Cake #1 (pictured above) was my idea. I knew that I would be spending the noon hour with most of my voice students in studio class (our first of the semester) and there was no question that I had to do something for them for my birthday. So I stopped by Racine’s Danish Uncle (the south side home of Racine’s best bakery, O & H) and bought the dazzling Danish Layer cake pictured above. And in an astounding bit of clear-headedness on my part, I remembered to buy napkins and paper plates as well (which, believe it or not, cost more than the cake did.) And after warming everyone up and then listening to four students sing, out came the cake – expertly cut and served by Andrew Spinelli (who works at Bakers Square Pie.) It was only as I was served my slice after everyone else that it finally dawned on me that I had remembered everything except forks. And while some cake might be dry enough to be easily eaten with your hands, Danish Layer Cake is much too moist, with its multiple layers of frosting and pudding. But did we care? Not a bit ! ! ! Did we let that stop us? No way ! ! ! If anything, it tasted even better this way. ( One of the guys said that this was Finger-Licking-Good cake, and they were right! ) And as the guys were finishing up, I treated them to a little free entertainment (by request) – a little ditty called “Old Man River.”
Cake #2 was a surprise for me – and it was unveiled during Carthage Choir rehearsal. (I’m their piano accompanist.) The first glimmer of the surprise came when the conductor asked me to play the starting pitch for one of their pieces, but then – evidently on cue – the choir cut loose not with the piece in question but rather “Happy Birthday.” But then it was back to work with the promise of birthday cake at the end of rehearsal. (Actually, the cake – a good-sized, splendidly colored sheet cake, was sitting right out on the grand piano in plain view, but I never even noticed it. I guess your eyesight begins to go the moment you turn 50.) Maestro Garcia-Novelli eventually ended rehearsal about ten minutes early, which was incredibly generous of him when you consider that the choir is leaving on spring tour in two weeks. His willingness to give up ten minutes of precious rehearsal time for my birthday party was one of the best gifts I could have been given. Speaking of gifts, I was really floored when choir president Joe Torcaso presented me with a gift from the choir- a very generous gift certificate to Salute’s (a wonderful Italian restaurant in Racine.) And almost as generous as the gift itself was quiet Joe’s willingness to get up in front of the group and make the presentation. 🙂 By the way, my wife arrived just as the festivities were beginning- armed with a huge platter of cookies- and I was so glad it worked out for her to be part of the fun.
There was other fun in the day. . . some much appreciated phone calls from family and friends . . . a blizzard of b-day wishes on Facebook . . . a quiet, delicious dinner with Kathy at one of my favorite restaurants, Lone Star . . . and the evening ended with a quick trip to Razor Sharp and a 45 minutes treadmill session. (After eating two very generous pieces of birthday cake, and way too much leftover frosting- one of my guiltiest pleasures- there was no way I was going to skip the treadmill.) At least I had a brand new issue of “Opera News” to read. . . Talk about the perfect ending to a most memorable day.