We are both mostly over our bout with the flu. Even though it was a mild version, it still gave us a few uncomfortable days. However, we both fought it off and are feeling much better. If I ever want to be reminded how physically and emotionally difficult it is to practice piano for 2 hours a day, then I must try doing it when I am under the weather. While I did manage to practice all days except for one, it took a lot out of me.
February weather has been extremely varied, with the first 13 days being very cold and snowy, and the final 15 days being very mild. Who knows what March has in store, though more cold weather is predicted for this weekend, along with another snowstorm. We might get mostly rain, but some snow is inevitable. As usual, our county is along the border of the warmer weather and the colder, so it's hard to say what may happen here. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Listening to music is continuing, even after two busy nights of teaching. We've made it to Haydn Symphony #5, Mozart Piano Concerto # 8, and the Op. 46s of Brahms and Britten. We are also making great progress in Longest Journey, an old game we are replaying on the PC. It is one of the funnier games to play. Watching an evil wizard win a hopscotch contest, win a spelling bee, and then fail miserably at simple arithmetic has been a lot of fun. We are continuing to try and save not just one world, but two. We will eventually succeed!
Saturday, Feb 25th/18
For the past two days I've been fighting off a mild flu bug. Tight head, aches and pains, and a slight fever. Still a good appetite, and I've been reading a lot, listening to music, and watching some streaming. Deb is now trying to fight off whatever I had, which I likely picked up from one of Tuesday darling students. I am feeling better now--we'll see how her immune system copes.
I listened to the Brahms German Requiem tonight, for the simple fact that it was next on my list to hear as I march my way through the complete works of Brahms. It is a very moving piece of music, and though it uses short quotes from the Bible, it is not really a religious piece. However, I had 75 minutes lying on the couch to contemplate death, and those that I have known and loved and no longer have with me. Sadly, some of those include former students, killed way before their time, and close relatives. And I can't forget the many critters that have shared our lives, giving us much happiness, comfort, and amusement. The piece is in 7 movements, and need not be heard in its complete form--certain parts work well as individual works for chorus and orchestra. I'm certain to return to it from time to time.
Yesterday I resumed the Haydn Symphony project, one that I have left alone for too long now. It was time for the earliest works, and we heard #s 1 & 2. After that we listened to Mozart Piano Concerto #6, as we make our way through those masterpieces. Next up will be another piece by Britten. And I still have well over 100 records in the basement that I have yet to play. The new turntable is fantastic, as is the new Yamaha stereo system. Our component cassette player also works perfectly with it. And for tax purposes, it's all a business expense. Next up will be a new CD stand. Right now CDs are scattered in five different places. This will put everything in one place, and there will also be room for my PC games collection and many of our DVDs.
Usually I read about 10 books per month, most of them related to my Avon/Equinox SF project. However, this month the number of books will be greatly reduced, thanks to a 677 page volume of short stories that took a long time to read and review, followed by a 480 page epic in Silverberg's Majipoor series. I am currently reading a book of 275 pages, still long, but a bit closer to normal. So my February count may seem like I haven't been reading as much, but I have. Honest!
We just finished Emerald City, watching it on Amazon Prime. We are giving it mixed reviews for unusual levels (by our standards) of violence, sadism, and emotional abuse (but at least there are no bare titties on display). Also, the story tries to deal with far too many characters, none of whom are very appealing. Glinda and the Wizard are the worst (by the way, why is he called Wizard, if he is trying to abolish magic and allow science to rule the city? Shouldn't he be called Dr.?). Dorothy quickly becomes very tiresome (and she has a very annoying habit of mumbling many of her lines), Jack gets cut to ribbons, and the Wizard lives way too long. Toto remains a good character, at least, as does the dark Witch of the West (she is always amazing!). The best parts are the special effects, the look of the cities, palaces, and various rooms, along with the wardrobe worn by the characters. Though nothing seems in the works for a sequel, I would not be surprised to at least see a TV movie special in the next little while. There are certainly some unresolved issues back in Oz.
I talked to Mom for awhile tonight (Hi Mom!). She is just getting over a very nasty cold, lasting two weeks. Ugh. Other than that, all is well in the Great White North. Though it's even better here--our snowdrops are ready to come out any day now!!
