More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …
Last evening the moon was red when it rose. The higher it went, the clearer and whiter it became. The smoke was hugging the ground to the southeast but the sky was clear overhead This morning smoke is again wrapping us. Looking out my south window, I am unable to see across the meadow to Mt Eddy. It must be from the rather extensive fire in Igo west of Redding.
A cousin who lives in Chicago tells me the sunsets have been rather spectacular there due to smoke from California’s fires, and friends of Mark’s in Rochester, New York say the same … red-red sun and moon.
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Made a trip north with a friend last friday. We have each had extended contacts in Ashland and Medford, just not together. It was interesting as we talked and compared notes. There weren’t very many places which we shared and those we did share offered very different memories. She is 25 years younger than I. About the only things we share are that we are (in my case was) Registered Nurses and that we both now live on Hammond Ranch.
One interesting (there’s that word again) comparison was … there is a small local brewery only a block or two from the theatres in downtown Ashland where friends and I used to go for lunch pub style. She’d never been there. But there is another small local brewery just off the main Ashland exit on I-5 that she knew and I didn’t.
And speaking of breweries … although it wasn’t a brewery, there used to be a bar in downtown Mt Shasta which was granted a special license to open while they were getting ready for the day (beer only) for night nurses … night shift ended at 0730 in those days. Guess the takeaway is that a lot of nurses are beer drinkers.
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The maple is still turning red … slowly … but the catalpa is almost all yellow. On one of my trips out, I noticed the dogwoods are starting to turn also.
But temperatures are all over the place. Pressure areas over the north Pacific are erratic. Sometimes we have warmth off the Pacific. Other times we get the chill brought by the Jet Stream.
The result is lows in the 40s with highs in the 80s.
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Just last spring (before COVID) I got to see the new Met production of “Porgy and Bess” in HD. Spellbinding.
Then saturday morning I had Sirius playing in the background. It was the Buffalo Symphony’s orchestral version of the Porgy and Bess Suite under the baton (how’s that for a snooty phrase?) of Foletta.
As I only half listened, identifying each character with their music, it occurred to me that the Gershwins had created a real ensemble piece. No one character overshadows the others by having all the good arias. Neither “Summertime” nor “My Man’s Gone Now” are sung by Bess. Jake, Crown, Sportin’ Life, Robbins, and others share the men’s arias with Porgy. Even the street vendors have their own.
My only comment … Ira and George, your Mama must have been proud.
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Birds have been singing softer. People who know birds say it is most likely the smoke. This morning there is no birdsong at all.
There was morning noise however. Siku is let out of the house for his morning business about 6 and this morning he set up a serenade. The bear must have still been in the area.
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The international Spin Together begins next saturday. I’m as ready as I can be. Fiber is drafted (although I may do a bit more just to make sure I have enough ready), Matilda is oiled and standing by, all the bobbins have been checked (once I had a bobbin fall apart with an almost full batch … talk about a mess), and I have a timer to remind me to get up and stretch every hour or so.
Next week’s blog may be short but I’ll give you an update.
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And …
“At some of the darkest moments in my life, some people I thought of as friends deserted me – some because they cared about me and it hurt them to see me in pain; others because I reminded them of their own vulnerability, and that was more than they could handle. But real friends overcame their discomfort and came to sit with me. If they had not words to make me feel better, they sat in silence (much better than saying, “You’ll get over it,” or “It’s not so bad; others have it worse”) and I love them for it.” … Rabbi Harold Kushner
So, thank you for still being here and ‘til next week …