Fancy-Pants Philharmonic

Well, one would think that after a morning Mud Gauntlet and an afternoon baby shower, the Owen family would come home and crash. Not so! If one thought that, one would be wrong.

I blame it all on our friend Cadie P., who contacted me with the offer of a few free tickets for a local philharmonic concert. When I checked into pricing for additional tickets, a cheerful man told me I could order as many more as I liked for $10 dollars apiece. Since I'd made some money selling clothes at the consignment shop, I had an envelope tucked away for Summer Fun Stuff, and this fit the bill! Thanks to the free tickets, I was able to buy additional tickets and invite additional pals for not much more than it would have cost to take the family roller skating, which was my original plan.

I left the younger children home with John, filled our van to its full capacity with fancy young ladies, and off we went for a magical night! Rebecca took these pictures of the girls during pick-up.

Some of the girls were worried we'd stick out like sore thumbs because we were so fancy. I told them that was half the fun! Plus, we'd show those uncultured bums who wear jeans and leggings to the Philharmonic what's what. Seriously, athletic leggings?!

But this. This is much better.

The fact that so many older people commented favorably on the girls' appearances assured me that we made the right choice.

Since I forgot my camera (hey! I was scrambling like mad to even get out the door!), here are crummy phone pictures.  My one regret is not forcing a fancified Diedre to come. (Though her brothers may have used pictures of said fancified Diedre for blackmail, so perhaps it's for the best.)

When I used the word "magical" above, I meant it. I used to attend nearly every free Philharmonic concert during college, watching the musicians-- kids I knew from the cafeteria-- transform with their instruments into something extraordinary, a unified entity. I'd sink down and close my eyes while the music filled all the spaces.

I was a bonafide country bumpkin, and those concerts, such as they were, were one of my initial exposures to culture and fine art.  They were magical then, and they're magical now. This was the first time I've been to such a concert since college, and sharing that experience with all these lovely ladies, almost all of whom had never attended one before, was a great pleasure.

After the concert, I forced them against the wall for an ill-lit snapshot, and we were off.

Thank you, Cadie! I feel like your gift was just as much for me as it was for them!