Round and Round We Go

Two ice storms inside of a week.  Winter, which began late (exactly on January 9th), has been pretty miserable for us since then.  Cold temps and a bit of snow don't bother me too much, coming from the background that I have.  But extremely cold temps combined with gale force winds tend to get under my skin, in more ways than one.  Luckily all the driving we had to do over the last month (mostly medical appts) went well.  We seem stuck in a weather loop:  cold, windy weather, followed by a warming, then moisture, usually either snow, sleet, rain, or a combination of all three and more.  Then it gets briefly mild.  Then the wind and cold air come again, and on it goes.  The wind is just beginning to die down from the umpteenth iteration of this pattern.  In the good old days, when you could predict weather a bit more without complex computer programs, our winter would begin to wind down by mid-February.  Let's hope it holds true for this year, though somehow I doubt it.

Last week my retina check up appointment was cancelled, because the power was out at the clinic.  I now go on February 27th.  As to my cataract surgery, it has now been over two weeks and everything is fine.  I can now lift things again, which is a relief.  And on February 28th I see my optometrist for reading glasses.  Last Saturday was the second performance class for my students.  For the November one I only had 2 show up.  Saturday I had 4.  That is a 100% improvement!  Next one will be in late May.  I am off the hook for a year-end student recital this year, due to my small number of students.

Continuing on with a brief look at some of the best paintings from the Detroit Institute of Arts, I would like to follow up with a second painting by Salvatore Rosa.  This self portrait is one of the most stunning, outside of Rembrandt, that I have ever seen.  The museum has a large number of artist self-portraits, including famous ones of Gauguin and Van Gogh, and even Whistler.  But this one is totally amazing!

 Salvatore Rosa, Self Portrait, ca. 1650s.  72 cm x 63 cm.  DIA.  I am beginning to 

look something like this, as our dreadful winter carries on.    

 Detail of above.  What a head of hair!

Rosa, by contemporary accounts, was not a nice man.  Things were done his way or not at all.  He had few friends, was somewhat of a recluse, and would have likely fit more comfortably with the art scene 200 years later.  The landscape by him that I showed last time has a pendant, a painting that was meant to hand with it.  It is in the National Gallery, London, and is also a very wonderful and romantic-era landscape.  It would certainly be fun to see an exhibit devoted to Rosa's art, and to see the pair of paintings side by side.

Over the weekend we watched an epic film by Kurosawa called "Red Beard."  Though it meanders sometimes, this is a wrenching tale of doctors working at a public clinic in Japan in the 1800s, as they try to reconcile traditional medicine with what they have learned from the Dutch.  Mifune is a wise elder doctor who holds the clinic together.  He request a new, young doctor, one trained in Dutch treatments and diagnosis, and the movie is really about the character development of the young doctor.  He arrives arrogant and wanting to get out no matter what, but as time goes on and he deals with the poor class of people who depend on the clinic, he learns much and gradually accepts his vocation.  When he gets a chance to leave,he refuses.  it's a very long movie, but we watched it all in one go without any trouble staying tuned in.  Fascinating stuff!

 Based on a Japanese novel, and also one by Dostoevsky.  A really great film!  

Mapman Mike

Paintings and Music

We have watched a number of art documentaries recently on Amazon Prime, hosted by Waldemar Januszczak, a British critic.  We have watched a 4-part series on the Renaissance, a 3-part series on the Rococo, and several  one-offs on individual artists, such as Holbein and Dobson.  We still have several more to watch, including ones on Manet and Gauguin.  We have also constantly visited great American art collections in Detroit, Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and many others, and have explored the paintings in London, UK, in great detail, as well as the Prado (several dozen visits over a summer spent in Madrid), and, most recently, two visits to Vienna, mainly to see works by Bruegel the Elder.  We hit the jackpot both times; in the fall of 2017 we saw the Vienna paintings, as well as a major loan exhibit of his works on paper at the Albertina; then, in the fall of 2018, a stunning and unprecedented exhibit of his paintings and graphic works.