Thursday, Feb. 22nd/18
Two weeks of teaching done, two more to go till my next week off. I like how I have arranged my teaching schedule, giving me lots of breaks during the year when combined with the normal school breaks. One adult seems to have dropped out, and another one barely comes, so in effect I have 14 active students. Speaking of piano lessons, I finally got together with Philip Adamson yesterday for a lesson. Some of the changes he proposes are quite jarring, as I have been doing things for so long a certain way it is hard to change. I really need to see him earlier on in my studies of new pieces, rather than waiting until they are "ready." I think I will hold off on further lessons until I begin work on my next program (mid-April). Still, it was very helpful to actually have someone so knowledgeable to play for. It reaffirms my position that I do not play well in front of people who are knowledgeable.
We are now 8 episodes into Emerald City. I'm always amazed at how much violence can be shown on TV, but never a bare breast or buttock. We all know that watching violence is not harmful to our youth, but that if they ever saw a bare breast it might mean the end of their little lives. Such a sad world. Anyway, the series continues to be visually stunning, though the writing has been failing for some time now. There are no good people in this story that have any power. It's all in the hands of people who wish to do harm. My favourite characters are Jack, the mechanical boy, and the darker witch, Glinda's sister. I have little sympathy for other characters, including Dorothy, who seems to think it's all about her.
From Tuesday evening until Thursday morning we had 2.1" of rain. This in itself is bad news, but considering how deep the snow was just before the rain, it's turned into a bit of a disaster for many people. More rain and ice are expected overnight, then more rain tomorrow and Saturday. Then it becomes sunny and nights will be clear (as we approach full moon, of course).
We have no deep plans for the weekend. There are two symphony concerts we should attend, and I really need to get to John King Books again, but we will likely remain close to home. Perhaps I'll get an Amazon SF book order ready. Some gaming, some piano, some writing, and some listening are definitely on tap, at the very least. and we hope to resume regular walking this weekend.
Monday, Feb. 19th/18
What a difference one week makes! Last Monday the temp reached the mid 20s, we were awash in snow, and we went snowshoeing. Today it is raining, foggy, the temp is in the 50s, and most of the snow is gone, except for patches where the sun doesn't shine. It's been a very strange season this year. We ended up having 4 lingering sessions of polar vortex weather, where the temp never approached 32 F, or 0 C. The first one in mid-December lasted 7 days. The second, straddling late Dec. and early January, lasted an incredible 16 days. Then came another 7 day ordeal, followed by a final one of 9 days. In between we had very brief thaws. Then came a solid week of snow in early February. In that one week we received 17" of snow (42 cm!). I ended up shovelling six days of seven that week.
I finally selected a weekend for my recital. The ideal weekend turned out to be Easter, so I had to throw that one away. There is a full moon near there that would have worked out perfectly with my astronomy session. So the following weekend will have to do, right at the start of astronomy season. Friday April 6th and Saturday April 7th are the dates, at 7 pm. Program to include works by Bach, Haydn, two female Canadian composers (astronomy themed works), Mendelssohn, and Liszt. Though some of the pieces are quite small and intimate, overall it is an ambitious program. I'm still hoping to get together with Philip A. for a few lessons.
Saturday, Feb. 17th/18
I did something last night that I haven't done since November 8th. It was perfectly clear, and not too cold (+28 F.), so I set up the 12" scope on the back deck and enjoyed a two hour observing session. The scope was perfectly collimated, and the seeing was splendid, meaning that I was splitting doubles and triples better than a 6" or 7" refractor (that is very good, indeed!!). All in all it was a really fun evening.
Comparing weather from last week to this, I noticed that I shovelled 6 days of 7 last week, with some days requiring multiple efforts. And that even included a visit from Marc with his snowplow. This week, I haven't had to shovel once. And walking has resumed. We have managed to get above the freezing mark every day since last Wednesday, and Tuesday it might reach 60 F, with thunderstorms. Such interesting times in which we live.
Thursday, Feb. 15/18
Brigid by candlelight. She is one powerful figure!
