Our nearly week-long flirt with Spring has come to a crushing end. A surprise snowstorm is currently creating havoc on area roads. I've been listening to the fire department dispatch all day, and it's been accident after accident. I'm not surprised; despite snow-covered and slippery roads, I've been watching cars shoot by the house all day at normal speeds. If any proof is needed that humans don't really learn from the past.... Anyway, we are snug as two bugs tonight, having stayed in all day. Deb has to go to physio on Tuesday, but it's supposed to be cold and sunny. Wednesday is her bi-monthly blood work. It's supposed to be mild and raining. But come Friday, the real winter will return again, for an indefinite period of time. At least we had a bit of a break from it. And January is nearly over.
It's a good time to talk about plans for the new year, something I meant to do nearly four weeks ago. Our first big adventure of the year will be a late April return to London, UK. This is going to be a very short visit, where we will undertake more of the London Loop, a long distance trail than encircles Zone 6 London, sticking as much as possible to vast park lands and green spaces. We also hope to spend a day at the National Gallery. The cultural highlight so far will be hearing one of our favourite bands in performance. Orchestra Baobab will be playing in town when we are there!! First time we have connected. What luck!
The second major trip of the year will be our next drive to New Mexico, this time accompanied by Jennifer G. and her partner Brad, in their own vehicle. This will be a really fun 15-day adventure, culminating in a stay at Cimarron Rose B&B in NM, and a climb of Mt. Taylor. This was the mountain that came close to taking my life on our first ascent--hopefully I will have better luck this time!
We are also hoping to return to Vienna in mid-to late November. Tickets for the Bruegel painting exhibit are already on sale, and we hope to be booking that trip by mid-March. It will be a fast trip, less than a week, expressly to visit the exhibit and the Kunst. Fingers crossed we can pull all of this off this year!
Friday, January 26th/18
It was a sunny and very mild day. So far this January we have broken several cold weather records, and this week we broke one for warmest day. Try to make some sense from that. Winter returns, according to long range forecasts, next Friday, when we will be in for another prolonged blast of the cold weather. Can't wait.
This morning, my teaching group, ORMTA, was given a tour of the new School of Arts, in a renovated 1930 armoury in downtown Windsor. It's still under construction, and filled with workmen, but is also trying to function as a university campus for music, art, and architecture. The renovations are very impressive, and the new facility boasts three floors of classrooms, performance and gathering places, offices, and storage facilities. The new 133 seat recital hall is not yet ready, but should be within a month. That is where our own student concerts will take place. I will also be able to use the space for my own personal recitals. We were not allowed into the hall proper this morning, but we did manage to view it from a catwalk, above.
A view from above of the new recital hall. Not all of the seats are in yet, but the acoustic woodwork is. This will be a wonderful and very intimate space for our ORMTA student concerts.
We ate lunch downtown afterwards (Deb came on the tour as well), then walked along the river. This was my third walk so far this week, so you know our weather has been good. After lunch we had planned a shopping trip to our favourite Asian grocery store. Alack and alas, the store was empty and the business was gone. International Grocers was a fantastic store, and a very great loss for us. In other news, our VW Golf has been in the garage all winter so far, but today we took it for the downtown journey. I don't want to get any road salt on it yet, so it won't be used during most winter days, until December 2019, when the Tiguan lease expires. From then on we will likely use only one vehicle. Nothing else is planned for the weekend, except some walking, reading, NM map work, and, of course, mucho piano practice.
Thursday, January 15th/18
Edgar Pangborn only wrote six novels. An early SF effort was good, but not newsworthy. Then came A Mirror For Observers, which left me delightedly stunned. The author (long deceased) has a strong cult following, most of whom have read his works many times. There followed a long historical novel, and then a courtroom drama. These are must-reads for his fans. Then followed two loosely connected novels, Davy, followed by The Company of Glory. Along with Mirror, these are likely the best SF novels ever written. He also wrote a lot of short stories, and two volumes were published. The first was Good Neighbours and Other Strangers, and the second (and final book of his to be published) is called Still I Persist In Wondering. This final volume contains seven stories, all loosely connected to Davy and Company of Glory. So far they have been as stunning as the novels. A few loose stories were published on Kindle, including the unforgettable and unimaginably imaginable "Angel's Egg", and the delightful and wise "The Wrens In Grandpa's Whiskers". Another story, "Music-Master of Babylon", awaits me on Kindle. Then there is no more, a fact that saddens me deeply. He wrote a few other stories, but they are not available anywhere except in the original SF pulp magazines in which they were printed. Good luck finding those. Anyway, I plan to read all of his SF again, and am already looking forward to Mirror.