The collection I know best, however, is the one housed in the Detroit Institute of Arts.  I just finished reading one of the many publications about that great art museum.  This one was called European Vistas, Cultural Landscapes, and discusses many of the great landscapes in the museum.  The DIA is where we really got our art education, and the Detroit Symphony and other musical organizations over there (we live just across the river from Detroit) gave us our music background.  I have heard virtually every major living pianist thanks to Detroit, some of them many times.

When I returned from the first visit to Vienna, I began showcasing some of my favourite paintings from Detroit here (look back to October or November 2017).  I am going to resume that feature, beginning today, and will try to put up a different picture each time I blog (time permitting).  So here is painting number one....

 The Finding of Moses, by Salvatore Rosa, ca. 1660-1665.

158 cm x 255 cm.  

This is a very large painting, and one of my very favourites!  It is one of the finest landscapes Rosa ever painted, and when you come across it in the gallery, you are struck by the drama of the sky, the rocks, and the trees.  The human action seems dwarfed by nature.

Detail of above.  The detail makes a complete painting, with the human actions now getting top billing.  However, even if this was the whole painting, it would still be considered a fabulous landscape!

 Detail of the right side.  Very much like a painting from the late 1800s.

 Detail of the top right side of the picture.  

What kind of artist could paint in such a Romantic style, but in Baroque times!  Next entry we will meet the man in person, as Detroit also has his self-portrait!

Speaking of concerts, we have six great ones coming up, March through May.  Four of them are at Orchestra Hall, featuring the DSO.  Among works we will be hearing are Mahler's 5th Symphony (for another blast of Austria), the Beethoven 4th Piano Concerto, performed by Helene Grimaud, whom I adore, Prokofiev Symphony #4, an all-Vivaldi concert, Brahms 4th Symphony, the incomparable Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (there is also a terrific solo piano version), and Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra.  We also have two chamber concerts in there, one of them Bartok and Haydn with the Julliard Quartet, in very intimate surroundings at Wayne State University (where I attended part time for 7 years to earn my M. Mus.), and next day to hear the Julliard again, performing a Beethoven quartet, and one by Dvorak.

And around the house we are continuing with the listening program of 104 Haydn Symphonies (our 2nd time around), the complete works of Brahms, the complete organ works of Buxtehude, the complete works of Britten, and the Mozart Piano Concertos and operas.  My own piano program is getting its final polish.  As soon as I can get some good reading glasses, I will announce a date.  And of course Deb continues to win awards and fans, this time with her web series featuring Yorick the Skull!  I get to reprise my role as Hamlet (a TV host).  In fact, my bit part as Hamlet was in a movie of Deb's that showed in Stratford Upon Avon, England.  So I can now say, with authority, that I have played Hamlet in Stratford, England!!

Mapman Mike

One Week Eye Check-up

Time passes quickly.  Already 7 days since my eye surgery.  Dr. Emara does surgery every Tuesday, so for the one-week office check-up an optometrist does the job.  She had a good look.  My eye pressure is down to 21 from 26 the day after surgery, which is quite good, and she said that the lens is sitting perfectly.  All is well!  I have to avoid lifting 20+ lbs for another week.  On March 7th I see my own optometrist for a final check up, and I can get an updated reading glasses prescription.  It's a bit tricky practicing piano now, but luckily I can play most of the music with eyes closed by now.

On Friday I go for Part 1 of my two-part annual retina check up, with a different eye specialist.  Part 2 is two weeks later.  Lots of eye stuff going on these days.  In the meantime, Deb is awaiting her new eye glasses, as well as an appointment for her MRI on her damaged shoulder.  It's been a busy month of appointments, but so far we have not had any weather-related driving problems.  And we have had three snow storms in there, too.  Tonight freezing rain is predicted through rush hour tomorrow.  Luckily we have no driving planned; not till Friday, when it begins to turn really cold again.  It's been one of the more unusual winters, and there is still a ways to go.

This week is double lesson week.  Regular piano lessons tomorrow, and then a group lesson on Saturday.  That will mark the halfway point for this school year's teaching.  So far I have had no new students, and can still easily complete all of my schedule on Wednesdays.

