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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | Forsythiews.com
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Hometown Vews
An appreciation for classical music month
Do you listen to classical .
music? We are and always have
been avid music lovers and lis
ten to a wide variety of music.
We love classic rock, country,
and I even love a few pop-type
songs. Classical music is also
something I enjoy.
As a young girl, I was
exposed to classical music since
I began ballet lessons when I
was just two years old. Ballet
lessons were always conducted
with classical music playing in
the background. I also danced
in ballets, namely the
Nutcracker and knew every sin
gle note of Tchaikovsky’s mas
terpiece. I still love the
Nutcracker and can close my
eyes while that music plays and
see every element of the ballet.
Growing up, my parents had a
nice collection of classical
albums (now called vinyls), and
I loved playing them on my lit
tle record player.
In high school and college, 1
often listened to classical music
while studying. It was the only
music that didn’t distract me
while reading or memorizing.
While in college, I had a cat
named Symphony—l have
always loved that name. Our
first dog when we got married,
a Labrador, I named Wolfgang
Amadeus, after Mozart. We
called our sweet dog “Wolfie”
for short.
Because classical music
I learned quite early, certain
things you just didn’t need to
tell Mama.
Not just my Mama, mind
you, but mamas in general.
‘Cause even my Mama was
scared of hers.
One afternoon as we came
through town, Mama wasn’t
paying attention as closely as
she should have and ran
through a red light.
“Mama!” I cried, expecting
the police to appear out of
nowhere to arrest her.
“Shhh,” she quieted me.
‘“That light changed too quickly
onme. Itdidn’t even turnyel
low.”
I wasn’t sure of the facts; 1
was just in shock my Mama
broke the law.
“Are you going to go to jail?”’
I asked her.
“No. I would just get a tick
et,” she said. She was worried
though, I could tell. More than
likely, she had been trying to
find her cigarettes and hadn’t
realized she was approaching
the light.
“You sure you not going to go
to jail?” I asked. I only got $3 a
week allowance; I didn’t know
if it would be enough to bail the
redhead out or not.
“I'm not, Kitten,” she said.
“But, do me a favor, OK?”
“OK.”
“Don’t tell Granny.”
HOROSCOPES by Holiday
The position of Mercury to
Mars presents a classic
“Should | stay’or should |
go?” scenario, the tone of
which would be best articu
lated by the classic punk rock
band The Clash. As it unfolds
in their 1982 song, going
brings trouble, and double
that for the staying. So
essence of the question is,
“How do you like your trou
ble?”
ARIES (March 21-April
19). You won't be able to put
your finger on exactly what's
changed. You're you, only
happier. With a cursory look
at the situation, it will be
hard to say why. But closer
examination just might
reveal the culprit: love. ‘
TAURUS (April 20-May
20). The joke suggests we
are all equal, but some are
more equal than others.
While you don’t believe
you're superior or special,
ADLEN ROBINSON
Columnist 5
always had a calming effect on
me, I made sure it was part of
our family’s life from the
beginning. When our children
were babies and toddlers, 1
almost always had classical
music playing in the house. Do
you remember in the early
1990’5, a study came out saying
classical music would make
your kids smarter? That isn’t
why I played the music, but I
figured it couldn’t hurt!
Some recent studies have
suggested that there may be a
link between classical music
and helping those with
Parkinson’s Disease. Many sur
geons play classical music
while they are operating on \
patients. One surgeon I read
about said he noticed his
patients responded positively
when classical music was play
ing.
If you look into the history of
classical music, it is fascinating
to see how it changed through
out the centuries and how com
posers influenced one another. .
One of my favorite composers,
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741),
Please just dont tell mama
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
question for everything and this
time, it was a very important
one. Was Granny secretly a
cop?
“Just don’t.” °
“But why?”
Mama frowned. Why
couldn’t I just do as I was
asked? o e
“Because, I don’t want to get
in trouble. And, she doesn’t
need to know everything.”
Now, I didn’t want my Mama
to get in trouble. Especially not
with Granny.
But what I couldn’t under
stand was my Mama feared her.
Wasn’t she a grown up?
