The bus that brought Thomas from Chicago O'Hare airport was due to arrive last night just after 7 pm. About 4, Thomas texted to say that they had just arrived in the airport and were making their way through security, getting luggage....so, the 7 pm arrival time was clearly not going to happen. (Imagine herding over 50 kids carrying 50 instruments--and only one of them a piccolo--along with 15 or so miscellaneous adults through customs, security, baggage claims and then load them onto a bus...I couldn't do it). About 8, Thomas texted again to tell us that the arrival time was set for 11. I left the house about 10:45 to wait at the parking lot--I have long ago vowed that no kid of mine would be the last one picked up from anything--and waited with all the other early bird parents. About 11:20 or so, the bus pulled in:
Thomas steps off the bus.
He seemed very happy to be off the bus and back home. He mentioned specifically that the air in the parking lot "smelled good". (This
is the child who loved nothing much more than to take a trip over to the now-closed Family Video so he could stand in the foyer and smell the stained, mildewy carpet; he'd inhale deeply and then sigh contentedly, reveling in the sweet, sweet wonderfulness of that foul carpet air.) (Then he got in my car and said, "Your car smells funny. Don't you smell it?" and later when he walked into the house he said, "The house smells, too." I told him that that is just what living in Flint makes things smell like--not everything can smell as Irish Spring fresh as Ireland in the Spring, you know.) Apparently the problem was head winds over 200 mph, which added more than 3 hours to the flight. One of the parents who went said the flight was "very rocky and slightly alarming." Thomas, despite himself, seems to have had a good time. He certainly took enough pictures which we will post on the blog if/when we can get him to explain what we are looking at.
So, now, we settle back into our routine of teaching and taking the kids to various schools and various music lessons--until the end of June, that is, when Thomas leaves Flint once again for another whirlwind European tour. This one, which is for his Honors Percussion Quartet and the Honors Strings Quartet ONLY (more my speed: 8 kids and 4 adults) to spend 10 days in Paris and Lyon. They will, like last time Thomas went with the whole orchestra to Paris, stay with host families and perform dozens of concerts conjoined with the kids attending several music institutes there. Thomas had known about this trip since September but we only found out last week, when his percussion teacher emailed us with tour dates/details. When was Thomas planning on telling us?
Thomas steps off the bus.
He seemed very happy to be off the bus and back home. He mentioned specifically that the air in the parking lot "smelled good". (This is the child who loved nothing much more than to take a trip over to the now-closed Family Video so he could stand in the foyer and smell the stained, mildewy carpet; he'd inhale deeply and then sigh contentedly, reveling in the sweet, sweet wonderfulness of that foul carpet air.) (Then he got in my car and said, "Your car smells funny. Don't you smell it?" and later when he walked into the house he said, "The house smells, too." I told him that that is just what living in Flint makes things smell like--not everything can smell as Irish Spring fresh as Ireland in the Spring, you know.) Apparently the problem was head winds over 200 mph, which added more than 3 hours to the flight. One of the parents who went said the flight was "very rocky and slightly alarming." Thomas, despite himself, seems to have had a good time. He certainly took enough pictures which we will post on the blog if/when we can get him to explain what we are looking at.
So, now, we settle back into our routine of teaching and taking the kids to various schools and various music lessons--until the end of June, that is, when Thomas leaves Flint once again for another whirlwind European tour. This one, which is for his Honors Percussion Quartet and the Honors Strings Quartet ONLY (more my speed: 8 kids and 4 adults) to spend 10 days in Paris and Lyon. They will, like last time Thomas went with the whole orchestra to Paris, stay with host families and perform dozens of concerts conjoined with the kids attending several music institutes there. Thomas had known about this trip since September but we only found out last week, when his percussion teacher emailed us with tour dates/details. When was Thomas planning on telling us?
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