The third teaching week of the new year is now over. I missed two adults this week, but all the children showed up. I am currently pulling in about $360 per week, x 37 weeks. Summer business slackens off, but is still more that I really want to have. And that is our travel fund. When the new semester begins in February, I expect to be up another 45 minutes per week. Come September I will begin to pull in my old age pension, making four incomes for me (three pensions and the teaching), and two pensions for Deb. It sounds impressive, but Canada is a very expensive place to live. We haven't received our heating bill yet for the massive cold spell we had in late December and early January. It is certain to chill me even more.
It's been a week now since Deb had a cortisone shot in her upper arm. Her symptoms have improved markedly, though certainly not back to any kind of normal. She went to physio on Tuesday, and will go once more next week. Then she will be on her own for awhile with a set of exercises to do at home. We are hoping that any noted improvement will remain with her.
Monday, January 22nd/18
Today was Detroit day. It's been awhile. For one thing, we were down to half a tank of gas in the SUV. The vehicle takes premium fuel, which is extremely expensive in Canada and not so much in Detroit. The price in Windsor today was about $6 per gallon. In Detroit, about $3.50 Can. Big difference, if you are over there anyway.
Deb had a coupon for a free birthday pizza at Buddy's. After that we went for a walk in Dearborn. The temp was in the low 50s F., and the sky darkened as we walked. However, any rain that fell was very light, and we had an enjoyable time digesting our Tuscan Vegan Pizza!
The Rouge River was flowing fast and hard today. We no longer have any traces of snow.
Next stop was Hashem's Nuts and Coffee, one of the city's best little shops. Crowded with coffee, tea, exotic sweets, nuts, and so many other things that it's easy to spend a happy hour browsing this small shop. They have four stores altogether: 2 in Dearborn, one in Dearborn Heights, and one in Lebanon. Al least we can easily get to three of them. We stocked up on some sweets, as well as their coffee, which is half coffee and half cardamom! They grind it for you to order!
One of the irresistible displays at Hashem's.
Candy and nougat at Hashem's.
After we had stocked up on supplies (we are going to serve their treats at my next recital) we headed to Batch Brewing. I enjoyed a stupendous sampler of 4 of their excellent ales. This is now my favourite micro-brewery in the universe. For one thing, it is off on its own in a semi-industrial semi-residential area of the city, away from the hustle and bustle of the much busier areas in Midtown, Corktown, and Downtown (Detroit has a lot of "towns"). In the old days Deb and I pretty much had Detroit to ourselves. Now it is a bustling, busy city, and it's much more difficult to access the areas we once took for granted. However, things keep spreading out, so there are always outlier places. Batch is one of those. They are opening a 2nd location in another up and coming area of the city, called North End. It will have larger brewing facilities. Can't wait for that to happen!
18 taps were on today at Batch Brewing in Detroit. They had just finished their weekend cask ale selection.
I tried 4 ales: Pennsylvania, a brown session ale with star anise; Empire, a super fine pale ale; Drawing Down The Moon, a delicious experimental ale with Finnish juniper (recipe also from Finland); and Porter Street Porter (the brewery is on Porter Street), a high gravity porter that sticks to the ribs. I enjoyed 4 oz (US) servings of each. Pricey, but delicious. There is no beer this good in Windsor yet.
Just down the road is Anthology Coffee, another place tucked away in an industrial area. Little walk-in trade here. Some of the best coffee ever tasted is roasted and brewed here. In addition to our pour overs, Deb came home with a bag of coffee beans. Buy their coffee beans and the pour over is not charged! Call it a free coffee.
Inside Anthology Coffee, Detroit. Hidden as it is, people still know about it. However, it isn't filled with students on their laptops all day, like most other cafes.
Then it was home for some cardamom coffee and treats, and the last night of the birthday weekend. We are currently baking one last apple crispy thingy, and the house smells heavenly, between the coffee and the baking. If this was a teaching day and kids and parents walked in, they would surely die of the good smells!
I'll finish up with this internet FB photo of downtown Detroit this evening...