I never intended to tell on her,
truly. -
The slip just came out in con
versation with Granny one day.
“Your Mama did what?”
Uh oh. I knew I had snitched
and I felt awful about it.
“Jean!”
Oh, dang.
The tongue lashing that fol
lowed was fierce. I felt sorry for
Mama and slightly embar
rassed. She was in her mid-40’s
~and Tthinkshe-was-grounded—
you’ll get so much validation
from the outside world today
that it will be challenging to
remain humble. ,
GEMINI (May 21-June
21). Should you do it?
Someone in the media is
doing it. A friend is doing it,
and it's working great for
that person. But is it right for
you?The question is, is it
affordable for you? This one
is really only worthy of a
small risk.
CANCER (June 22-July
22). Revel in youriamateur
status in some regard today.
Amateurs are not bound by
the rules of taste or com
merce that experts are held
to. They can express more
freely their unique take on
the subject.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).
When you listen to a band,
you may be actually hearing
five to 60 different instru
ments playing parts, but
- %
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8
e N
! _ E
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A
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Metro Creative Connection
Classical Music Periods
* Medieval — 11th through 14th centuries
« Early Renaissance — 15th century
» High Renaissance — 16th century g
» Early Baroque — Late 16th and 17th centuries
» High Baroque — Late 17th and early 18th centuries
« Classical/Romantic — Late 18th centuries
* Romantic Early — 19th century
. RomantlTModern — Late 19th centuries
learned to play the violin as a
little boy from his father. As a
young man, Vivaldi entered the
priesthood and was ordained in
1703. Because he had fiery red
hair, he was known as II Prete
Rosso, meaning “The Red
Priest.” Due to some health
issues, and possibly because of
“Why did you tell her?” she
asked me. ,
“It was a mistake, I didn’t
mean to,” I said truthfully.
It didn’t matter though; the
damage was done.
A few days later, Pop broke
something.
“Don’t tell your Granny,” he
said, hiding the evidence.
Before I could promise I
wouldn’t, he added, “And 1
mean it. Don’t throw me under
the bus like you did your own
mama. That was wrong, child.
Wrong.”
I didn’t make the same mis
take twice and Pop was in the
clear.
No one needed to endure
Granny’s wrath.
“Did she get this upset when
you did something wrong as a
child?” I asked Mama.
“When I was little, I would.
rather take a whooping than lis
ten to her fuss,” Mama said. “It
may have hurt but it was over a
lot quicker.”
I could see that. Sometimes,
you’d think Granny was done
giving you what-for, and then
she would catch another wind
and come back from Round 2.
Unlike Granny’s personal
brand of fire and brimstone,
Mama’s weapon is the incessant
WOITY.
. After I had given Cole some
soup and Tylenol and told him
torest;Tgave-him-onefirm———
what you experience is a
song. Don't get too caught
up in the elements today.
None of them are all of you.
You're all of them.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept.
22). You'll find yourself in a
position to defend, confront
or dance around an issue.
Consider employing the
enormously useful power of
misdirection, as a distraction
will do wonders for the situ
ation.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct.
23).They'll tell you they
need it sooner, that you
should move faster, that it'’s
not quite enough. Before
you move to appease them,
consider whether or not
these are truly reasonable
requests,
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov.
21). Language will be the
difference. It will make
something happen instead
of nothing. it will be the rea
his inner passion, Vivaldi left
the priesthood and entered the
music world full time.
Interestingly, Vivaldi became
associated with Ospedale della
Pieta, which was known as an
orphanage of sorts. The place
was actually home to boys and
girls who were the illegitimate
instruction: Don'’t tell Nennie.
“Why can’t I tell my grand
mother I am not feeling well?”
he asked. -
“Because,” I said. “Trust me.”
I am sure he didn’t mean to dis
close to his beloved Nennie, just
as I had not meant to tell
Granny all those years before,
but the next thing I knew, he
was handing the phone to me.
“Nennie wants to talk to you,”
he said.
“What is wrong with him?
What are his symptoms? Have
you taken his temperature?