My teaching is done for the week. 14 of 16 students showed up. All children received a Valentine's Day cupcake (after their lesson). I received payment for 10 lessons. Seems fair to me. We were supposed to enjoy a wood fire last night, but it was too warm! Instead we enjoyed lasagna, and then hot chocolate (the real thing, containing only melted dark chocolate and some almond milk, whipped up). We also listened to some music. We have invested in a new and better stereo system. It was quite inexpensive, and it is tiny. Similar to a Bose system, it is made by Yamaha, half the price, and if on-line reviews mean anything, blows the Bose sound right out of the water! We are still fiddling with it, but so far we are very happy with the sound we are getting. We also bought a new turntable, and will hook it up this weekend.
Speaking of listening to music, the Brahms and Britten projects are still moving forward. We are up to Op. 45 with both composers. In addition we have added the Mozart operas, and his piano concertos. And I am nearly through with Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words for piano. Her wrote 8 sets of 6, and many of them are beautiful pieces. I have learned several of them, and will be performing three of them at my next recital in March. We are also listening to the complete organ works of Buxtehude (on vinyl), as well as concertos by Locatelli. We also now receive local FM stations perfectly (not so with the old system), and as it is blue tooth technology we now have access to Internet radio with high quality sound. Photos to come once the system is fully set up.
Monday, Feb. 12th/18
It has been so long since we have snowshoed. It was a perfect winter day for it, too. Sunny and bright, temp about -4 C, or mid 20s F. We went to Cedar Creek Conservation Area, and had the woods all to ourselves. It was very still and quiet, except for the crunching of our shoes. The snow had a light crust on it from the freezing rain, but it was alright for snowshoeing. The creek was frozen over, but we stayed in the woods. Even after one day there lots of footy prints everywhere; squirrel, rabbit, and deer mostly. Sadly, this is likely our only outing. We are expecting mild temps and even some rain by Wed. and Thursday. The outing took a lot out of us, and we are pretty subdued tonight at home.
It was a lovely day to be in the woods. This is Cedar Creek Conservation Area.
A well-dressed female snowshoer. Cedar Creek in behind, quite frozen over.
A rugged and outdoorsy Canadian male.
The beautiful Harrow Farmers' Co-op. They also have a very good store, and we bought some locally roasted coffee, a Southwest design pillow for the living room couch, and a lithography by A.J. Casson, one of the Canadian Group of Seven artists. The litho shows a heron in flight along a densely wooded creek, in summer. It will hang on our main wall periodically.
Winter sunset, from the Homestead front window.
Sunday, Feb. 11th/18
Most of the shovelling got finished up this afternoon. Needless to say we did not get to Detroit for our Saint-Saens concert. We awoke to more snow, and then several hours of freezing rain. There was only 2" of new snow on the driveway, but it was very heavy stuff, and covered in ice. The snowplow left us a really big mess at the foot of the driveway, too. That's the heaviest of all. Two more days of Winter (unofficially), and then Spring begins to arrive.
Our Spring Goddess, Brigid (or Persephone, if you prefer), has been out on the mantelpiece since Candlemas. Her job is to see that Spring is in motion by mid-February. And it seems as if she will hit it right on the nose this year. By Wednesday we should be above freezing (first time in 9 days), and it will mostly stay above.
Our Brigid figure, doing her utmost to hurry Spring along. She appears to be succeeding, despite Winter's nastiest efforts so far this season. She is in front of my great aunt's painting.
Tomorrow is snowshoe day! We are heading out around noon, after I clean off the vehicle, trim the driveway a bit more with a shovel, and practice piano. I had to skip practice today due to very strained upper arm muscles. If we are successful there will be photos posted tomorrow.
Teaching resumes this week. Notices have gone out to everyone regarding Semester 3 dates, along with the fee schedule. 16 students expected. We'll see how many show up.
Saturday, Feb. 10th/18
By popular request, here are a few scenes from the Homestead today. We got another inch of snow, with more coming tonight and tomorrow. Mid-February is usually the beginning of the end of winter, and this year will be no exception. We are scheduled to be mostly above freezing (daytime only, of course), after the 13th. Looking forward to it!
From inside the garage and looking out.
View of the front of the house. Note the snow cone on the sundial, giving a good indication of how much snow we received yesterday. The thick snow on the roof is a good sign that our attic insulation is working well at keeping heat inside. Now the snow on the roof gives an added layer of insulation, helping keep us snug. Also note the icicle display!
