Elton John and Bernie Taupin Gershwin Prize

I worked at the Library of Congress for ten years. It’s the reason we moved to Capitol Hill from the Midwest. One of the great side benefits of working at such a unique place was the people you might happen to run in to. My husband and I had an opportunity to attend the Gershwin Prize concerts for Willie Nelson and Billy Joel. Neither of these artists are our favorites, but they needed to fill the auditorium at the DAR concert hall and I got two free lottery tickets. They were memorable events as there were many other famous artists attending to pay homage to the recipients. I retired several years ago now. But I wish I was still working just to attend the Elton John and Bernie Taupin event this year. Elton John is one of our favorite musicians. I remember hearing his first song in high school and then so many more after that, marking significant milestones in my life. So this week we watched the recorded performance of the Gershwin event. Both my husband and I were teary eyed and emotional just listening to the beautiful music performed by such wonderful artists. The venue was familiar and I felt like I was a part of it. When I look back on the fact that I actually worked at the library I am still amazed. And to this day every time we visit I can’t believe it. 

52frames_music

I used to play the organ, but that was a long time ago and we don’t have that or any other musical instrument in our house. I looked around for my old charm bracelet that I knew had an organ charm, but the photos didn’t look good. My husband likes to drum his fingers so I thought about a pan and some chopsticks. But he isn’t much for posing for photos like this. He was listening to music with his earphones and iPad, but I wasn’t impressed with the result. So for last week’s 52Frames photo challenge we decided to drive down to the national mall and see if anything would pop up - in my head. I was relegated to thinking about a song that inspires a scene. And there is was - the national air and space museum. It has been closed and under construction for the last many months, but the signage and tarps that surround the outside of the building are still in place. There were caricature rockets and aircraft on the fencing that hides the construction behind it. Then it hit me - a favorite Elton John song “Rocket Man.” So we walked to the front of the building on independence Avenue where I knew there was a portrait of the Apollo 11 astronauts. With the leaves hiding and the sun partially shining on the ever so young faces of 1969 I found a reasonably decent image to portray the sentiment. With a bit of enhancements the green and orange colors balanced out the black and white space suits. The real thing would have been better but this option would have to do. I love that song and remember listening to it while driving home for Thanksgiving from college. It’s a little better than a photograph, but it means a lot more.