dad’s life.  Mom’s sister also had the idea of brining various items that had belonged to dad to display as well.  The mother of a friend had offered to bake, so Kim and I took charge of having a reception after the concert.

A patch I made for Dad, posters from various events and a Christmas ornament.

I had hoped to take photos of the various performers, but the light was not that great, so I did not manage.  We started the show with the Fredericton Fiddle Orchestra.  This is a group that I founded in 2005.  Dad joined the group, mostly, I think to support me and to spend time with my mother, who was excited about the group, and definitely wanted to join!  My dad was great help as he would run the rehearsals any time I had to be away.  We picked three pieces to perform:  The Log Driver’s Waltz, John Roy Lyall and Loggieville Two-Step.  John Roy Lyall was picked specifically for Dad as he would have the group work on this piece every time I left.  It is in three flats which is a harder key for violins, and the group would always groan every time we would play it.  Dad took delight in torturing them, but also loved the piece as it is really pretty and has two harmony parts.

Next up in the concert was the Brass Menagerie.  As previously mentioned, this is a brass quintet.  I believe this is one of the few small ensembles with which Dad performed that he actually was not active in forming.  My dad was constantly calling up musicians trying to get them to play music with him!  In a very touching move, the Brass Menagerie placed an empty chair to represent Dad.

TubaFest

I performed fiddle music next and was joined by Tom Richards.  We played some Irish jigs because Dad had been so happy when I got to go to Ireland back in 2001-2002.  He went out and immediately bought a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey to celebrate.  We then performed “Gateway to Paradise”, a tune that I composed about our land down by the Bay of Fundy.  This was a favourite place of mine and of my father’s.  Our final tune was “Draggin’ the Bow” which was simply a fiddle tune that Tom and I like a whole lot!

Tuba cleaning material, photos, hat, and that piece of metal... Dad just liked the sound of it!

The Antique Brass were our next performers.  This is a tuba quartet that Dad formed a few years back.  Dad had been going to tuba conferences for a while and we had all fallen in love with the rich sound of a tuba quartet, usually formed of two tubas and two euphoniums.  Thankfully a past member of the quartet stepped in and took Dad’s place for this concert so we could have the full four parts in the performance.

Kim, my husband, and I are in a band called Different Folk.  Mom and Dad rarely missed a performance of this group, or any group that I was in for that matter.  We performed “Proud Mary” as Dad was always a big Credence Clearwater Revival fan, “Sam Hall” (a traditional Irish song that we sang a cappella) and “One More Chorus” which is our signature song.

Dad's Australian bush hat, cowbells, rocks from the Bay of Fundy and magazines. Dad had become obsessed with buying cowbells on a recent trip to the US. This is only a small part of the collection.

My dad’s siblings traveled up from the US to be with us for this event, which was very nice.  My aunt (my father’s sister-in-law) is an excellent singer, and she graced us all with an a cappella version of “Amazing Grace”.

Next up I was joined by Dianne Roxborough Brown (piano) and we performed “Czardas”.  Dianne and I have performed this piece many times through the years.

Finally, we were down to the immediate family.  My brother and one of his daughters performed “Kumbaya” which was very sweet!  Dad and I used to play duets together all the time, so it was really nice seeing my brother and his daughter play.  Next Mom, Timothy (my brother) and I played a piece from a suite called “Smokey Joe”.  This was in the tradition of family fun.  We used to play music together as a family every Sunday evening after dinner.  We did have to rearrange the music a little though since we were missing Dad’s part. 

The grand finale for the concert was a sing-along of Australian drinking songs.  While traveling in New Zealand, Dad had found a book of Australian Digger Songs, which were songs sung during either WWI or WWII…  Dad arranged a medley of these songs for us, and they became a staple in both our private music making and our performances.  This seemed to us to be the only appropriate way to end the concert.

More photos, a tuba tie, cones and a pencil tin.

Kim was our master of ceremonies through the evening and did an excellent job of both announcing the groups and telling stories about Dad.  It was a great evening with both music and stories of meeting Dad, growing up with Dad (provided by me and my brother) and being surrounded by people who knew Dad through music, through work, through biology… 

The evening ended with a great reception.  We had asked the various performers if they would be willing to bring a snack of some sort, and we ended up with quite a spread! 

One of my favourite pictures from the display... Me and my Dad from a long time ago...

All in all, I would say this was a great success.  It was really well attended with likely around 250 people in the audience, and I really think that everyone enjoyed themselves.  It was the kind of evening that my father would have loved!

Dad doing one of the things he loved most!

I write this post under the saddest of circumstances.  My father passed away on Monday night.  We had just had a family picnic and were sitting down to have drinks… 

So, here is Wednesday, and what do I have to say for myself.  Well, my father and I were very close.  We always were!  Thick as thieves for the past 33 years.  My father was a professor of biology at UNB for many years (from 1972 until he retired), but music was always one of the things that we shared.  I started playing the violin when I was six because he played the violin around the house.  My older brother had also started lessons, and I wanted to join in.  One of my favourite photos from my childhood was of me standing on the footstool moving the pistons on Dad’s tuba while he played.  This goes back a long time!  Other than music, we shared a love of the outdoors and of the water. 

