Private Entry

It's been quite a few eventful weekends in a row! This weekend started off with a trip to the Worthington Farmer's Market. This is the largest farmer's market in the Columbus area, and we had heard great things about it. We wanted to go see for ourselves, and we were not disappointed. There were twice as many vendors as I've seen at the North Market farmer's market, and most were offering free samples of their products. All the restaurants in Old Worthington were open for breakfast, but I felt no need to supplement what I could find at the farmers' stalls! Strawberries are just starting to come into season, and beautiful asparagus was everywhere. There was lots of local cheese and eggs, and several vendors had local free-range meat. It was difficult, but we managed to leave without breaking our budget.

Then, it was time for a little shopping; I visited the Columbus Running Store in Westerville and got a new pair of shoes. My old pair had over 620 miles on them, which is close to double their intended lifespan. I also finally invested in tech socks; I've been running in cotton the entire time, which is a known hazard. After the blisters I got at the Flying Pig, I decided it was finally time. So, my footwear situation is significantly better than it was; I did a very slow 7 miles to start breaking them in.

Saturday night, we met up with Andy and Heather Scheurer and some other friends for dinner. We ate at Lucé Enoteca in Powell. It has gotten some good reviews, and our friends had previously had a good experience there. This time, however, no one was pleased with their food. The soups and salads were ok, but everything else was a disappointment. We ordered the "large" cheese plate for the table, and while the cheeses were pretty good, there was about an ounce and a half of each selection to share between 5 people. The platter was large, and there was an abundance of grapes and pecans on it, but it's hard to imagine that they increased the cheese portion much beyond the "small" plate. All of the entrees were trying to play with sweet flavors in savory food. I've seen this concept work before, for instance in chef Graham Bowles's food. Here, though, it was just an abject failure. It takes very careful balancing to pull something like that off, and the kitchen at Lucé was not successful.

Today, we took a trip to Dayton to see my brother play with the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra and have dinner with him and our parents. It was very refreshing to see a group of musicians who were all there because they wanted to be, regardless of how much they were (or weren't) getting paid. The program included some very enjoyable pieces, including Brahms's Academic Festival Overture and the finales from Franck's Symphony in D Minor and Dvorák's "New World" Symphony. The orchestra did a great job of keeping the energy level up throughout the concert.

Private Entry

So, what's been going on in the Coy family life since the last time I wrote? Katy's been hard at work for the symphony. Last weekend they brought in Andre Watts to play Beethoven's Emperor concerto and concluded the concert with Brahms 2. All I can say is that it was really a very good performance. Watts's performance of the Beethoven was simply exhilarating, and the the Brahms had a lot of passion and fire in it. I was very happy to be there.

I've been teaching, of course; it's entering recital season at school, so I'm getting some requests from the upperclassmen for extra lessons. I'm honestly really excited about some of the performances that are upcoming. I think the trombone studio will have a pretty solid representation this year.

We're still in training for our spring races. Neither of us is running very far yet; we've got plenty of time, and it's much better to be conservative than to be injured. Plus, it's been very cold, and we don't own cold-weather running gear. So, we've been stuck indoors on the treadmill almost exclusively. I did run outside once, on a day when it warmed up a little. That was great, but it didn't last. Hopefully soon we'll be able to move outdoors. The tedium of the treadmill will make 10-mile runs really painful if we have to do them indoors!

Tonight, we signed up for a CSA share with Wayward Seed Farm, a local organic-process farm that specializes in heirloom varieties. We actually went to a wine tasting tonight where the farmers were present and got to meet them - they're a couple about our age; he and a friend work the fields, while she runs the office. This is their fifth year in business, and they have some pretty big long-range plans. We're very happy to be involved.

2009 in review

Top 3 moments of 2009

Ben:

1. The Cedar Rapids Symphony / Orchestra Iowa has been a source of great moments for me for the last two years; accordingly, my last concert with them stands out in my mind. It wasn't the most artistically fulfilling concert ever, but it was a lot of fun, and to me, it was a celebration of everything I had accomplished musically that far in my life.