Thanks to Deb having a lot of patience, my Avon/Equinox SF page is now a lot more accessible to interested readers. We added a right hand column that should allow immediate access to any of the authors in the series I have read so far. With my book count nearing 200, it really is a fun site to browse. It's also fun to write it. I am currently reading a slim novel by Chad Oliver. This man has written some really fantastic SF novels about first contact. Check him out on the Avon page!
Speaking of Deb, the birthday girl got a good report from her heart doctor. We also got out of his office quicker than expected. We then headed to a new cafe in Walkerville, enjoying late pm coffee and dessert. Anchor Coffee's 2nd location is cozy and has a lot of vegan food and pastries. Deb bought some of their in-house roasted coffee beans. We'll be back! Next door is Origins, a beautiful gift and clothing store with a Buddhist twist. Deb got herself a comfy shawl-type hoodie, as well as a box of turmeric-ginger-black pepper tea. Then it was home for a W.C. Fields movie, and an episode of Elementary and Peter Gunn. We baked an apple crisp and enjoyed it with soy ice cream. One of the best parts of the day was the fact that the temperature actually went above 0 C!! Huzzah. The long range forecast looks much better than the first month of winter. We even went out for a walk this afternoon, our first in a long time.
Today the wind was down a bit, the temperature was warm enough to be outside, the back deck was bare of snow, and I had plenty of time to set up my scope if need be. Of course it was cloudy. Being an astronomer in Essex County is one of the poorest match-ups one could ever make. In fact, it's pretty much a joke.
Thursday, January 18th/18
It's clear tonight, and I came close to setting up for an observing session. Except I had to teach till 7:30 pm. And it's very windy out. When the stars are really twinkling, it is not a great night to look at them through a telescope. It means the air is very turbulent, and the poor seeing is magnified by the scope. Still, I would have set up on the back deck if not for the teaching. It takes about an hour from scratch to set up at home, so I would have needed some daylight first. Move the vehicles out of the garage. Shovel the snow off the deck. Set up the tarps. Set up the scope. Study the charts. Dress appropriately. As I said, I came close. Today was the 7th day in a row of the latest cold blast of air. However, we got to -2 C, a respectable temp for this time of year, and the warmest it's been all week. Tomorrow comes +2 C, the first time above 0 in a week. Then a mild spell, with temps somewhat above average for this time. It's still early winter, though, so we all know there is more misery to come.
Two weeks of teaching are complete. Two more to go, and then a week off to polish my piano program. Memorization is now about 95% secure. Not bad. It is a lot of hard work.
Deb had the first of two medical appointments of the week today. She got a shot of cortisone in her right shoulder. It's supposed to help in about three days. Then she can resume physio. Tomorrow is her annual check up with her heart specialist. It's also her birthday, so hopefully we'll do more than visit her doctor.
I have read three fabulous epic SF novels in a row lately. The first was Silverberg's Lord Prestimion. Next came another very long one by Spinrad, called The Mind Game. It is a hard-hitting story about cult capturing a man's wife and cutting off his access to her. Extremely well done, well researched, and highly entertaining. And I just recently finished one of the best SF novels I have ever read. Macroscope by Piers Anthony is almost 500 pages in its original form (a shorter version was published later, but there was nothing in the long one that I would cut out). So a lot of things have been turning over in my mind the last few weeks besides piano pieces and piano students. I am now reading short stories by Eric Frank Russell, one of the funniest and scariest SF writers I've ever encountered. This is laugh out loud stuff one minute, and then pure horror the next. A truly wonderful writer. His specialty is writing stories similar to the movie Forbidden Planet, with an all-male crew having adventures in deep space.
It's been too cold and too windy to be outside walking. I am slowly turning into jelly. I'm glad we are not heading to the desert this March for hiking. We've been watching a lot of Elementary and Peter Gunn, with more W.C. Fields coming up this weekend.
Friday, January 12th/18
Dad is out of the hospital and home today, after spending almost 8 days there. He had a bowel obstruction. According to the specialist, things like skin from fruit often get stuck, and over the years cause a build up. Grapes, tomatoes, peaches, etc. About two hours before his attack, Dad had eaten a small bunch of grapes, which apparently was the grand finale of 86 years of buildup. For some reason it took doctors 8 days to figure this out. Anyway, all is well once again. However, I am swearing off grapes...
Week 1 of teaching is complete. 3 more to go before my next week off. I have one adult student still booking off, recoverving from foot surgery, and 2 others were ill. So not a strenuous week. Piano practice continues to be fruitful, and memorization of the final 10% of the pieces continues slowly.
