week 415 ~ when the fat lady finally does sing
when the fat lady finally does sing
will you be ready for what happens next
or lost in a maze of doubts lingering
be derailed by inattention perplexed
to find too few optimistic choices
looking ahead to the distant side of
now past your option to turn back voices
of others muddle the air breathe let love
place a cool towel on your forehead and dream
of a future without regret you can
find a way through even when the odds seem
stacked against winning the hard race you ran
hear her song know that possibilities
abound tilt your face sunward feel the breeze
September 20, 2016
First tests today at school, so we’ll see if the students are actually learning something or just putting on their game faces.
September 19, 2016
I bring armloads of music down from the attic today, to sort and take in to school tomorrow where I have a student working on a project to scan it, for preservation and to make it easier to share with other mandolinists. Some of the sheets are so brittle they feel like they will crumble in my hands. There are folders, taken from my former teacher’s house after he died, that seem to be from his teacher, the legendary Giseppe Pettine. Folders of mis-matched parts, music taken from the pages of a magazine he published, Italian music with hand-written dedications from their composers. A project intended to take a couple of hours stretches to fill the day. But, as with the basement, it’s a project I am happy to have, at least, begun.
September 18, 2016
A beautiful day in the neighborhood, although I am feeling a bit introverted in contrast to the sunny skies. But still lawn-mowing calls, and the rest of the basement project is happily left for a less-beautiful day.
September 17, 2016
Pictured, a souvenir from rehearsal. Today I resolutely take up the long-postponed task of cleaning up the basement. It involves unpacking neglected boxes from my move, from my Mom’s move, and uncovering a mix of nostalgia, laughter, rueful sighs. There are things forgotten, some ruined by neglect, others finally rediscovered– oh that’s where that has been! The dust of time needs more than a broom, and the boxes will require more than a day to sort, but in the evening when I pause, it feels good to have at least made a start.
September 16, 2016
Errands to run today, and in the evening a dinner party at E’s to celebrate her brother J’s birthday and other good news.