As mentioned, my father was a prof.  He loved his work and did a great job at it.  He had a reputation for being tough…  no bird courses with him, but he was fair and always aided those who seeked help.  At the end of his career he was in essence a guidance councilor to undergraduate students on top of his regular teaching assignments.  A dedicated man who caught the 6:30am bus to work…  A man who prepped all of his lectures the morning of…  The man who never had lecture notes for students to copy….  It was all in his head! 

Family Fun...

We played music together from the time that I started playing the violin…  Violin duets, fiddle duets, tuba/violin duets, and, of course, family fun…  This meant that every Sunday night the whole family (me on violin, my mother on clarinet, my brother on viola, and

Fredericton Fiddle Orchestra 2008

my father on tuba) would play music together.  Classical, Broadway, Australian Drinking Songs…  This was a tradition that we continued every Christmas eve right up until the last Christmas.  If he and I were in the same house,

York Early Music Ensemble 2010

there was always music!  Recently (five years ago) I had started both a fiddle group and an amateur baroque music string ensemble, and my father joined both.  The fiddle group was really more to be with me and my mom as the music was no challenge for him, but the early music group was something that made him push himself and work on the violin more than usual. 

TubaFest 2011

My father ran the Fredericton International TubaFest.  This is a two-day event to which he invited usually at least three clinicians and a pianist and at which we usually had 15-20 participants.  The last one he ran in 2011 was our 8^th year.  One of our clinicians had passed away (John Griffiths) and we had a memorial to him during our 7^th annual event.  Mom and I are thinking of running the event one final time in 2012 as a memorial to Dad.  My father had been attending tuba conferences around the continent and had decided to hold one in our hometown.  He was dedicated enough to this event to take it on singlehanded and to be willing to bankroll it if necessary.  It never came to that, but he would have been willing.

So, what else can I tell you about my father.  He loved to travel, and instilled that love in me early on!  During my childhood we lived in New Zealand twice and Texas once.  We drove across Canada in a van one summer and drove down to Texas the year we lived there.  We traveled to Hawaii and Puerto Rico as well.  Since I moved out, my parents have also lived in Australia and British Columbia.  I made the trip to visit both times. 

Birch Island

My father passed way during a family vacation to Maine.  My family owns a small island on a lake in Southern Maine where my aunt and uncle reside during the summer.  This island is where my father spent his summers as a child.  He loved the water…  Loved being in it and on it, a love that I share.  We have enjoyed many an early morning paddle on the lake before the wind picked up and before most everyone else was

Camp through the mist...

awake…  that magical time when the water is still warmer than the air and there is mist rising off of it.  My uncle read a letter to us this visit that his mother had written in which it mentioned that my father had just come in with yet more fish, and that he had been called off of the lake to come do his chores.  It is a nice circular situation that led my father back to the place of his childhood for his death.

My father had been short of breath for a few days and was going to visit the doctor upon our return to get everything checked out.  He did not want to miss this vacation.  We had a really good day on Monday with him coming for a swim with us.  He had actually commented on how good he felt that morning, and he seemed to have a bit more of a spark in his eye.  Mom and I had gone for a canoe and picked some blueberries as well.  In the evening we had a cook-out with hamburgers, chips and dip, and then were settling in to evening drinks when my father’s breathing became very laboured and he essentially lost consciousness for a couple of minutes.  As we were in the process of calling 911, he came to.  He wasn’t sure why we were all panicking and wanted to know what was wrong.  We told him what had happened and that we were taking him to the hospital.  We only got him part way to the boat to shore before he collapsed.  He never made it to the hospital.

Dad and my nieces.

There are lots of good things about this story.  My father was well right up to his death.  He was able to come on vacation with us one last time to his childhood summer home, a place that he loved!  He felt pretty good and was able to participate in the activities of the day, although he did feel tired.  He got to visit with my brother, his wife and children just last month.  I was here with my mother, and

Christmas 2008

she was surrounded with family.  Also, my father had that one final lucid moment with us…  He didn’t understand why we were panicking.  I asked him to raised his arms, speak a sentence, and my aunt got him to stick out his tongue.  He did everything we requested, although when he stuck out his tongue, he did wave it around a bit and roll it up just to poke fun at us for our worry.  I will always remember that moment!

Mom and Dad at fiddle camp.

So many fond memories of my father…  When I was in high school we went to the Gaelic College in St. Anne’s, Cape Breton together to study fiddling.  He and I were in all of the same classes, sat next to each other, and were generally considered to be trouble.  Also in high school he and I shared a music stand in the local community orchestra.  We were enough trouble there that I was moved to first violin while he was kept on second violin.  We still managed to sit next to each other and cause trouble!  My father lived a great life, and if he were here, it seems to me that he should have no regrets.  He and my mother traveled a lot, and traveled even more after he was retired.  Just last winter they drove to Arkansas to visit my aunt, went to Nashville, Branson, Arlington…  The spent a month and a half traveling around.  They still had plans for places to go, but were not putting anything off for later.  A full life with more dreams left.  I feel lucky that my parents were still planning.  They were not in a home, they were not incapacitated in anyway…  My father in essence died the way that most of us hope to:  quickly, painlessly, after a great day, and surrounded by family.  Also, my mother has been left with lots of support!  It will of course be hard, but there are still lots of us around to help out! 

My father and the instructors from fiddle camp. As far as I know, this is the most recent photo of him.

RIP Richard T. Riding, born Jan 6, 1943, died August 1^st, 2011.