Ding Dongs

I just left the “Bell Orientation” session at the City and County Building in downtown Denver, and I was surrounded by the craziest, zaniest, most insane bunch of music teacher and music enthusiasts on this planet. Seriously. I counted so many piano ties and piano socks and piano cardigans and piano book bags. Honestly!

There was an article in the Denver Post/news broadcast on 9News last week about needing volunteers to play the giant Bells in Denver, and Ann's husband, Kim, thought it might be a fun experience. I agree!

Anway, the orientation: I gave up trying to keep a straight face and just stood there, grinning like a goon. They were all self-proclaimed musical experts – ALL of them. They ALL knew how to play a Christmas Carol in C Major BETTER than the person standing next to them. Really now. I just grinned and kept my mouth shut, for fear of my not being the BEST musician in the city, as they eagerly would have told me!

The bell people decided to do an all-at-once orientation, which means 60 people crowded into the stairway outside what HAD to at one time been a janitor's closet/boiler room. (I swear, I am going to verbally check-in with loved ones before entering that room, and again once I leave.) Anywho, the bells are controlled by was a most ridiculously-size Casio keyboard. I think the string of Christmas lights stapled to the wall added a nice effect. Groan. They trained 5 people at a time (yes, only 5 could fit into this tiny room - the room that was straight out of a horror flick).

They are letting me play next Sunday evening, November 29 from 5:45 – 6:45pm, so if you happen to be in downtown Denver, and hear happy Christmas Carols coming from the City and County Building....that's me playing!

I’m going to have to go and find myself some piano leggings….

Here's the view of Denver from the top of the City and County Building. AWESOME! That's the Capitol over there! I would have loved to just quietly spend a couple of hours up here. Had it not been so cold. And had it not been literally 2 feet from bells that would have deafened me and probably exploded my head.

Once we were done with our 5 minute orientation, we were excused to either go home OR go tour the bells. Hmm...how about a tour!? This is just one of a series of stairs that seemed to get smaller and smaller and smaller. It was like something out of "Alice in Wonderland" - I kept waiting for the Rabbit to jump out at me around each corner!

This is the miniscule hole we all had to crawl through in order to reach the Promised Land of the Bells! Honestly. It messed with one's depth perception. Wait...I don't have depth perception. Well, it messed with my SENSE of depth perception. Look at the tiiiiiny man through the grate. I would never NEVER go up here alone.

TA-DA! Check out the size of that bell! UNREAL!
I actually crawled inside it. INSIDE IT!
(I know, we're all surprised.)

These pictures cannot possibly capture the sheer SIZE of these bells! They were massive! I would have loved to see them in action. From a distance, of course.