California

Last week was my spring break, and I went with Kapelle on our Spring Tour to CALIFORNIA! It was so amazing. I want to go back to California so bad. Everywhere we went was beautiful, even in the desert. What's also great is that we went from being slightly less than prepared to having at least half the program memorized. We're not using music for quite a few pieces. The program has really grown on me. I can honestly say that I enjoy singing every piece, while there are a few pieces that are my favorites. Like Abendlied. The text is "stay with us, Lord, for it is evening, and the day is almost over." The music reflects this. The harmonic language has a certain tension, pleading, and almost urgent desperation for Christ to stay with us. That's probably my favorite in the whole program.

Chicago just isn't nearly as awesome as California. Besides the fact that coming back to Chicago means back to reality, back to school, and back to doing actual work, Chicago...smells funny. I know this sounds weird and kind of minor, but smell is kind of a big deal to me. Certain smells are associated with certain memories. I like different smells, particularly nice ones. Everywhere we went in California smelled better than Chicago. Chicago smells dirty, crowded, and polluted. California smells...relaxed, (good), fresh. I miss it.

There was also so much open space in California. A lot of our drives was just this vast expanse of land. There's places where there's nothing but miles and miles of unsettled hills and mountains. It all really put God's glory and majest into perspective. It was so breathtaking, and I was kind of left speechless by it.

I can honestly say, that I would live in Califonia if I could. But there are things here in the midwest that I love more. So I will stay.