Killin' it

Apologies to anyone coming here in search of heroics in math or ultrarunning. Today, you get proud papa.

Yaya's middle school jazz band played the MAC Jazz Festival today. Yaya had solos in three of the four songs and nailed all of them. Yaya also decided on a whim to take the finish of one of the tunes up an octave, which elicited an audible gasp from the audience, many of whom apparently didn't know that middle school kids can play that high. The rest of the kids played great as well. As a result, the band was recognized as the top middle school act at the festival.

We didn't even know that Parkway North had a decent music program when we moved here. Yaya was not even two and hadn't shown any early interest in music, so we didn't bother to ask. In elementary school, when the interest did start to show, we were happy to find that the district in general, and North in particular, had a very strong music program. Yaya is all over it now and looking forward to performing with the High School groups next year. Definitely a lucky break.

But, as has often been said, "luck" is the intersection of opportunity and preparation. Yaya is earning this. We're just happy that the opportunity is there.