Rhea has had the quietest birthday celebration in her life on turning 15. This coincided with the worst birthday of her life: the start of two days of exams testing her on all of her French subjects’ curriculum for the year. A kind parent bought celebratory pizzas for the whole class at the end of each day, which softened the blow a little. It meant that Rhea wasn’t hungry for dinner on her birthday evening, though she did eat some of the chocolate layer cake with cream frosting that I made for them. Blowing out the candles and two parents singing Happy Birthday to two girls isn’t the same as a roomful of family or friends. They did receive lots of birthday wishes and presents, lucky girls.
Rhea and I went for some iceream tonight and while we were there, we replied to an old schoolfriend of Maggie and mine who asked me recently if either of my girls would be interested in working casually at her crêperie at the Farmers’ Market. Rhea is up for working for a few hours on a Saturday morning before netball starts at 11am, so we sent our friend a message to let her know.
Lara decided to go out for dinner with her friends to celebrate her birthday and we dropped her off at a restaurant tonight wearing the new short pink dress from mum and dad for her birthday, with a black puffer jacket, gold jewelery, hair that had been set with a little body, and white sneakers. It was a Japanese barbeque restaurant where you cook your own food over a grill, and she met five of her friends there.
She’s just arrived home with one of her friends and shown us the loot. It included an eyelash curler, makeup, banana hair oil, a jellycat, a book about grammar (an in-joke), a small camera and several handmade cards.
The small amount of work required by us for birthday preparations this year meant that I didn’t find the month of June as tiring as usual. The highlights of the month for me have been the TV series on ABC The Piano, showcasing piano players from all over Australia playing at train stations, markets or malls, giving us a glimpse into a diverse array of life experiences through the connection of each with playing the piano. There was a five year old girl playing with expression and accuracy with her teddy sitting on the piano top watching her; a grave digger with tatts from central NSW; a young Aboriginal girl who also paints and played a difficult Chopin Etude that I play; a man who taught himself to play with his good hand after his concert pianist career was cut short after a stroke; and a deaf and blind performer.
Not only that, but also this month there was the ABC classic countdown of Australia’s favourite piano music as voted by the public. More than ten hours of music and lighthearted banter playing Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Clara Schumann, Satie, Kats-Chernin, Gershwin, as well as many composers for film. I enjoyed it so much I listened to the whole thing again on the ABC Listen App and took notes about which pieces I have played and which I’d like to learn.
I watched the culmination of this, the ABC Class 100 Piano concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and guest performers, over the last few nights on iView. It was luminous and heartwarming. What a gift the piano is, and what a gift it has been in my life.
Lotus likes it too. She often comes and sits up in her cat tower beside the piano when I’m playing, either watching me or sleeping. Sometimes she jumps down and walks along the keys while I’m playing. Her piano music is distinctive and makes us smile. She just needs to apply herself a bit more to her practice.
