Freezing

Okay, so this is the thing about playing weddings and such in California: it's always freezing here. Everyone thinks that the weather is so nice because there is no snow and the sun shines. But what people don't realize is that is that there can be no snow and there can be sunshine and it can still be freezing. The people that know this are those that work outside, like me!

It always looks beautiful on the water but the wind is so cold it is unbelievable. We have to use heavy stands that can hold up in the wind and big heavy wind clips to hold the music down and, believe it or not, I always bring black winter mittens to wear when I am not playing, to try to thaw my hands out in between musical selections.

So, I played a wedding yesterday afternoon on Treasure Island. It's a gorgeous spot in the ocean, between Berkeley and San Francisco. To get there you have to take an exit that is kind of halfway across the Bay Bridge. Why was I not surprised that the wind was gusting and everyone was freezing? This happens all the time. The bridesmaids were trying to stay warm by hopping up down and blowing on their hands while running around in their halter dresses and high heels and trying to look elegant at the same time.

Meanwhile, I was wearing a great outfit that I picked up at a thrift shop here in Alameda a few weeks ago. It's a long black velvet jacket with matching pants and it's warm. I was also wearing these cool black patent leather shoes that are really pointy that I got on e-bay. So I felt really on top of things. I actually felt kind of like Paganini in that slick black outfit.

I had on tights, a pair of long socks and then another pair of warm socks on top of that. I had forgotten my scarf, a nice woolen green plaid thing that I have worn for years, but I was sitting right in the sun, so it was okay.

This was actually a fun wedding. The quartet was well organized, thanks to Mary Tanios, our first violinist, everyone could read well enough, we didn't get lost or anything like that, and we we didn't have to play at the reception. (Yay!) So we were out of there within the hour...