2. The Columbus Half Marathon was another event that had multiple levels of meaning for me. I spent everything I had out on the course and crossed the line faster than I ever really believed I could. That alone was one of the wildest emotional rides ever, but to me, that race was a metaphor for everything that Katy and I had been working toward for the past six months - the struggle to run 13 miles was representative of Katy's struggle to find a good job, my struggle to redefine my artistic life in a completely new light, and our struggle to establish a home in an unfamiliar city.

3. Before we left Chicago, we hosted a going-away party for all our friends. Not everybody could make it, of course, but the people who attended were a good representation of our life in Chicago. I had been living in Chicago for nine years, and Katy had been there for five - enough time to start to establish some roots. Pulling up those roots and leaving was not easy, but the party made it easier.

Katy:

1. Finishing the half-marathon: After I had pretty much decided not to even try to run it, I couldn't help giving in a little bit to the huge swell of pride I had after finishing, and not even dead last! 13.1 miles--even though I'm not where I want to be health and fitness-wise, how far I've come from the days of sleep apnea and staircase avoidance.

2. Penny's arrival: after a long month of yuck (not only was it March, but work was quite literally falling apart), Penny was the perfect antidote. Really dirty, but also very pretty, she stole our hearts and has made the perfect addition to our little family this year.

3. Last brunch with the ladies: Audra, Heather and I gathered one last time in May at M. Henry to say a definitive goodbye to our brunches, which quite literally carried me through one of the hardest years of my life so far. I miss them both and think of them often. Ladies, next time I am in the city, there is a brunch table somewhere with our names on it!

Top 3 meals of 2009

Ben:

1. Sometimes the best food comes from unexpected sources. I think the best food I consumed in 2009 was at a little cafe in a strip mall in Cedar Rapids, IA. I've been eating there on and off since I started playing with the symphony, and every time I visit, my respect for it rises. Croissant du Jour is a quiet, unassuming French bistro. The chef, originally from outside Chicago, trained in France where he met his wife, who runs the front of house. Very little on the menu is fancy or even fashionable, but the quality of the food is astounding. They have served me the best sandwich of my life, the best cheesecake of my life, and the best iced mocha of my life.

2. A lot of the excellent food we experienced in Chicago was consumed in the company of our friends Chris and Rita, who enjoy a good meal at least as much as we do. The last time we had dinner with them, the restaurant we intended to visit was closed, so we walked up Clark St until we got to Anteprima. We didn't have a reservation, and there was nothing available - but the host told us to get some wine at the bar while they made some room for us. A half hour later, we were sitting at a table by the window receiving more excellent service and an outstanding four-course meal.

3. Few places in the world have as rich of a food culture as Chicago does, so finding places we like to eat has been something of a preoccupation for me in Columbus. Recently, we had brunch at Skillet, and the chef there is willing to step slightly outside the box to deliver excellent breakfast and lunch with flavor concepts more often found on upscale dinner menus. I was very impressed.

Katy:

1. Job celebration dinner at G. Michael's: I had a big old glass of red and a steak to celebrate my re-entry into the working world. It was a delicious meal, and a sweet celebration of finally feeling at home in my new city. 

2. Our final La Donna dinner: We loved LaDonna. And the last time we ate there , we learned they would be closing in just a few short weeks. It was so bittersweet to know that all good things, be it living in the best city in the world, or running a neighborhood restaurant with the most amazing pasta ever, must come to an end. 

3.  My 27th birthday dinner: Ben made a feast of homemade spinach and bacon pizza, bellinis, and carrot cake. Simple, delicious birthday food consumed on the couch at our little, perfect Hyde Park apartment. It was a wonderful birthday.

Top 3 cultural events of 2009

Ben:

1. Great art is everywhere. Stefan Schulz, bass trombonist with the Berlin Philharmonic, stopped in Columbus on a solo tour. I may not like the piece he performed, but he could have played "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and it would have been awe-inspiring. Hearing him play live was a truly great moment, both artistically and educationally.

2. For Katy's birthday, her parents gave us tickets to see Steppenwolf's production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. I don't know theater the way I know music, so I don't really have the vocabulary to talk about it in detail - but, really great art reaches beyond that lack of education and affects an audience on a very fundamental level. This production was special in a lot of ways I can't even begin to explain.

