Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

JB>  When you are called to the "coda", the song (night out)
JB>  is about to end.


          Agreed... when you see the thingamajig in bold face type which
looks like a big letter "o" with an even bigger plus sign over
it, the song is about to end.  Thankyou, you've been a wonderful audience,
we're outta here....  ;-)


 P.S.

          The coda isn't necessarily short & sweet.  One of the numbers
we are working on in the community band has a coda which is 1 1/2 pages
long.  Yes, I am being picky here!  I think you'll see why later...
[chuckle].



JB>  Not the caboose "end". *8-0


          Ah, the conclusion of the coda?  To me a caboose is a rail car
added to the rear end of a train.  The caboose is different from all the
other cars. With luck you'll see a man sitting there who will wave at the
kids & the young at heart who wave at him.  But the coda is different
from the rest of the song too.  That's where the would-be screech
trumpeters (for example) take the last few notes up an octave, without
regard for the agony they may be inflicting on the clarinet section. 
Either way there's some sort of parting ritual....  :-)



JB>  When I found a room full of time-waste, I knew that
JB>  was my exit call.


          Yup....  :-)



JB>  When the elder Hintons find it's time to "coda" the
JB>  night, they get in their carriage.


          Okay.  But as a former teacher & as a parent living life in
the slow lane, I break the task into smaller steps.  First I warn Nora that
we're about to leave.  I allow her a few minutes to get used to the idea. 
I may also help her put on her splint & shoes.  Then I ask whether she
needs to use the toilet before we depart.  Then we have to get out of the
place.  If there are stairs, Dallas & I will have to assist her in
getting down just as we did when she was going up.  If we've brought the
wheelchair along & if we're not within walking distance of home, it
will take us another five minutes or so to strap down the wheelchair etc.
before we can drive away.  And as a student of language I know
"coda" is more accurately translated as the "tail"
rather than the "end".  The end is where you see a thin line
& a fat line parallel to each other....  :-))



JB>  When Nora's had enough of this.... 


          It will also be awhile before we can drive away... [wry grin].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+