Oh, that fireplace...

It's the one at Naniboujou Lodge in Grand Marais.

The biggest in Minnesota.

But it needs something...

...yeah, that's more like it.

Naniboujou Lodge asked if I would provide music for their New Year's Eve dinner, and honestly I couldn't think of a cozier, more beautiful place to be as 2011 turned into 2012. So I packed up the harp and squeezed everything into the trusty TrailBlazer and hit the road. It's about 400 miles to Naniboujou Lodge from my house. But this mild Minnesota winter made the drive easy. I brought music to listen to - Loreena McKennitt singing some old favorites, Anne Azema singing medieval troubadour songs, haunting music by Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds - to help pass the time. And just as I pulled into the lodge, it started to snow gently. Perfect.

 On New Year's Eve night, I put on my sparkliest dress, 

wheeled the harp in front of all that glorious fire and played. 

 And played and played and played.

I said goodbye to my Christmas and holiday music and worked in some Celtic, some Classical, some Baroque. Some Amy Kortuem originals. As dinner turned to dessert turned to coffee, people gathered at the fireplace to listen. I kept playing.

Finally the hostess came over and told me that the chef had made me a second dinner because the first dinner had gone cold. Nearly everyone had gone back to their rooms. I reluctantly took the harp from my shoulder and moved to my table.

Toasted the evening with sparkling cider and another log on the fire.