February 5, 2017
It was intercession and Michael was taking the orchestra on tour to Prague, Vienna and Budapest, again – all different students, so it is a new experience for them, and Michael never tires of showing them those beloved musical capitals. I chose to go in the opposite direction and have a vacation on a beach with my sister and treat myself to another Backroads bike trip. (The picture is taken up at Kilauea Volcano.) Continue reading
January 21, 2017
Just as I was taking a picture of Michael and me, standing on the top step at the Trenton War Memorial with 2000 folks inside and 4000 more spread out below us, a photographer from the Newark Star Ledger snapped this shot of us – a not-selfie! What a wonderful day it was to share all the outrage, heartbreak, frustration and desire for action that so many of us have been feeling since election day with a crowd of like minded souls. Continue reading
October 15, 2016
This was my last year singing High Holy Days in Wichita. An odd set of circumstances led to this outcome, but as usual, things seem to have worked out for the best. I’m very happy to have no future singing performances to look forward to at this point. In the photo I am standing in the entrance way of Congregation Emanu-El with my Kansas mom, Marcia Solomon, and Rabbi Michael Davis. Continue reading
September 26, 2016
It was Fathers’ Day back in June and tic season was in full swing. Michael was taking a tic off his chest and checking for others when he noticed a small hard lump near his right nipple. What is this!!!!???? The next day he went right to his Dr. who calmly said he should probably have it taken out, and recommended several surgeons – seemed straight-forward and simple enough. Well, it was far from that simple. Continue reading
June 8, 2016
After mom’s final months last winter and spring, I had volunteered as SAG support for the Philly Habitat for Humanity’s Ride For Homes. I enjoyed being with everyone, but I wished I could be on my bike instead of in the van. This year, I committed to do the ride myself, and raise money for the wonderful work that Habitat Philly does in the community. Emily would be riding again for the third time and I looked forward to sharing this experience with her once again. I actually started training last summer and fall, and since the weather had been mild, I road almost once a week all through the winter. Continue reading
March 20, 1016
It was spring break at Princeton and I arranged to spend 11 days at Forest Refuge. It had been a pretty mild winter so far and I had no weather trouble driving up to Barre where the ground was bare (no snow as in this picture). The temperature was moderate, with cold mornings, when I loved walking out on the beautiful deck after breakfast, and warmer afternoons for crunching through the dead leaves in the woods. Continue reading
November 11, 2015
Today is my sister’s birthday, and I just got home from a wild time we spent together in Las Vegas (well, not so wild really) and a fantastic bike trip in Death Valley. Ever since a meditation buddy told me about a transformational trip he took there, I have always wanted to go – to Death Valley, that is. It seemed fitting to use some of the money left in the joint bank account I had with my mom to finally go, now that she is gone. Continue reading
October 18, 2015
I thought Pierrot would be my farewell performance with the Richardson Chamber Players, but Micheal contrived to let me do one more thing. Does it count if it is not singing? The concert was a collection of things written in or by concentration camp composers and it included a fantastic piece by Victor Ullman that I had actually performed in NYC with Continuum a number of years ago. It was a setting of Rilke’s The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christophe Rilke for solo piano and narrator. A 30 minute tour de force for both the piano and the voice, it was actually not that different from Pierrot. Continue reading
September, 2015
I’m writing this much later, but I want to preserve some continuity for what will follow. I think this was my 21st year singing High Holy Days in Wichita. I don’t remember much about the singing, so it was either perfectly fine or perfectly awful, or somewhere in between. I do remember that I went to the Sedgwick County Zoo where I hadn’t visited in many years. Continue reading
Monday, July 20, 2015
This summer we were invited to visit Michael’s old Eastman buddy, Michael Coren, while he was in residence at the Vail Festival with the Dallas Symphony. We decided to combine Colorado with a return to Idaho and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. It was another journey of discovery and healing, grieving and recovery. Continue reading