Not all decisions require a big picture view. Sometimes, it’s best to zoom in.
I’m writing this at home during rehearsal time.
A so-called “Clipper Storm” blew in this afternoon and made roads utterly dreadful in my community. I heard from people out driving, I consulted weather and traffic maps, and I made the call.
It was a particularly hard call to make because we haven’t had a Thursday evening rehearsal since November 21, due to Thanksgiving and concerts scheduled for Thursday. That’s like 3/4 of our usable rehearsal time lost, for an entire month.
But in the end it wasn’t a hard decision to make. And that’s interesting, because I’ve been writing and thinking about the value of the big-picture view that educators and teachers must take. In this case, the big picture (no Thursday rehearsals for a month) was totally useless. I had to zoom in to the close-up view, and simply weigh the value of this one rehearsal against putting sixteen teenagers onto icy roads.
I’m missing making music, but I have no regrets about keeping them home tonight. We’ll have more chances to do music…in 2025.