It was a little over a year ago that I visited the Chautauqua Festival on a warm summer night.  I wrote that story then, a story that should have been echoed a little over a week ago with a repeat visit to once again hear Shostakovich, and the magical sounds of the celesta shimmering in the warm twilight air.  But the story was not quite complete.  At the gift shop, I bought a silver charm and something I’d never seen before–a Paper Nano kit to build a tiny model of a room from paper.  I chose the Music Room, because it had books, cats, and the right instruments to play a piano trio.  But I put it aside.  The laser-cut paper pieces looked too daunting, and I had other priorities back then.

But then a friend completed a miniature room with bookshelves, and I remembered that kit, and the memories it brought of where I’d purchased it.  Perhaps it would do, in a way, to recall what was out of reach this year.  Plus, I didn’t have to purchase anything (other than a bottle of clear glue and some tweezers at the Dollar Store.

I started building the kit last night, and finished it today at lunch and after work.  Some of the pieces were mind-bendingly tiny or fine (the tailpiece on the violin, for instance, the wine glasses, and the bows) but the laser cut pattern pieces were surprisingly easy to detach and the pieces mostly went together beautifully.

The detail on the pieces is amazing.  The cello on the left measures about an inch and a half long.  The piano is about 2″ tall.

Here is the final assembled room.  It’s about 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ square.

These kits are designed in Japan by a company called Kawada Industrial.  This is by far the best of their room scenes.  They have a number of small architectural kits–the ones that most appeal to me are some of the Japanese ones.  It may be something I look into doing again. It was rewarding in the same kind of way that doing Frank Lloyd Wright Lego is, except the way the paper was cut and folded together was even more fascinating.

And some little glimmers of hope are now appearing that perhaps I might eventually get to see a live concert again–one of the small chamber series in Guelph is starting up, offering both a limited number of live tickets as well as the opportunity to view their concerts via live streaming. The Toronto Symphony is allegedly close to announcing some new things, although Toronto still needs to get to Stage 3.  In the meantime, I’ve bought my ticket to hear John Cleese livestream from Roy Thompson Hall next Sunday–not a bad thing to look forward to.