Saturday, February 9, 2013
Dragon Mother with Princeton University Orchestra, Amsterdam
I have spent the past week mostly in bed, recovering from the stomach flu. Little did I know when I sat with Kendra on the bus ride from Cologne to Amsterdam and told her the story of my trip to Mongolia, (see Diva in the Desert on the writing page) complete with food poisoning and a memorably revolting bathroom at the last concert venue, that there would be a repeat performance on this trip. Continue reading
Heading to Kansas to sing High Holy Days again, I decided to go out there a day early and visit the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. I had seen an article about it in the National Parks magazine and it looked incredibly beautiful. About an hour and a half north east of Wichita, in the Flint Hills, it was a bit too far to go back and forth in one day. 
There I am, sunning on some rocks, somewhere in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, writing in my travel journal as my wet clothes dry, watching the Middle Fork of the Salmon River flow by and by. Michael and I flew to Boise, and drove three hours into the mountains to arrive in the tiny town of Stanley, Idaho, nestled at the foot of the magnificent Sawtooth Mountain range. 
After hearing about sesshin at the Rochester Zen Center for 30 years, I finally went to one with Michael. What a wild ride! Michael and I drove up in two days, staying overnight in Cortland NY where we enjoyed a lovely dinner at an outside cafe.
Michael and I spent three glorious days in Cape May for the NJ Audubon Spring Migration weekend. The weather was perfect, not too hot with bright sun and blue skies. We stayed at the Angel of the Sea B&B again and enjoyed the overstuffed parlor, overstuffed breakfasts and sunny porches. All the guided birding walks were fantastic and we usually got completely overloaded after two hours of mindful seeing and hearing. Highlights included piping plovers with babies on the beach, indigo buntings in the fields, pine warblers in the trees and many more. I especially loved meeting NJ Audubon legend Pete Dunne. What a character! He said when you see a bird and can name it, then you own it. Yes, there is definitely a feeling of grasping in the seeing, when you are trying to get a good look at the bird and see it clearly enough that you can really identify it. We definitely have to get better optics! Too bad the weekend was clouded by Emily’s troubles with Henry. We tried to be as supportive as we could over the phone.
Michael and I returned to the Ukraine last week to do another concert with the Odessa Philharmonic. Michael is on leave this semester, and Hobey is covering for him with the PU orchestra for the December concert. This time we would bring some of our favorite American music, Barber Knoxville, and Copland Appalachian Spring, to share with our Ukrainian friends. 
This was my 17th year as the rent-a-cantor for Congregation Emanu-El in Wichita Kansas. I love going there, and it feels like a home coming at this point. Even though I only see folks for several days a year, many of them are good friends and feel like family. 
pent a fantastic week with my longtime friend and student MJ Link in Grindelwald, Switzerland. MJ had been many times before and knew all the best routes and hikes. Michael and I finally arranged to go with her and we hiked everyday, mostly, downhill. It was easy to take a train or bus or gondola to many different beautiful hiking destinations. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau looked down on us wherever we were, and the sweet sounds of cow bells, mingled with the spectacular scenery showed us what Mahler was trying to share with his music.