This is our table on the back deck, with a chair leaning up against it. Again, a good indication of the snow amount received during our biggest snowfall of the season.
Friday. Feb. 9th/18
The good news is that there is now enough snow to snowshoe, and then some. The bad news is that there is now enough snow to shoeshoe--and then some. It's been snowing now for 18 hours, and it's piling up pretty good around the old Homestead. If we can unbury the Tiguan tomorrow, we may set out for a nearby forest and try to snowshoe. Mark, the dad of a former student, has come by with his snowplow and cleared most of our area, but by tomorrow I will have to shovel yet again. Sort of an on-going hobby lately, one of which I am growing tired. In addition to Wednesday's 4", we have received another 8" so far. Stay tuned for weather updates....
Last night we attended our first formal concert of the year, an all-Ravel program in Detroit. The full orchestra (about 90 musicians last night) was in top form for some virtuosic performances. And then there was the pianist, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, who performed not one Ravel piano concerto, but two! He played the jazzy G+ before intermission, and the Concerto For Left Hand right after it. Zounds! What a great concert!! I got to speak with him briefly after the concert. He is such an energetic and charismatic man, with one of the most enviable discographies I have ever encountered. I will be buying some of his recent Haydn CDs, at the very least. This Sunday afternoon is an all Saint-Saens concert with the orchestra, and another guest pianist (Concerto #2). I'm really hoping that Detroit has cleaned up the snow enough for us to travel there by then.
We finished watching first season of Elementary (24 fabulous episodes), and Peter Gunn (37 episodes). We are taking a break before watching the next season of each. We are looking forward to Mozart In The City, Season 4. In the meantime we are watching a very dark 10-part Oz series called Emerald City, from 2017. Rated 16+, after two episodes it is showing great promise. The sets, costumes, and landscapes are spectacular, and the acting has been superb so far. Fingers crossed.
I have seen a lot of growth in my piano pieces in just the past week. By early next week I hope to set a concert date. I've rescheduled a lesson with Philip on the 20th.
We've also managed some gaming this week, playing Tokaido, Middle Earth The Wizards, and Akrotiri. It's so nice not having to teach. However, with so many trips coming up this year (London, NM, Vienna), I must continue until I can take it no longer. Hopefully another few years....
Wednesday, Feb. 7th/18
We awoke to nearly 5" on new snow in the 'Burg. It was very light and fluffy, but there was a lot of it. Yet again things are mostly cleaned up, except for one large parking area. Luckily it is a non-teaching week. Of course I had to take a rain check on my piano lesson in Windsor. Most roads were okay by afternoon, but my arms were still stiff and sore from shovelling. And now we are expecting the Big One, beginning around 2 am Friday morning and continuing all that day and into the evening. So far in February we have had about 12" of new snow, and we are about to get 8" or 9" more.
We are still hoping to get over to Detroit tomorrow evening to attend the all-Ravel concert, including the two piano concerti. Been looking forward to that one for awhile now. We will be home a few hours before the expected storm. And another concert there on Sunday--we'll have to see about that one. Typically it takes Detroit several days to clean up after a big storm.
We've been doing a bit of gaming this week, including a game of Tokaido, and tonight we played Middle Earth: The Wizards. Nice to have the extra three nights a week off. Once I resume Iaido, I only have two evenings to myself per week. By the looks of this winter, I will not be resuming Iaido anytime soon.
Tuesday, Feb. 6th/18
You know it's a bad winter when the daytime high is -6 C and you think that's pretty good! Lately we have been getting snow nearly every day, and that will continue well into the weekend. We might even be able to snowshoe this coming weekend. My piano lesson with Philip tomorrow in Windsor is in jeopardy due to the next snowy system, coming in very early Wed. morning.
Today was Deb's infusion day. It was bright and sunny, so we had no travel difficulties. She has been feeling pretty good lately, too. We have not heard once from Deb's sister regarding Blake's recovery. We assume that no news is good news, in this case at least.