Winter has returned. Yesterday was more like Autumn, with temps in the mid 50s F. All of our snow went away. Today was one of those weird days where the temperature continued to drop all day. Our warmest period was in the early morning, and then things continued to crash all day. We will be at least 7 days in a row again with temps remaining well below 0 C (which is our average high). The wind is from the north tonight, and really howling. However, we seemed to have dodged a major ice and snow storm. So there was some good news.
Wednesday, January 10th/18
Dad is still in the hospital in Sudbury, and they are continuing to run tests. He is eating a bit, mostly out of pain now, and Mom says he is looking well. Still waiting patiently for some results.
Our first January thaw arrived on schedule. Monday it got up to 36 F, and the same on Tuesday. Currently it is in the mid-40s at 10 pm Wed. Thursday is supposed to be even warmer, and then we get slammed again by severe cold, preceded by some fresh snow Friday. Late next week it is supposed to modify again, so at least this time there might me something to look forward to.
I have completed two nights of teaching in this four-week segment, which continues till the end of January. Everyone showed up last night as expected. I got to work with Januda for the first time, who is now my most advanced student. We worked on some Gr. X technic, as well as the Chopin Polonaise in A Major. It is a really big piece requiring hands that can reach big chords. He has very small hands, so unfortunately he plays it with a lot of physical tension. I will have strong input into any further pieces we choose, so I will be trying to find some works that he can reach more easily. On Wednesdays I teach two young girls who are both A.D.D. cases. The first one was sick today, but the second one showed up in fine form. It's not how many distractions per lesson with her, but rather how many per minute. No meds are involved, and I don't think her mom, who is a school teacher, even realizes the problem. It will be brought up very soon.
April is a relatively new student. She was pretty uptight at her first few lessons back in late Nov. and through Dec. She is 13 and at the age where she fears looking foolish in front of others, me included. As a result she tries just a bit too earnestly at lessons, and ends up making even more mistakes. She is a genuine sweetheart, and we have been working on keeping things pretty casual. Today she really seemed to relax, and we spent about half of her thirty minutes just chatting. It seemed to do some good, as she played quite well afterwards. She wants to be a writer, so we had lots to talk about. Mom sits on the couch nearby and doesn't say much, but she seemed pleased today after the lesson, even though music wasn't the dominant topic. Tomorrow I have four students remaining to finish up my work week. Then we hunker down for more winter weather.
I just finished the 6th book of Robert Silverberg's massive and engrossing Majipoor series. The series is hit and miss, with the first two books being quite brilliant, and the fourth one eminently readable. The 3rd and 5th were weak, but this 6th one, Lord Prestimion, was awesome. Majipoor is a vast planet colonized thousands of years ago by humans, which now is pretty much left to itself. Many different species of intelligent life live there alongside the humans, including an indigenous people. The book is more about sorcery and magic than actual SF, but there is a definite science core to the series. I'm glad I discovered it. I am currently reading a fascinating novel by Norman Spinrad called The Mind Games, about a guy's wife who is brainwashed and essentially kidnapped by a cult called the Transformationalists, and his attempts to get her back. It is a very scary book, and the author not only knows the ins and outs of working in Hollywood, but understands the whole cult science scene extremely well. Deb finally picked up Roderick by John Sladek to read, and is enjoying it a lot.
Monday, Jan. 8th/18
19 glorious days of vacation have finally come to an end. Beginning with our all day fire and party on Winter Solstice, and ending today with our long-awaited thaw, it's been a blast. My one and only regret was that we were unable to get outside much due to extreme temps and wind. Today got to 37 F, the first time above freezing since Dec. 23rd! Usually around this date winter is just getting started--we have already had two long rounds of eye-watering, blood-freezing cold. Today I awoke to 2" of neutron star material on our driveway. It was the heaviest, densest snow of the winter, but it has been pushed aside now. Some very mild temps are coming later this week, too! Methinks the snow will be mostly gone by the end of the week, though the river is frozen solid.
Tonight's sunset from our south window, showing a completely frozen river.
There has been no update yet on Dad's condition. Mom said she would phone if they had learned anything yet. Soon, I hope.
I return tomorrow to 15 students, including a new one for me. Januda is in Gr. X piano, and I am looking forward to working with him. He is in Gr. 11 at school. One of my adult students is still off, recovering from foot surgery, but is expected back in early February. I am not feeling very retired just now.
