August 4, 2017
P and I head down for a wonderful day of music at the Newport Jazz Festival, an annual event for us. Pictured here is Wadada Leo Smith, channeling Miles Davis from the 70s, in his transcendent set with pianist Vijay Iyer. The day is warm with a breeze off the water, and we find seats at all three stages for the performances we want to see. The day ends with sets by Maceo Parker, all funk and fun, and then Bela Fleck playing with his original quartet, including a jaw-dropping harmonica solo by Howard Levy of Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” with the two-line counterpoint coming out of that one tiny instrument. I can feel I am coming out of jet-lag and reveling in the clear air and moderate temperatures of home.
August 3, 2017
It’s my friend B’s birthday today. We four women, who share celebrations and have supported each other through so many difficulties, head down to the ocean for lobster rolls and birthday cake. It’s a lovely evening.
week 460 ~ into the impending gloom
into the impending gloom
as birds fly but do not sing
and all good saints flee the room
into the impending gloom
ghosts exit their twilight tomb
I have nothing left to bring
into the impending gloom
as birds fly but do not sing
August 2, 2017
It’s a beautiful day in New England. In the evening my group arrives for a scheduled rehearsal. I have been alternating all day between sleepiness and feeling OK. Rehearsal goes well but I’m a long way from back to normal.
August 1, 2017
I travel all day, make my connection in Chicago, and arrive in Boston nearly on time. P picks me up and we drive home. My day is 12-hours off, I have had a sleepless night, and home looks so good and the clear evening sky with clouds in it looks so exotic after my time in a country where pollution runs rampant. I’m glad to have had this Macau music experience, I have a collection of good memories, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be going back. The stress to benefit ratio is too steep. It’s really good to be home.
