A Very Nice Surprise

There are benefits to living in one area for a long period of time. You get to know people. You get invited to fun events.

Last night was one of those.

HHBL and I drove up to the home of Eric and Dawn who reside in Ohio City. Ohio City is where the West Side Market can be found as well as Great Lakes Brewery. I like Ohio City. At any rate, Eric is the Superintendent of one of the school district in the Frozen Northeast Ohio. Now THAT is a job that I do no envy him. But he LOVES it. He loves the kids. He is all about the kids.

And he lives in a house that used to be a funeral home. And for some unknown and probably shouldn’t be explored reason I think that is fabulously cool. It also explains the extra wide front doors that open out.

But I digress.

So, Eric had told everyone that we needed to be at their abode no later than 7p because there would be a special surprise for us. I wasn’t going to bring Old Faithful with me but when he said surprise I thought I might just be able to stuff him in my always overstuffed purse/bag “just in case”.

Good choice Deb. Good choice.

I am going to preface this next part by saying that the lighting was, shall we say, challenging. I love Old Faithful with a vast passion but, he is on the elderly side as far as DSLRs are concerned. I could have used more ISO power in this instance (he only goes to 1600). I am pretty darn good with natural lighting….when there is natural light to be had. And I am a wiz in Manual mode and squeaking out every ounce of light….but this was challenging. So the photos aren’t my best work. But really, it isn’t at all about my photos, it is about what the photos recorded.

I won’t bore you, this time, with the food and drink aspect of the night. The wine was good, the appetizers were good, the dessert was FABULOUS (more about that later). Let’s get right to the “surprise” shall we. When we arrived I could hear violin music coming from the front parlor.

This is Solomon (on the left) and Heddy (on the right) and they are students and The Cleveland School of the Arts. Eric had arranged for them to come and give a performance for us. And what a performance it was!! Solomon is a senior, Heddy a Sophomore and these young men are passionate about music. And they are very, very good.

First Solomon performed. Then they did a number of duets. Then Solomon was persuaded to perform his audition piece for us. You could have heard a pin drop in that room. Beautiful, beautiful music.

After their “performance” there was a time for questions and answers and we were able to hear a bit more about how they came to be so passionate about music. There was also some improvisation and audience participation. Good times!

Can I just tell you that it was stunningly wonderful to hear young people (I feel so old at the moment after writing that sentence) who are so very passionate about something. These men are passionate about music. Not just violin but jazz and piano and guitar and voice. They have dreams and aspirations and nothing is going to get in their way. That is why they are at CSA.

This was the quietest that Heddy’s feet ever were last night. He was moving all the time. I was exhausted.

And after all the beautiful music and the questions……we got to have dessert.

And we were able to meet several of the students who had a hand in preparing the desserts.

I am going to be honest and say that I didn’t catch these girls names….because I was stuffing my face with a truly outstanding cream puff followed by several large bits of Amaretto Cheese Cake.

Oh be still my weakly palpitating heart.

They are geniuses. And they are passionate about food. And have plans for the future.

I just love that.

Love, love, love.

Thank you Eric for the excellent “surprise”. Your kids are awesome and awe inspiring.