Impromptu

A Weekend of Poetry

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. " 

-   Robert Frost

Listening to Schubert, while driving from Chicago to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin, last Friday afternoon put me in a good mood for a weekend trip.  One other moment on my journey seemed to be a sign.  That was a detour just before I turned off the north-bound highway to take the west-bound highway that would bring me to my destination.  For it was this detour that signalled the weekend, like many I had experienced before, would be one that would take me away from the regular routine of my life and into a wondrous other world for a couple of magical days. 

As I drove I listened to some solo piano music and the Schubert I listened to was the wonderful Impromptus for solo piano, Op. 90.  These are short pieces (for the piano in this case) that are reminiscent of an improvisation. Impromptu also carries the implication of the unexpected and that seemed a felicitous blending of some of my favorite music (I even have one of Schubert's Impromptus, Op. 142, in my personal repertoire) with the weekend of Poetry that would take me away from my ordinary routine.

The weekend was filled with both the  expected and the unexpected.  A dualistic trip in which the two melded into one joyous experience.  The surprising and gentle grace of the Wisconsin air became a foundation for our weekend retreat.  There were talks and discussions with speakers that I had planned to hear and discussion leaders that while unforeseen by me were welcomed as old friends.  The poetry of Robert Frost filled the air of the Lake Geneva Inn where we encountered both nature and nurture within an atmosphere that included moments of serenity and suspense.  In other words it was a welcome retreat in the springtime to nurture our minds and open ourselves to the music of the spheres.