Awe & Wonder
I remember when I was able to walk under the dining room table while remaining erect. In those days (those glorious days) the world was a place of wonder. My world largely consisted of five or so blocks surrounding our house and most of the time it was up and down the same block.
When your world is small, stepping out is exciting. I remember going to the Exhibition, Toronto Island, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Centre, and the airport. All these places presented me with different worlds and different ways of seeing and experiencing the world.
One of my treasured memories was going with my dad down to the Ontario Place Forum (replaced now by the Molson Amphitheatre). Somewhere around the last week of June, the Toronto Symphony would put on a series of concerts. As a young guy, my dad knew that I needed a fix of something spectacular, so he would bring me down for the last concert which always featured Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The other piece I remember very distinctly hearing was the Moldau by Smetana. I even remember the first conductor I saw, Walter Susskind.
Sometimes dynamite was used, but in later years cannon and then the guns of the warship HMCS Haida were used. The other feature that was appealing was just how you got to see everything. The stage at the Forum rotated through 360 degrees. Because of this, no matter where you were sitting you got to see the musicians from all angles.
Perhaps I had a disposition that relished and appreciated wonder, but it is something that has remained with me. I still experience wonder regularly. Music has always been and remains an important part of that wonder.
How do you celebrate the wonder of things that are just great in themselves?
When your world is small, stepping out is exciting. I remember going to the Exhibition, Toronto Island, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Centre, and the airport. All these places presented me with different worlds and different ways of seeing and experiencing the world. One of my treasured memories was going with my dad down to the Ontario Place Forum (replaced now by the Molson Amphitheatre). Somewhere around the last week of June, the Toronto Symphony would put on a series of concerts. As a young guy, my dad knew that I needed a fix of something spectacular, so he would bring me down for the last concert which always featured Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The other piece I remember very distinctly hearing was the Moldau by Smetana. I even remember the first conductor I saw, Walter Susskind.
Sometimes dynamite was used, but in later years cannon and then the guns of the warship HMCS Haida were used. The other feature that was appealing was just how you got to see everything. The stage at the Forum rotated through 360 degrees. Because of this, no matter where you were sitting you got to see the musicians from all angles. Perhaps I had a disposition that relished and appreciated wonder, but it is something that has remained with me. I still experience wonder regularly. Music has always been and remains an important part of that wonder.
How do you celebrate the wonder of things that are just great in themselves?
