Zoom Piano Recital

Here's Madison, getting ready for the piano recital this afternoon.  It's a Zoom Piano Recital, so she didn't have to worry about the shoes.  But today at 3pm, she was there in front of the piano, and the computer, along with about seven other students doing the same thing from their homes.

Mommy and Daddy were off to the side, so we weren't necessarily in sight or anything.  It was just Madison playing for her peers, although I'm sure there were all sorts of relatives standing nearby.  The song Madison played was practiced a lot this weekend, but never done one hundred percent exactly right.  She did it time and again this morning, and was struggling a bit, and so we were somewhat nervous about things.  But regardless, it was time to play and we sat by to listen.

It was amazing.  She nailed it.  We've heard her practice this a lot over the last month or so, and she hit every single note exactly right.  All the way to the end, not even a spot where she slowed down or missed a note, Madison played very well.  She has been practicing quite a bit, and we were happy to see her do so well.  I didn't want to mess her up by having a camera nearby, so I didn't actually record her playing.  I wish I did, at least from another room, just to hear it.  Afterwards, I recorded her playing a bit, which you can hear a sample of in this clip below.

I left the camera on for a bit as a joke there, which had us cracking up a bit longer than what is recorded.  Anyway, she played second in line, so the rest of the recital was set, with all of us listening to the kids play various tunes, from old ragtime numbers to the "Avengers" theme song.

It was nice.  Hopefully we won't have to do it again though, as it is nicer to have the kids all together in person, with an audience to cheer them on after each performance.  But this is a strange time, and this is what we did.  And it went well for Madison.

The rest of our day was doing various tasks.  Mommy got those tomato plants in the ground, and Daddy started pressure washing again, this time doing the concrete in the back behind the house.

We were playing the Nintendo Switch tonight, and I got to replay a game that I haven't played since 1991 or so.  It was "Captain Commando," and I can specifically tell you the last time I played it:  in a small arcade on the banks of the Mississippi River, right there in St. Louis.  There were three of us on a journey west, and we were stopping in St. Louis to grab a bite to eat at a McDonalds there - I think it was on a riverboat - and sure enough there were video games nearby.  So we sat there and played through this game, using up a bunch of quarters despite the fact that we had many more miles to drive going west.

Fast forward to tonight, and here I am playing the game again, with my daughter.  I've sort of been looking for this game for a while, although not too intently.  So when I saw it was available to get for this system, I eventually got around to downloading it, and so tonight the two of us played as Baby Head, Mac the Knife, Ginsu the Ninja and Captain Commando.  It's not a terribly complicated game or anything - it's pure nostalgia.  But Madison did enjoy it.

Anyway, we went to bed tonight like we always do, with reading and prayers.  It was a nice day today, the highlight being the piano recital.  Madison did well.  We'll continue classes during the summer, but she can finally put this one song to the side.  She's ready to play something new, which we'll no doubt be looking for this summer.