I had great success with piano memorization work over the break. I wanted to be at the 90% mark, and that is exactly where I am. My upcoming concert could be called "Good Things Come In Threes." Here is my report card, much improved from the start of the holiday period.
3 Bach pieces--memorized!
3 Haydn Sonata movements--memorized!!
3 astronomy pieces--1 page remaining, out of 8 pages!
3 Mendelssohn Venetian Gondola Songs--2 memorized, 1 with 2 pages to go.
Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody--memorized!!
Out of 32 pages, I have about 3 1/4 left to go. I am happy with this. another week of decent practice should see me complete the memorization. Concert possible early March. I will decide by Feb. 12th. In the meantime I need to schedule a few lessons with Philip Adamson.
Sunday, Jan. 7th/18
In winter, when the daytime temperature reaches about 25 F (-4 C), it is usually okay to be outside for fun, unless it is unusually windy. For the first time in 16 days the temperature has reached that plateau. However, it is quite windy outside, thus no walk this evening. The mercury has been slowly rising all day, and will continue to rise into the night. We will finally go above freezing tomorrow!! However, as if to make certain we don't get too giddy, we are expecting 2-4" of snow tonight. There seems to be no winning for us so far this winter. Not having done much exercise in the past 10 days, I am not looking forward to shovelling heavy snow tomorrow.
Dad is in the hospital, and has been since late Friday night. He had some type of very painful gastro attack, and they have kept him in to run a battery of tests. No one knows anything yet. He should be home tomorrow, but whether the tests will show anything definite is anybody's guess. As terrible as the cold has been here, it has been far worse in Sudbury. Some days their high temp was -27 C. That is extreme cold. Our highs some days was -17 C. Add some wind to that and you will know why this has been the most indoor holiday break we have ever had. Somehow I survived 22 years living in Sudbury before moving south. Meanwhile, the temperature in Sydney, Australia was 117 F. Quite the extremes going on these days.
Friday, Jan. 5th/18
It is now been 14 days since our temperatures have remained savagely far below 0C. Of those only two were windless. Relief is coming by Monday, though. For two days now we have gone beyond the beyond, with records shattered and a stiff wind from the NW. Our little boiler and house are fine in any temperature providing the winds are not strong. With recent extreme temps and strong winds, we are barely keeping the house at 19C. And it will be our highest heating bill ever. Can't wait for that to arrive. Cabin fever is setting in. Without fresh air and
exercise my practicing and memorizing are going downhill, and even my sleep pattern. Sure we go out. We even went to Detroit on Wednesday. But it's house to car, car to shop, shop to car, etc. There is very little outdoors involved. Prior to this event we had 7 days in a row of similar weather before Christmas, though not to this extreme. That makes 21 days in a row, in two sections, of frigid air. However, there is an upside. Storm patterns have been unable to penetrate the cold air. As a result, we have had very little snow since Christmas Eve. No pipes have burst yet, or frozen. Two more bitter nights to go in this stretch, until the next one comes.
We have been getting engrossed in a TV series called Elementary. Sherlock Holmes is a modern day English detecting consultant for the NYPD. Watson is female. It is very good, and we will stay with it. There seems to be a lot of episodes, and they are riveting and go by quickly.
This is a much more believable and likable Holmes than the one portrayed by Cumberpatch. I honestly do not know how that series became so popular. He is nothing more than an android, though with less feeling. We are also watching a series from 1958 called Peter Gunn. This is Blake Edwards' baby, and it's really fun. It is classic Noir in 25 minute episodes. Lola Albright, Pete's girl, is completely awesome and captivating. And the music is really with it, man! There is never any talking in the opening segment, which usually shows a murder. Just music. Great classic stuff! And of course some Forest Ranger episodes!
The music of Mozart doesn't seem to fit into any category or definition of creativity that I have ever come across. There are no scribbled notebooks, no long walks in the countryside to sort things out, no struggle with this or that concept. With Mozart there is only music. And what music! Probably only fit for gods (does this make me a god?). He seems to pull music out of the air, as if he could tap into a flowing stream of heavenly sound and divert it to either a page of neat writing, or bypassing notation completely and simply improvising at the keyboard or with his violin. He died so young, and yet he left us so much. What isn't left to us are the hundreds of lengthy improvisations, heard one time perhaps by a few, perhaps by many. But they are gone forever. And if he had lived at least into his forties? Fifties? It is a staggering thought.
