Been a little busy

So I've been a little busy to post every day, but want to share some highlights.

• Level 3 is intense. No way around it and no way to sugar coat. My brain is being stretched and challenged but I am loving every minute.
• These professors are some of the smartest people I have ever met in my life. It's an honor to be learning from the best. 
• I have made some really great friends in my 3 summers at Hartt. It's amazing how close you become through shared experience of torture. 
• My musicianship is challenged big time. 
• Friday night was the strawberry social/ folk dance/ singing at Dr. John Feierabend's house. This is very special. His wife is there and so were his boys. It is a joy to see babies through seniors all gathered to enjoy music. There was a long line of dancers on the driveway, a live band on the covered porch, and a grandma in a rocking chair on the other porch with a baby playing on the ground. So picturesque and ideal and beautiful. While I don't appreciate the language choice of many of the people here and it is very clearly a secular group (not all, but the majority), there is still something beautiful about people of all different backgrounds coming together through the shared experience of music. We danced and danced and danced. You have to have a different partner for every dance, so it's a great way to get to know people. Can I just say that I LOVE to dance? I love to be twirled and whirled around, the live music is amazing and there is just a rush you get from dancing with a big group of people! The live band was amazing and the singing was great. Our one teacher, Jeff, know Jean Ritchie personally. Aside from being awesome that he knew her and I'm learning from him, he sang a Jean Ritchie song and told a great story, honoring her memory since she passed away this past June. We owe so much to Jean Ritchie. What an amazing woman she was. I have more pictures than I can ever post, but I'll post a few favorites for your viewing pleasure.