Summer Tiny Concert Series: It's A Wrap!

 

 

 

The Summer Tiny Concert Series.  Hmmm. The reason I started doing Tiny Deck Concerts last year was to get my violin playing out of Emily's and my studios and into the Universe.  At all. Even if only the trees would hear it.  I have a fundamental internal conflict with performance of ANY type, and even sneaky ephemeral Tiny Concerts with an invisible audience make me break into a sweat.  You can see the incongruity.  Music is meant to be heard.  Sure, Emily counts, I count, and Ron counts, though he's an inadvertent audience.  But why play music that basically no one hears?  Tiny Concerts were my solution to getting the music out in the universe BUT without being seen.  That's nutty, isn't it?  You bet.   

When Covid struck, even Emily as an audience was put on hold.   I had seen videos of people playing music from their balconies during Covid shutdowns, and I imagined I could do my small part.  I decided not only to continue the Tiny Concerts but to expand them to all of my instruments.  But still in the sneaky way.  Spontaneously, when I was ready.  That's what I did.  I'm pleased that I played them at all, and the playing was the best I could do at the time. 

GENERAL COMMENTS

Boy, was I overly ambitious in scope!  The Concert Season was May-October.  My initial plan was to play one piano concert per month for a total of six concerts, and alternate violin and flute weekly for a total of twenty-four concerts.  HAHAHAHA!  I ended up playing four piano concerts, nine flute concerts and six violin concerts.  Respectable, yes, but also humbly realistic!  The consistent issue was having performance-ready repertoire.  On each instrument, it took longer than I anticipated to have pieces ready to my satisfaction.  Practice, and lots of it, was necessary.

BY INSTRUMENT

Though the repertoire I chose for flute concerts was familiar, it has been quite a number of years since I've played so nothing was at my fingertips.  I also chose to play quite a few of the concerts as duets with myself, recording the second part then playing first part with my recorded self.  When Sally and I played duets I always played first part, so I had to learn the second parts from scratch.  The nine concerts I played were realistic for the constraints, and I was satisfied with their readiness.  What pleased me most about flute concerts was what a BLAST it was to record one part, then play with my recorded self!

I planned to play piano concerts with the doors and windows around the piano open, since I can't take the piano outside 😏.  In the summer, however, we open the house in the mornings to capture the cool morning air, then close it up.  The house does a mighty fine job of staying cool until evening.  Music is an afternoon pursuit in my schedule.  During the long, hot summer we had this year, there was no way I was going to open the doors and windows in the heat of the afternoon and let our cool air escape, even for the Tiniest of Concerts!   The four concerts I played were realistic for the constraints, and I was satisfied with their readiness.  What pleased me most about piano concerts was that it was an opportunity to play the Hymns I had prepared in anticipation of playing with my Uncle Dwane. 

I chose to experiment with several different violin combinations this year.  I played Suzuki pieces accompanied by the CD that's provided.  I played one Suzuki piece accompanied by myself on piano.  I played fiddle tunes with a CD that's provided.  My most ambitious attempt, and biggest bungle, was to play a violin duet with my recorded self, also accompanied by my recorded self on piano.  YOWZA.  How many ways can we say OUT OF TUNE?  Being in tune with myself at all is a challenge, then to play out of tune with my recorded self playing out of tune, and all of it out of tune with the piano....dogs were howling!!!!   Nevertheless, the six concerts I played were realistic for the constraints, and as good as I could do at the time.  What pleased me most about the violin concerts was doing them at all!  Violin is the instrument I'm least comfortable playing, even to an invisible audience.  

Well, friends, this Wrap is the final Wrap for my Spring, Summer and Fall challenges.  They were well met and enormously enjoyed.  November 1, (that's tomorrow already!) starts my Winter schedule, and do I ever have some plans!  You know I'll share!  

"There must be a beginning of any great matter,

 but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished

 yields the true glory."    

                                                            -------Francis Drake

F³: It's A Wrap!

 

The Fall Four Fours Running Series is complete as of today.  What a fun series it was!  The weather was great, the runs were great, I felt great. These runs were all the same route on the same road.  Ron came along on a few of them, took my picture, then did his ramble with the dogs. 

 

Run 1

 

 

 Run 2

 

 Run 3

 

Run 4

 

 Wait, wasn't this the Fall FOUR Fours?

  

Run 5

Well, guess it's now the Fall FIVE fours! 

Wait again!  Another 5th run???

No, it's

 Run 6! 

Yep, the Fall Four Fours became the Fall Six Fours, messing up my alliteration!  But after I finished the 4th run, the next week opened up, the weather was great.  Why not?  I ran a 5th run.  Today opened up, the weather was a bit more nippy, but why not?   I was good for the 6th and final run. 

 

 SHOULD

WOULD

COULD

DID!

                             ----SameeraRana 

 

 

  

Fall Color Staycation: It's A Wrap!

 

 

 

 

 Our Fall Color Staycation was three days of color over the past two weeks.  Color doesn't last long, and when friends across the street said they'd been on the Hart Prairie Road loop and there was color, our Staycation started the next day. Join me on our first day!

 A few days later, we went to Lockett Meadow.  Thinking a weekday would be less crowded, we were wrong.  The road to the Meadow is narrow and dusty, and there were enough cars ahead of us that I ended up using my Covid face mask for dust!  We arrived about 9:30, and there were already lots of people.  We hiked a trail less traveled, and found what we came for.  Come along!

 

Jasmine used a rock to get closer to the squirrel she was trying to bark down out of its tree!

 

The final day was a hike on the AZT from Snow Bowl.  Join me for a longer hike; it's worth it!

If I get a hankering for a little more color, our yard doesn't disappoint either!