We are up to Symphony #57 with Monsieur Haydn!  Each of his symphonies is completely unique, and one can hear his skills building through each and every work.  We are also continuing with the Britten and Brahms cycle, too, and the complete Mozart Piano Concertos and operas.  Lots of good sounds around here.  I found out today that the complete cycle of Beethoven String Quarters will be performed in Detroit over six days in June.  The ticket costs are reasonable, but it means six trips to a far Detroit suburb, six days in a row.  I have a feeling it isn't going to happen.

Mapman Mike

Surviving a Harsh Winter

Surviving a harsh winter is quite easy.  In fact, there are only two requirements.

1)  Be a cat.

2)  Live with the Ethiers 

 Gustav and Mogollon survive the polar vortex.  Barely.

Gustav seeks out some supplemental warmth.  

Anyway, it's all over for now.  It's sunny and mild today, and we went for our first walk in well over a week.  The snow is melting and it's pretty wet everywhere.  But it feels lovely.

Yesterday was Imbolg, and our Brigid doll is out on the mantelpiece, encouraging Spring to hurry along.  Usually for us at this time it is still deep winter, and we postpone our celebration until mid-February, when the thaw often arrives.  Since it is now virtually impossible to predict climate anymore, we celebrated yesterday because the temperature rose slightly above freezing.  A real wood fire, some great music, food, and looking at art on-line, made for a wonderful afternoon and evening.

Brigid catches some sunlight atop our mantel.  She will be put away when

we are certain that Spring is just around the corner.  This year the thaw 

arrived the same day she came out of her box. 

  

My reading eyes have changed, as I knew they would.  I can no longer see anything close up with either eye.  My reading glasses seem to still work, but my piano playing and computer glasses are no longer effective.  It will be at least a month until I am allowed to visit my optometrist for a new prescription.  In the meantime I will try some drug store reading glasses.  My distance vision has never been better, however!  I am anxious to try the new right eye lens at the telescope eyepiece.  Later this week, if it is clear.

Mapman Mike

Post Surgery Life

Two days after cataract surgery it's as if nothing ever happened, other than it's a lot brighter around here.  I began reading again today, and resumed piano practice.  For the third day in a row we are out in bitter cold and wind, this time for Deb's eye checkup.  About two minutes is the length of time one can remain outside; after that, you are approaching shock.  We have had no mail delivery for two days now, due to the cold.  Deb's new glasses will be ready in about two weeks.  That takes care of this week's appointments.  Next week I return to my eye surgeon for a final check up, and I go for my annual retina check up (part 1 of 2) with a retina specialist.  So it continues.

Usually before and after cataract surgery three kinds of eye drops are required, and must be taken for just over one month.  My doctor has been pioneering dropless surgery, and I took him up on his offer.  It cost $200, but is worth every penny, in my opinion.  He uses a tiny syringe (not a needle), and while the incision is still open, and after he has removed the old lens and put in the new plastic one, he squeezes in 2 ccs of drops.  Done!  So far, so good.  I have invited the good doctor and his family out to the observatory when it warms up a bit, and he seems keen to come out.  He knows that I bought higher grade lenses because of my hobby.

I have started reading my 2nd novel by J.G. Ballard, one of the authors in the Avon/Equinox rediscovery Series.  This one is called The Drowned World, and was one of three he wrote with different end-of-the-world scenarios.  The first one I read (part of the Rediscovery series) was The Crystal World, and I really really really like it.  None of the catastrophes in these two books was caused by humans; rather, something out there caused it.  While his plot lines are rather well-tread, the characters and situations are totally unique, and are what make his writing so fascinating.  Deb began by reading aloud to me on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I am off on my own again now.  I am also nearly finished reading the Bruegel catalogue from Vienna, Part 1.  Part 2 was a download of 5 illustrated essays, published only on-line so far for catalogue owners.  The exhibit was a mammoth scholarly undertaking.