3. For the annual Valentine's Day concert at the Cedar Rapids Symphony / Orchestra Iowa, we performed a collection of light classics. Miko, our pianist, played Gershwin's Concerto in F, and we played movie music from Korngold's Sea Hawk and Bernstein's On the Waterfront scores. The crowd reaction was incredible, and we ended up repeating the entire Sea Hawk overture in response to their enthusiasm. There's no feeling on earth that compares to seeing the results of your hard work and artistry affect an audience.

Katy:

1. Slumdog Millionaire: a great movie, and our first date in Columbus.

2. The Tempest: my mom and dad got us tickets to Steppenwolf's first Shakespeare production ever for my birthday. Shakespeare + quintessential Chicago theater company = awesome night out at the theater.

3. Ben's December 6 recital: Not only did I enjoy the music, but I was really proud of Ben for finishing his first quarter of school. The recital was well-attended and received, and featured an encore that was arranged just for me (which he knows I am a sucker for!).

Top 3 achievements of 2009

Ben:

1. I guess I should start with the obvious one here. I successfully auditioned for the Teaching Associate position at Ohio State University. In some ways, it doesn't look like much of an accomplishment - it involves moving back to my home town and studying with my old teacher. But, there's only one position, and it's only open every three years. Because of the bad economy, more people auditioned for it than ever before, including several other former Ohio State students. I feel that I won this job over some fairly stiff competition, and I'm proud to have it.

2. Training for the half marathon was a huge achievement. I'm not repeating myself; this is different from my "top moment." I've never been athletic in the least, and self-discipline is a constant struggle for me. To follow a rigorous physical training schedule for six months is remarkable for me on both fronts. Moreover, being successful only inspired me to strive for even higher goals, so it has long-lasting effects that will hopefully lay the groundwork for a similar post in 2010!

3. My mother makes the best pie crust in the world. I'm not just saying that because she's my mom; her pie crust is the lightest and the flakiest, and nothing else satisfies. This is a problem when I don't live with my parents, because I simply don't eat pie, which is one of my favorite desserts. Thankfully, with her help, I've been mastering the technique. For dessert after Easter dinner this year, I made a lemon-meringue pie, and the crust was actually good. Maybe it's a small thing, but it certainly ranks highly in my book!

Katy:

1. Landing a new, awesome job when the odds were against me in doing so.

2. Moving (yet again) to a new city, pretty much sight-unseen, and making my garden grow.

3. Stepping up to the plate in a multitude of ways professionally in March-April, 2009.

Top 3 lessons learned in 2009

Ben:

1. Being married makes major life changes much more complicated. Moving to Columbus would have been much easier to accomplish if I was single. But, being married is the only thing that makes major life changes bearable. Change is hard, and having the love of my life next to me the whole time was about the only thing I could rely on. The corollary to that is engraved on the inside of our wedding bands, quoted from Euripides: "Love is all we have."

2. When life gets really hard, sometimes peace and perspective can be found in a kitten. I'm not sure why Penny chose our doorstep to call home, but she's definitely part of the family now. She took the move to Ohio pretty gracefully, and seems pretty content with her new life. We're certainly happy she's here.

3. When opportunity doesn't knock, go pay it a visit, and knock on its door. While Katy was working at the University of Chicago, I didn't have a whole lot going on in town. I had the symphony in Iowa, but that was about it. However, I started attending Roger Moseley's historically-informed improvisation seminar at the University, and it turned into one of the most educational years of my life. There's no such thing as a lack of opportunity. You can always make something happen if you just make good use of the resources around you.

Katy:

1. When the going gets rough on the marital front, a bottle of wine and a good, long, enjoyable conversation do wonders. 

2. I don't know if this is a lesson learned, but in 2009 I really learned a lot of new things about myself. For instance: I like (sweet) mustard, I can't tolerate high heat and humidity as well as I used to, and I really miss being creative. 

3. Even if I think I'm ready for a huge life change, and I've done the best I can at preparing, life will still feel like the inside of a snow globe for a while. Preparing for it all is just as important as preparing for the fact that it still takes time.