I looked down and saw a silver CD boxed set, encrusted with grease and dust, as only a boxed set left on the lower shelf of a bookcase near the kitchen would be.  A 3 cd boxed set by Yo Yo Ma.   One of tango music that I didn't like very much, another of greatest hits which was a little too Boston pops sounding for me.  And now this one, Yo Yo Ma plays Morricone.  I thought I would hear soundtracks to Westerns.  Instead, I’m listening to strings floating in a warm and lusty way that only instruments with rosin can. Layers of strings, like clouds rolling in at the seaside. Cello like the wind, whispering a tale to you, whispering the true story. 

When my son was younger, I played WQXR, the classical radio station, in the evenings, making dinner, having homework wars.   

When I was younger Mother took us to see the Nutcracker at Ford Auditorium.  She loved classical music and it was important to her that we love it too.  I can feel the plush seats, the blue darkness, our wonder as the curtain rose. 

Mother in a photo on my music stand, in the red jacket she wore as a hospital volunteer.  I love red, she always said.  It’s a power color.