The Soloist

I must say I was surprised today, but perhaps I should have known better.  Bode joined the school's orchestra this year and started playing the violin.  He practices at home (with some prodding) while the school orchestra meets twice a week.  He has told us he enjoys it and is doing well.  The orchestra had a concert tonight.  We asked Bode if there was anything special going on, and he told us that there wasn't much.  Fast forward to when we arrived at the concert and received our program.

Note the third line down:  Up and Down, Bode McGuirk and...  We did a bit of a double take when we saw Bode's name in the program.  Apparently Bode had a duet.  We were very excited but also nervous because there were quite a bit of people attending.  We took some pictures as the orchestra was seated.  Bode is there right in the middle.

The first two songs came and went, and before we knew it, Bode was up in front of the crowd getting ready to play. 

Recall how I said Bode had a duet.  The other part of the duet wasn't there tonight (and Bode said something about how she just wasn't ready to perform on her own, according to the teacher).  Thus, just Bode and the piano accompaniment--how scary!  Needless to say, we were very proud of our little dude.  After the first round of applause, the teacher (Mrs Scott) told the crowd, "You all realize how much courage it takes to play by himself in front of all of you, so let's give him another hand."  Afterwards, Bode told us he was so nervous that his legs were shaking. 

The rest of the concert came and went.  The whole group brought the house down with a beautiful performance of Maple Leaf Rag.

We (Ashley, Bode, and I) have been watching Season 2 of Stranger Things.  I'm told I need to cut this short because they are waiting for me to watch the next episode.  Pleasant week to all.