Every oboist's worst nightmare...literally.

I am a really light sleeper, always have been. Even as a little kid I NEVER wanted to take a nap, afraid that I might miss something... yep- that much anxiety.

I do dream quite a bit, and surprisingly only have a couple of "oboe dreams" every now and then, usually leading up to a major performance such as a recital.

The typical scenario goes something like this:

I go to take my oboe out of the case and begin warming up on any given day, and look it over quickly for cracks. I do actually do this, not every time I go to play but probably a couple of times a week since I have been living in the desert for under a year and still am not totally sure what it is capable of and since I have a history of cracking oboes!

In this particular instance, I notice that a crack is looking a bit open- then all of a sudden, right before my eyes, the crack begins to circle around the entire oboe-bore deep and the instrument pretty much crumbles in my hands.

Crazy? Yep.