We are three days into the latest polar vortex, with about 24 hours more to go.  Saturday brings relief, with perfect timing for our Imbolg/Brigid Festival.  So far the 50 year old boiler has been doing a fantastic job!  I am looking forward to resuming the walking program, which has been at a standstill due to certain weather issues.  With January now over, it's nearly time to think of better things than winter.  Yesterday, we were not only colder than Antarctica, but colder than Sudbury, a very rare event!  However, they are so buried in snow that it is nearly unimaginable.  Steve chatted with me yesterday.  They have metres of the stuff piled high.  And they are welcome to it.

Mapman Mike

 

The Polar Vortex

Words to strike fear into anyone that has to work outside.  The winds come directly from the north pole, come swishing down through Manitoba, pass just west of Lake Michigan, turn the corner in Chicago, and head straight for Detroit and Windsor.  I've been listening to the roar of the wind since yesterday.  Windsor broke its all-time cold temperature record this morning, and will break it again Thursday.  The temp never rose above -20C today.  Combined with a 60 kph wind, it feels like -35 C.  Of course we had to be outside today at 7:30 am, heading to my follow-up appt. for yesterday's eye surgery.  Deb had to do the driving, until Dr. Emara (the very best!!) cleared me for driving.  The surgery and follow-up both went well, and I am well on my way to a full recovery, with perfect distance vision in both eyes to look forward to (and much more vibrant and rich colours, too).  I have no discomfort, and even though I was awake for the entire procedure (about 12 minutes), I felt nothing.

In the meantime, even with the boiler running full-time, we can barely keep the house temperature averaging about 67 F, or 19.5 C.  Some rooms are warmer, the ones away from the wind.  Some are colder.  Of course we have to go outside again tomorrow, a day that promises to be as cold or colder than today.  Deb has her check-up with her optometrist, and she is hoping to get new glasses.  It is suppose to warm up to near 0 C by Saturday.  We are both really looking forward to that!!!

I can't really read just now, so Deb is reading to me when she has time.  My latest book is The Drowning World, by J.G. Ballard.

Mapman Mike

Colder Than Cold Vs Brexit

As cold and windy as it is, it will be much worse in less than a week.  It's unbelievable how cold it has been, is now, and will be for at least two more weeks.  Following upon last winter, which is among the 3 worst winters I have ever experienced during my life in Windsor, it is hard to fathom why all this Arctic air is finding its way to us.  The lakes are supposed to be a buffer for us against such severe cold, but that theory seems flawed, at best.  The two horrible winters were sandwiched by one of the warmest summers ever, with more 90+ temps than ever before.  One would think, if logic applied, that cold winters would be sandwiched by a cool summer.  At least we would get some relief.  But no.  Very bad, extremely cold winter followed by very bad, extremely hot summer.  And here we go again.  Of course a major snowstorm is predicted now for Monday and overnight.  I will be unable to shovel Tuesday morning.  I have to fast from midnight Monday until after my surgery, so I won't be oustside Tuesday morning doing strenuous excercise with no food or water forthcoming.  My surgery will likely be around 2 or 3 pm.  Bad times ahead.  And then the really, really, really cold air comes.  As cold as it gets in Winnipeg, or Edmonton, or Sudbury.  Unbelievable, really.

However, as bad as things seem here, consider the people of Britain, with only a few weeks to go until a hard Brexit could hit them.  This, from today's Guardian:

The government has a running list of “reasonable worst-case scenarios”, which is constantly being amended and updated. Earlier this month it included a gamut of serious concerns.
According to an internal document seen by the Guardian, these included:

• A reduction in certain fresh foods and increases in prices, with people on low incomes disproportionately affected.
• Price rises across utilities and services including fuel.
• Private companies “cashing in” because they will put commercial considerations first.
• Police forces being stretched by the likelihood of protests and counter-protests, along with an increase in public disorder.
• Restocking of medicines becoming problematic after the first six weeks.
• Disruption of supplies to vets, which could “impact the UK’s ability to prevent and control disease outbreaks” among animals.
• A significant reduction in the flow of goods through Dover and Eurotunnel to as low as 13% of current capacity on the day of Brexit.  
  
  Hmmn.   I think I'll take the cold and snow, thank you....
  Mapman Mike