Back on Saturday John and I had a visit from a woman who'd been a student of ours when we taught at Independent Day School in Tampa back in the early Seventies.
Alicia had been one of a pair of girls that I admired deeply for their creativity and high spirits. I connected with both these ex-students through Facebook a while back and when Alicia, who lives in L. A., messaged me that she would be in the area (Greensboro) for the weekend and would like to make the three hour trip to the farm, I was thrilled.
It was a wonderful visit -- catching up and hearing about Alicia's rather amazing life. Some of the highlights included working as a sketch artist at Disney World, working as part of an illusionist's act, traveling with the circus and with carnivals (did you know that circus people look down on carnies?), and then moving to L.A, to follow her passion for music.
She's a singer and a keyboardist, a studio musician, a teacher of voice, and a member of a Blues group called The Scorch Sisters. She's married to another musician (who is with Three Dog Night which was touring in the area, thus her visit) and their children are also musicians.
We also had a fine time talking politics -- she and John and I are on the same page -- and she has even written a book about "the myth that is modern conservatism: the myth of the free market, the invisible hand, the magical trickle-down theory, the myth that all you need is bootstraps, and that a rising tide lifts all boats."
Dang! What a joy to meet old students and find that they are new friends.
