Las Cruces Music Camp

Hello Everyone,

We are on our last day of music camp. Everything ends tonight night with our concert at the School of Music at New Mexico State University..

We have over 4000 motorcycle miles on our trip so far but we have ridden only 25 miles since Sunday, mostly to the music school and back. Last Sunday morning we had the idea to ride to Truth Or Consequences for breakfast. (hey, you have to visit a town with a name like that.) It's about 80 miles north of Las Cruces... For the trip back we took the old Sante Fe to Las Cruces road, which is likely also part of the El Camino Real.. This is a beautiful road which goes down the Rio Grande, which this time of year during the snowmelt is quite full. The Rio Grande actually goes north to south in New Mexico.. Wtih the irrigation along the Rio Grande it a a lush and verdant garden. We could smell the fields as we rode by, snap peas, onions, chiles, alfalfa and endless groves of pecans. 100 yards away there is desert. In the desert and in the fields everything is in bloom. It is a beautiful time of year in New Mexico.

We also saw the Border Patrol and US Marshals in action... The presence of the Border Patrol is quite high.. We have seen more Border Patrol and Marshals than regular police. It is very interesting to note that our New York License plates say "New York" on the bottom. The New Mexico license plates say "New Mexico, USA" on the bottom.

This music camp is quite different from what we expected. The band is basically faculty, friends and community members around New Mexico State U. About half the camp are from Las Cruces and half are visitors... The head of the camp is Dr. Bill Clarke, Professor Emeritus and tuba player. He loaned me his tuba and got a baritone for Jeannine. He is insightful and comes up with very interesting remarks. I mentioned this to a faculty member and she said: "Oh, yes, some students compiled a book.." .

"Gosh, it sounds like feeding time at the zoo"
"That last phrase sounded like when the vet was deworming my dog..."

"Tuning is very important. Don't let anyone tell you different. It has nothing to do with your instrument and everything to do with your mind."

"Blend and Balance... and if you stand out, you're probably playing sharp."

Each piece we play has a different person conducting, so we are seeing a lot of conducting styles.
Here's what we're probably playing..
*"Overture for Winds", Charles Carter, Bourne Co, New York 1959
"Kachina:Chant and Spirit Dance", Anne McGinty, Queenwood Pub.
*"Moscow, 1941", Brian Balmages, FJH Music, 2006
*"Britainnia", John F. Edmunds, Carl Fischer, 1966
*"The Music Makers" Alfred Reed, Frank Music, 1968
*"Coat of Arms", George Kenny, Summy Pub. 1957
*"My Jesus, Oh, What Anguish" (Bach), Alfred Reed, Birch Island, 1965
*"Dave Brubeck: A Portrait in Time" arr. Robert Smith, Derry Music, 1963
*"I Dreamed a Dream" (Les Miserables) arr. Sandy Kerekes

The last pieces might not make it to the final concert..

Camp started Sunday night with a two hour rehearsal. We played through all the possible pieces. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we had two three hour rehearsals a day and sectionals... We had a potluck dinner (nice) and everyone went out to Mexican another night, and last night we had a dessert party.. So far Las Cruces has been very nice to us... Weather is about 85 and sunny. But, the temperature goes up a couple of degrees a week from now through August.............

Next we'll probably head toward Carlsbad Caverns. We'd like to go to Deming (Billy the Kid land) , Silver City and the Gila Indian ruins while we're here, but they are in the wrong direction. It also looks like a trip to Roswell to see all the aliens may be put on hold.. Maybe next time...

Motorcycle gear comments:

Praise and Plaudits:
1. Suspension adjustment... Jeannine really likes her bike even better with the suspension adjustment. Thanks Marc!! I now recommend suspension adjustments...
2. Brake-Away speed controller. This is the best $160 bucks we've spent. It really helps that right wrist, and touch the brake and the throttle is off.
3. Kawasaki Gel seat. Great!!
4. Air Hawk seat pad: Jeannine loves it. Gets an A.
5. Iron Rider luggage. For us, this is the way to go.
6. Garmin Zumo 660: This is the motorcycle version of the Garmin Numi GPS. It is the model just introduced and has a bigger screen than the old one.. How did I do without it??
7. Acer Aspire One netbook. This is a tiny laptop with a 2/3 size keyboard. Fits right inside the saddlebag. The darn thing is more powerful than my laptop at home, but doesn't have a CD/DVD drive.. WiFi about anywhere (like right now), some McDonalds, Panera Breads etc. lots of WiFi hotspots.....

Gripes and Grumbles:

1. Light bar lights.. Jeannine is on her third light bar light this trip. They keep burning out. Every dealer says the same thing..It's the vibration from the high speed driving. Why only the light bar lights? I'm on my second light, and I can't find a 25W H3 lamp anywhere, so now I'm running with "one eye closed". Also, I discovered my lightbar lights are wired to the low beams and not the running light circuit. I'm going to complain about that when I get home!!

2. Tire wear. I may have to buy a new rear tire before I get home.. It's really the 80/85 driving (the first number is MPH, the second is temp) that is taking a toll on our rear tires. There's a lot more tire wear than motoring around the shady back roads of the Catskills, Berkshires and Adirondacks, also a lot more weight on the bikes..

Well, the money is starting to run out, so we're going to have to turn the bikes around and head back east... Sigh.. That also means riding into the morning sun...but afternoon riding will be a pleasure :-).

Harris and Jeannine