We have immersed ourselves often in the music of Mozart, including all of the operas, the piano sonatas, all the concerti, chamber music. Much of his youthful writing is just that. But suddenly, in his late twenties, begins the most amazing musical gift to humankind that has ever been bestowed. Like all great gifts, it is there for everyone to celebrate. Mozart's music has a direct connection to the brain and to the emotions, and in such amount and depth as no other composer ever achieved. There have been so many great composers, but Mozart rises far above them all, except perhaps for Bach (he struggled with writing, as did Beethoven, as did almost all composers, except perhaps Mendelssohn, the other boy genius).
It is not uncommon, after hearing a Mozart masterpiece, to have it ring throughout ones head for days and weeks afterwards. After listening to Don Giovanni on Dec. 21st, it is still going through my head. Then, Jan. 1st I added Marriage of Figaro to that internal music. When I go to sleep, I am hearing one of the arias. If I awaken in the middle of the night, I realize that the music has been running non-stop in my head. This is from a guy who is currently memorizing a piano program, with no music by Mozart. How can there be room for more?
Here are some quotes and thoughts by famous people, after hearing Marriage of Figaro performed in Vienna, with Mozart conducting....
[Nancy] Storace, the beautiful singer, enchanted eye, ear, and soul. – Mozart directed the orchestra, playing his fortepiano; the joy which this music causes is so far removed from all sensuality that one cannot speak of it. Where could words be found that are worthy to describe such joy?Okay, so this is why I usually do not write about music. If a famous poet can find no words to describe it, then how hopeless a task is it for me?
Joseph Haydn appreciated the opera greatly, writing to a friend that he heard it in his dreams.
My experience exactly!
Johannes Brahms said "In my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven."
I'm glad he said it first. All quotes are from the wiki on Figaro.
Franz Liszt loved the work so much that he wrote a fantasia on themes from Figaro and Don Giovanni. I could go on, but I think my point has been made. My life goes on, and there is much music being tossed about in my head.
Monday, January 1st/18
It's been a fun day around the Homestead. Being a full moon and a holiday, we turned things into an all-day party. It was too cold and too windy to even think about going outside (except twice for bird feeding). The underlying theme was Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." If there is a better way to begin a new calendar year, it has not yet been discovered. Also weaving their way into our day was fabulous vegan food, a home-baked apple pie, some reading, a perfect wood fire, and some writing. The writing consisted of my January astronomy article for the club newsletter. It still requires some editing, but it is done.
Last night also saw great food with a wood fire layed on. The cultural highlight was watching "It's A Gift," with W.C. Fields, quite likely one of the funniest movies ever made. It's a laugh-aloud riot of a movie, but all, like Mozart, told in a restrained and highly civilized manner. Mr. "Bissonay" is a very funny man!
This is a good time of year to look back and see what happened in 2017. Beginning with health issues, Deb continues to make exemplary progress with her RA, thanks to the two drugs she takes. One is taken weekly, and the other every two months. Progress has been made with her Fibromyalgia, too, as the worst of her neck pain is now much subdued. All that is left is the shoulder pain, caused by a bad case of tendonitis. This is quite common in both RA and Fibro. She has only been twice to physio, but resumes tomorrow. Fingers crossed. And me? No complaints...
Next come some musical highlights. Last year's Mozart festival at the DSO is still paying dividends. We are now focusing on the operas, and after that will come the piano concertos. Perfection can be tricky to find, but it is everywhere in Mozart's music. His operas are the highlight of humankind's achievements, though his style of writing is also at home in his concertos, symphonies, sacred music, and chamber works. But to really know and understand what perfection is, study his operas. We are also continuing the Britten and Brahms listening project. We are now at Op 43 of Britten, and Op 41 of Brahms. We will continue to enjoy listening to great music, especially if it continues to be such a savage winter.
Last year, due to the vagaries of weather, I performed two different piano programs. My concert of December 2016 had to be cancelled due to last winter's one and only snowstorm. The date was changed to mid-January 2017. After that program was performed I began work on the next program, and performed it in early September, just before heading to Vienna. The new (present) program began to be learned on our return in early October. So I guess I worked on three different programs last year! A good week of practice for me is 12 hours spread over six days. However, so many things come up to disturb my best intentions, including too many piano students. Usually by the time I am done teaching I have nothing left in me, so any more practicing is useless or worse. This year I have a record number of students. We'll see if that lasts. Come September I will get yet another pension, so will hardly need the teaching money to eat well. We'll see. Then there is Iaido (currently taking the winter off), and astronomy, when it is clear.