                                                            “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

                                                                                                                       – L.M. Montgomery

October is Transition Time

 

 

October, earning its position in the fall season, is a month of transition.  Temperatures are cooler.   Daylight is notably shorter at both ends.  Change is in the air!

  AUTUMNAL TRANSITIONS 

• Running and other morning outdoor activities:  It's too chilly to go out summer-early, but not cold enough to get out winter running gear.  I've found going out an hour later is about right to stay in shorts and a t-shirt.  The days have still been very warm; much later than that is too hot.
  

• The past several years we've taken a Fall Color Vacation out of state. That's not in the cards this year.  Friends are on theirs right now, with intention and preparation for camping.  They've found camping very cold some nights and have resorted to staying in motels or bnb's some nights.  There's an element of the unknown when you haven't booked ahead.  Cleaning policies, including all bedding, how long since someone last stayed there, are any agencies using the facility for quarantining, etc.  Minimally it would require a thorough wipe down of....everything?  Yeah, thinking the fun factor just isn't there.  

• However, we DO plan a Fall Color Staycation.  I've been keeping an eye on the Flagstaff Leaf-O-Meter and we're starting to get some change.  Possible drives: certain streets in Flagstaff itself,  Snowbowl Road, Lockett Meadow, US180, Hart Prairie Road.  Possible hikes:  AZT on the Peaks, Lockett Meadow.  A little later in the season we can catch Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona if we like.

• Several years ago I tried an on-line Mindfulness event.  I found it helpful and interesting.  It put me on a notification list for such events, and since then I've tried a Yoga Challenge and a Compassion Challenge.   Both of those were for longish daily time periods for so many days that I chose not to complete them.  Coincidentally, a Meditation Challenge is being offered this month by the host that got me started and my personal fave, Melli O'Brien. It starts in a couple of days and is for only 7 days.  I'm in. 
  

  

COVID-19 TRANSITIONS

When Covid-19 first started, I experienced the same fear we all did.  The fear of the disease and its unknown trajectory.  The fear based on understanding what the word PANDEMIC truly means.  I'd watch Andrew Cuomo's daily briefings in fear and horror, wondering when my turn would come.  Being a rule-bound personality though, when we got the stay-at-home orders my fear was significantly relieved by having something to do.  STAY HOME.  Since then, fear has not been my motivation for staying home.  Because I have the privilege of being able to do so, I can practice one of my core values: doing something for the greater good. Many people don't have the option to stay home.  I do, and can do so pretty much indefinitely.  

However, just like Dr. Fauci didn't flip-flop on mask wearing but instead changed his recommendation as he gained information, I haven't flip-flopped on my decision to break my pretty strict stay-at-home rule.  Information has changed.  Here's my thinking. 

Coconino County is firmly in the "moderate" category of community transmission for Covid-19.  The criteria for "moderate" transmission is 10-100 cases.  Being a university town, the chances of us dropping to the  "minimal" category with 10 cases or less is non-existent.   The CDC Director recently said a vaccination will not be widely available until the second or third quarter of next year.  Expert William A. Haseltine suggests in an article in Scientific American recently that the more scientists are finding out about just how tricky Covid-19 is, the more an effective vaccine might be even further out than that, with some question if one can be developed at all.   Yep, we're in this for the long haul. 

Given this current but still developing information,  I've made a considered list of ways to start moving about based on risk. 

High Risk:  It is now known that the highest risk situations are indoors with numerous unmasked people gathered without social distancing. 

• In the spirit of doing something for the greater good,  Ron and I tried a volunteer event last Thursday.   The local food bank has a main warehouse that has food and supplies of all sorts for those who need them.  This summer they've set up  Mobile Food Pantries.  They pop up every couple of weeks in places more convenient for residents.  They're restricted to food only.  Last month they started one at the local fire station, so Ron and I decided to lend a hand with distribution.  Since I've been staying at home so much, it was uncomfortable out of hand.  When we walked up, none of the five volunteers already there, including one of the fire department personnel, were masked.  I was ready to turn around and go home, but Ron decided to say something, which was that he was surprised no one had on masks. All masks came on and stayed on.  In terms of risk, I'll call this a Low-High Risk activity. It was outdoors; it was a low number of people who ended up being masked; we practiced social distancing with each other; people who came for food stayed in their vehicles. 
  

• I went to the dental hygienist for a dental cleaning.  Though the dental hygienist had best practices for her protection and mine, this activity was indoors and by necessity we were in close proximity.  Best practices seem to be good enough, as she said there have been no incidents of positive testing.  I'll call this one a Low-High Risk, with health benefits.
  

Medium Risk:  As long as you pick your times, stores can be medium risk. 

• I've been making and consuming bone broth for gut health since a series of sessions with a nutritionist many years ago.  The last batch used up all the bones I had in my freezer.   I called Whole Foods to make sure they had their hormone-free bones available.  They did.  I was in the store by 7:40 am and out by 7:45 am, well supplied.  I'll call this Low-Medium Risk, with health benefits.
  

• Ron and I will be going to Walgreens for our flu shots in a couple of days. We'll go early, making it Low-Medium Risk with health benefits. 
  

Low Risk: Curbside would be just above stay-at-home for risk.

• I'm going to take a couple of boxes of books to Bookman's for trade credit using their curbside service.  If they're still recycling books, I'll have them take care of the ones they don't want in that way.

• Before Covid-19, part of my reading plan was to check out one newer book per month from the public library (because I'm WAAAAY to cheap to buy new books!).  They have curbside service, and I'll try that to re-start my one-new-book-a-month plan.
  

 There's no question some over-thinking is involved here.  You're not surprised, are you????

                                        "The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings."

                                                                                                                   --- Kakuzo Okakura