Tickets and Tutus ~ Grateful List #3

1. Territory
2. Tickets
3. Tutus

I'm a lucky girl and I know it.  I'm so grateful to live where I live for all kinds of reasons.  I'm within an hour or so of mountains, gorgeous beaches, deep pine forests and the greatest city in the world.  Living near to New York is a real blessing.  We have access to the best doctors, fabulous school systems and private schools, unlimited shopping (if you have an unlimited checkbook), history, parks, sports (at least two of everything) and the largest arts scene anywhere.  From museums to Lincoln Center to Broadway Theater--there is more soul-satisfying art than one can appreciate in a lifetime.  And there's live music.  Every night of every day.  Local musicians scratching out a living (maybe) and the lucky ones who've hit it big and come through town at the larger venues.  Those of us who live close to (or in) New York have all of this bounty from which to choose.  We can experience the grandeur of opera at the Met to the heart-pounding excitement of Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden.  I know how lucky I am that my favorite singer happens to come through New York, where his career began, and the surrounding area several times each year.  My territory--I can't imagine moving too far.

It's ticket week!  My favorite singer has not yet completed his current tour and in fact I've yet to use my tickets to three shows on the spring tour.  But earlier in the week, tickets went on sale for the summer tour and I have four shows to look forward to in August.  I'm so grateful for these opportunities to reinvigorate my senses and meet up with friends near and farther away.  I realize that many of my concert friends don't have this lovely advantage of living so near to a wide variety of venues and I sometimes feel guilty at the richness of it all.  

When you work in a school, your day is scheduled.  There's homeroom followed by a bunch of sections of time we call "periods" to organize our student's days of learning.  You would think this very scripted day would fall into a certain rhythm of predictability.  But you would be wrong.  Because you just cannot predict what 479 kids will do or say on any given day.  And sometimes it isn't anything really special or amazing that they do or say...  It's just them being them and you'll spot something that triggers a response that makes you giggle or smile or swells your heart with the unique glow that only a child can put there.  Such was the case yesterday when I spied a very little girl pausing for a drink at the water fountain.  I could barely see her.  She had come to school in a bright pink tutu and black tights.  Bent over the water fountain, all that was really visible of her was some long blond hair and waves and waves of pink tulle.  How do you not smile over that?  I'm grateful for pink tutus.

My cup runneth over.