I managed to get my class count up to 70 in Iaido. I require 250 classes before I can test for 3rd degree black belt. Astronomy was a slow year, mostly due to weather issues. I managed 34 outings, not all of them highly successful. Hoping for much better skies in 2018!
2017 was a great travel year for us, with the highlight being our long overdue visit to Vienna. Seeing the paintings by Bruegel (and others) in the Kunsthistoriches was certainly a lifetime highlight, and an experience I would very much like to repeat. The city itself is very beautiful, and much of it is uncrowded and undiscovered by the mass of tourists who drop in for one to three days. Even the art museum was relatively uncrowded, due no doubt to a pretty steep entrance fee, and not allowing backpacks.
Our first trip of the year was in March, when we took Amtrak to Chicago. We stayed at a great hotel within walking distance of Union Station, and enjoyed two nights and two days in a very wintry city. In late April came yet another visit to our 2nd favourite world city, London. We continued our progress walking the Capital Ring and the London Loop, as well as exploring the area's pubs, cafes, and museums. On our day out from London we visited Leigh On Sea, with its nearby ruined castle overlooking the Thames Estuary.
After getting back from London we were soon off to Columbus, Ohio, where two of Deb's short films were screening. The event was also a large board game convention, and it was two days of paradise! It was also fun watching Deb's films with an audience. Deb had a great year with her movies, both in making several of them, and in having them screened across the world. She even won a few firsts!! Her new Alys movie is now uploaded and ready for prime time!
Next came the annual drive to Sudbury in July to visit family and help celebrate Dad's birthday. Sadly, we did not get out of the city this time, but next time we would love to do a backroad drive somewhere nearby, and possible climb a favourite hill at Lake Penage. Last year we made it to Lake Nipissing and Steve and Lynne's cottage.
Next came the Vienna visit, in late September. In November we spent two nights in a restored coaching inn in Marshall, MI. Deb went to Lindsay for two nights to visit her mom, also in November. We owe a lot of our freedom to travel to Theresa, our vet-tech pet sitter, who seems to be available almost every time we need her. She will likely be busy again this year.
Finally, I'll say some words about my SF reading project. Firstly, not all SF authors write only SF, so I have read many genres of fiction within this project. Last January I read #8 in the Avon/Equinox SF series. Omnivore, by Piers Anthony, was the first of a trilogy, and the first book I have read of his. I was totally hooked, not only finishing that series (Of Man and Manta), but reading two other series by him during the year. Next came my discovery of Eric Frank Russell, a writer I can no longer live without. He is an oldie but a goodie, and his Men, Martians, and Machines has to be one of the funniest, scariest, and most must read books I have come across in a goodly while. Deb read it too, and totally agrees. The man is a pure delight!
Chad Oliver was another amazing discovery. He was an anthropologist, and his novels and short stories are usually about first encounters between humans and aliens. Most of his books (there aren't many) are first class reading material, with a great background in science showing just beneath the surface. John Christopher came next, and I have now read 8 of his books, most recently The Little People, an odd but engrossing story about people 12" tall discovered in an old manor house in Ireland. He is a solid writer of adventure SF, usually using world wide catastrophe as his starting point, such as in his very fine novel No Blade of Grass. Christopher also has a way with developing characters, making us feel as if we know them personally by the time the story is over.
The biggest and best surprise of them all for me was discovering the author Edgar Pangborn, #12 in the Avon/Equinox series. His writing is superb, stylish, sometimes difficult, but always rewarding. Beginning with his incomparable A Mirror For Observers, I have now read 7 of his books. The one I am now reading is his 8th (Judgement of Eve). After this, there is only one more novel by him. Damn! He also wrote a very good historical novel, as well as a gripping courtroom drama. So, not much SF. But it is all amazing material to read, and then reread. In a year of discovering many great authors, he has been the best discovery of them all.
Then came Harry Harrison, Hugo Gernsbeck, Kenneth Bulmer, Jack Williamson, and E.C. Tubb. It is a fun project, and I am glad to say that it will go on and on and on... Though my official book count only happens in June, when I began this project in 2016, I can safely say that I read over 100 books this year.
In my next post (shorter, I promise!), I'll talk about some upcoming plans for 2018. In the meantime, wishing you a Happy New Year!
Mapman Mike
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