Wolf Trap

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything."
(Plato)

East Coast Dash, Day 4 - Wolf Trap

Today was, for the most part, a recovery day at my sister's house! Following the graduation ceremony last night (which was beautifully pulled off by all involved), there was a big graduation party that lasted well past midnight, after which my sister shuttled all the 8th grade girls back to her house, where we hosted a late-night snack sleepover, complete with virgin pina-coladas, brownies, queso and chips! Although I crashed around 2:00, Gwynn crawled into bed around 3:00 and was up a few hours later brewing coffee and baking scones for the parents arriving to pick up their sleepy daughters! It's amazing what you can accomplish when Mom Energy is fully engaged!

As a graduation gift, Cate was given four tickets to see Colbie Caillat at Wolf Trap, a spectacular outdoor concert venue set in a beautifully preserved national park in northern Virginia that has been dedicated to the performing arts, hosting concerts and top-notch entertainment events for over thirty years. Cate invited me to the concert, an invitation I happily accepted despite our fatigue, and we headed over to the concert just as the sun was setting, making Wolf Trap, perched high up in the trees, even more breathtaking.

The concert was wonderful! The venue, with its brilliant acoustics and treehouse-like architecture, was the perfect match for Colbie's upbeat, positive music, and watching her dance around the stage with carefree abandon in her bright yellow dress, long blonde hair and tiny bare feet brought me right back to my own teenage summers going to concerts, endlessly absorbing music (not so unlike hers) and hanging at the beach with my best friends. There was a kind of timeless quality to the evening, like we were somehow suspended in this beautiful place, and the music instantly woke us up and brought us to our feet - I could think of no better way to wrap up a graduation weekend full of fun and celebrations than dancing to the strands of Bubbly by Colbie Caillat in the magnificent tree tops of Wolf Trap!

Congratulations, my sweet Cate! We celebrate your tremendous accomplishments and await with great anticipation all the wonderful things that lie ahead of you in high school!

It starts in my toes
And I crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes I always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go.
-- Colbie Caillat