May 5, 2019
I’ve wanted to do the New York Five Boro Bike tour for a number of years, but had been put off by all the details and complications of getting into the city with my bike and gear. This year I was going to plan ahead and do whatever it took to make it happen. I registered way back in November and planned to stay overnight in the Village with my colleague Jayn Rosenfeld. She had done the ride many times and would help with logistics and moral support. She picked up my packet at the NY Bike Expo Friday morning, and I drove in Saturday afternoon and parked at a very expensive garage on 11thstreet. The weather on Saturday was lovely and I enjoyed walking my bike and overnight backpack through the streets of Greenwich Village. Jayn and I had a wonderful and long overdue visit before we each had to set out for evening plans. She and her husband were going to a concert. I met a former student for dinner and then had comps to see the first preview of the new production of Frankie and Johnnyon Broadway. Maybe it was crazy to have a night out before a big biking day, but I had a great time and managed to find my way back to Horatio St. before 11. I actually slept pretty well with Benadryl and ear plugs.
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Today is my birthday and I rode my bike 60 miles! I feel very strong after a week of challenging riding in Virginia. When we got back from Alaska, I wasn’t expecting to go away again so soon, but a friend from Morris Area Freewheelers announced that there was a last-minute opening for Bike Virginia. Michael would be fishing in Montana, we don’t have a dog, I am healthy and in good shape – might as well take advantage of all the favorable conditions and seize the moment! 
Today is our 35thwedding anniversary and we have been celebrating for over two weeks. Actually, there are many things to celebrate, including Michael’s birthday and the end of the second cancer year. On May 24 we flew to Seattle for the beginning of our Alaskan adventure with Uncruise. After two days at the elegant Mayflower Park Hotel and some fun touristy walks around the city, we flew to Sitka to board the SS. Legacy for seven days of inside passage wilderness. 
It was time for a winter get-a-way to someplace warm. It was also a great opportunity to see my sister again. We decided on Tucson where we could relax and visit for a few days before I went on another Backroads biking trip. Susanne thought the last time she had visited was 2007, the final year my parents spent the winter there. For me it had been much longer. 
It was Fall Break and I was hoping to have a biking get-a-way in Lancaster PA with my friends Muffin and Tom. Unfortunately, they had to cancel at the last minute, but I found a wonderful replacement. The Philadelphia Bike Club hosted a biking weekend in Gettysburg and I managed to get one of the remaining spots. After tending to the health needs of husband and dog over the summer, and cancelling time at the Forest Refuge and my second study visit to Madison Wisconsin, I really needed a break and a few days to myself. This did the trick. 
Michael’s brother Ev was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. It was an emotional and surreal day. A retired three star General in the Air Force, fighter pilot and decorated Vietnam War hero, it seemed not insignificant that he died on March 15, the Ides of March and the day of Julius Caesar’s assassination, and was interred on the day of the solar eclipse. 
Was it really four years ago that we went to Australia for the International Congress of Voice Teachers and an amazing travel adventure? It was time again for the ICVT meeting, this time in Stockholm. I would present my menopause research and Michael would come along for a Scandinavian tour. 
It was shortly after the election last November when I was reading Buddha Dharma Magazine that I saw an add for a Meditation and Well Being Study at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. My initial intention was to do something positive that would be of help to others in the face of the devastation and helplessness everyone was feeling in reaction to the election. So I embarked on a very long process of application and vetting for the study. 
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.) 
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.