What did you give him? Does
_he have a rash? Does he have an
appetite? What was the last
thing he ate before he started
feeling bad?” :
~ This is just a sampling.
The barrage of worry-laden
questions goes on for about 20
minutes.
She follows up by texting me
every 10 minutes afterwards to
know if he feels better.
“Send me a picture of him so
I can check to see if he looks
different.” -
“I am not sending you a pic
ture,” I texted-back. .
Horrors upon horrors, she did
the cardinal sin of replying to a
text with a call.
“Can you call the docter-to-see
if he is OK? Or take him some
where?”
Keep in mind, I had just
son A happens instead of B.
Put some thought, planning
and intention behind your
choice of words.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov.
22-Dec. 21). Since you
can’t very well surprise
someone by giving them
what they were expecting,
you'll think broader and
more creatively before mak
ing your move. ;
CAPRICORN (Dec.
22-Jan. 19). The yogic
Triangle Pose, or
Trikonasana, requires open
eyes. Today will require simi
lar balancing tactics. Find a
point of focus in your sky
high dreams while ground
ing yourself. Reach up and
down at the same time.
AQUARIUS (Jan.
20-Feb. 18).The power
move will be to recognize
where you're not as strong,
and where there might be
gaps in your resources or
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
offspring of local noblemen.
The place was funded by
“anonymous” donors. The Pieta
provided room and board for
the children, and trade training
for the boys and musical
instruction for the girls.
The musical education for the
girls was truly-top notch and
the most talented students
became members of a special
orchestra headed up by Vivaldi.
The talented composer wrote
‘hundreds of works for the = .
young women—the orchestra
became quite famous and
enjoyed international acclaim.
“ Vivaldi wrote and performed
music for some of Europe’s
royal families and was highly
regarded by the Holy Roman
'Emperor Charles VI, who paid
him handsomely for his works.
Sadly, when Charles VI died,
Vivaldi’s funding became
scarce. The up and coming
younger composers became
increasingly popular and
Vivaldi fell into poverty. What
a bitter irony it was when
Vivaldi died that no music was
played at his funeral. If you
think you don’t know Vivaldi’s
music, go listen to Four
Seasons and you will know
who he is immediately.
. Vivaldi was a composer dur
ing the Baroque period—one
of his contemporaries was
Handel, another one of my
favorites. -
only an hour earlier.
“He’s fine,” I said. “Let me
parent.”
“He may have e-coli or salmo
nella,” she says. “What if he is
allergic to something?”
To get her to stop her worry
rampage, I have to pull out the
heavy artillery. “You mean like
the time you nearly let me die
when I was stung by a bee and
you didn’t believe me when I
told you it felt funny?”
It was mean, but it worked.
“Cole, why in the world did
you tell my' Mama you weren’t
feeling well? She is going to
text me all night to take your
temp. We both know the reason
you don’t feel good is because
you ate a family bag of pizza
rolls.”
“I’m sorry, Mama. I didn’t
mean to,” he said. I knew he
didn’t, but I was the one in the
hot seat.
Mama finally calmed down
after a few days and things
went back to as normal as they
can in our world.
Until I caught the tail end of
my husband and son’s conversa
tion one day. :
“Don’t tell Mama,” Cole had
said.
I heard Lamar agree.
1 took a deep breath and read
ied myself. I knew how this was
going to go down. This time,
the mama in question was me.
“Dgfl’t t=l] nge l‘[h atf”! s
knowledge, and then plan a
way to solve for those gaps.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March
20).You've been surprised
before by your friend’s
uncharacteristic behavior,
only now it's not surprising
because it has indeed
become a part of the charac
ter you now understand
your friend to possess.
TODAY'’S BIRTHDAY
(Feb. 28). Let your loved
ones celebrate you. This will
strengthen relationships and
keep them from taking you
for granted, tool You're get
ting faster at delivering stel
lar results, and your profits
will reflect it. Next month
brings three new friends.
Sign a deal in May and/or
December. In June, invest in
a lifestyle that suits you bet
ter. Leo and Sagittarius
adore you. Your lucky num
bers are: 9,4, 33, 27 gnd n