Deb has three showings this weekend of two of her films. Friday and Saturday "Bolt From the Blue" is showing in Massachusetts, and on Sunday her coffee short is showing in California. She is hard at work at her newest film, a Shakespeare short. I've now lost count of how many films she has made, and she has had perhaps 30-40 showings around the world. We're hoping she gets selected for Origins Festival again in Columbus, Ohio, as that one is close enough to attend, something we did last year.
Sunday, Feb. 4th/18
I have finished the 19th book of the Avon/Equinox Series, which has led me to read 193 books so far by 17 different authors, many of which I had never before heard of. I took a lot of the work on this project on faith, hoping that at least some of the stories would be readable, and some of the authors worth investigating a bit deeper than one single book. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised. The most recent author added to my roster is Rex Gordon, a British SF writer, as well as author of other types of fiction. So before I can read Book #20 in the series, I go through the list of authors and read one book by each of them. I am gradually finishing up with some authors, as new ones are added. Gordon wasn't overly prolific, leaving behind six SF novels and 6 other novels. The book I just read by him is called First On Mars, and was the obvious inspiration for Andy Weir's much more up to date version of this story. My review is up at the Avon/Equinox blog. I am currently reading one of my few remaining books by P.J. Farmer, the very first author I came into contact with as a result of taking on this project. He is still one of the best, Riverworld notwithstanding.
If you take away the worst of the polar vortexes to hit us this year (we are now well into our 4th), that event that lasted 16 days with temperatures so far below average that it seemed to put us into a different Earth climate zone, then we are still having a harsh winter. There has been a lot of snow, but only a bit at a time, and never enough for good snow shoeing. We need about a 10" base for that. We get snow (like today), but then it goes away. Then it returns. Then it goes away....now it's back. If you do include the worst of the polar vortexes, then it has been a dreadful season. Luckily we have no hiking planned for the upcoming March Break, as we would not have enough time to work ourselves up for hiking in the mountains. Next March we hope to return to the desert. The Southwest US is having a much warmer and drier year than normal. There is virtually no snow pack in NM, making it a very bad and very early start to fire season. Usually by now there are meters of snow in higher elevations, but not this year. Silver City, a mountain town and a favourite place of ours, is having daytime highs in the mid 60s. It should be in the mid 30s.
Action at the bird and squirrel feeding station #1 today, after some fresh snow.
Piano practice continues to go well. The program is entirely memorized (32 pages!), and I will be playing it Wednesday for Philip Adamson at his home. I doubt we'll get through the whole thing in one lesson. And concert season begins in earnest Thursday evening (I don't teach this week--huzzah!!). We have two DSO concerts scheduled. Thursday is an all-Ravel program, including both piano concerti, and Sunday afternoon is an all-Saint-Saens program, including his 2nd piano concerto. Hoping the weather is good. Had the concert been today, we would have been stuck at home.
Thursday, Feb. 1st/18
It's my week off from teaching, and it got off to an early start. My three Thursday students had to cancel, so I am off till Feb. 13th. That is also the day I see my retina specialist, for a checkup. We are due for a return of winter, with temps staying well below average until mid February. So far this winter we have had three nasty cold weather periods, lasting 7, 16, and 7 days respectively. We are now getting one to last for 14 days, at least. We are over the worst as far as averages and norms go, but of course in our geographical area that means nothing. I spent a lot of time and energy shovelling snow on Tuesday, only because it was a busy teaching day. Any snow that falls over the next ten days won't be going anywhere from my shovel.
Deb had been having good success with her shoulder, but then she pulled a muscle in her back. So she is in pain again, and frustrated because she had been making good progress. Her range of motion had improved greatly, and her pain had really faded. Hard to say how long her setback will be, but likely a few days.
Deb's nephew Blake had a recent heart attack. He is 43. He was in Sudbury hospital recently and had an angioplasty operation. Hopefully everything will be well for him. We'll know more in a few days.
I am looking forward to a week of practice, lots of reading, some NM map work, and mostly staying home and trying to keep warm. Tomorrow is Candlemas, and we will be celebrating the fact that we are halfway between Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox. Wood fire, new Tarot cards, and lots of good eats.
We finally have a lot of concerts coming up in Detroit. It's been a quiet autumn and winter so far for us. I will talk about them in my next post. Good night.
