Sunday, June 17, 2012
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.
When we arrived at Chapin MIll the next day, Michael loved showing me all his favorite spots. The country property is beautiful and the retreat center is open and spacious, yet compact and comfortable. Continue reading
Sunday, May 20, 2012
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.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
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. Continue reading
Sunday, October 16, 2011
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. Continue reading
Saturday, August 13, 2011
We s
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.
After attending my Uncle Mal’s funeral in Boston, we headed out to the Cape to visit two students of ours who were working at the College Light Opera Company. We saw Brad sing the Pirate King and Andrea conduct the matinee of Pirates of Penzance. They both did a wonderful job and the show was great. It was nice to see B. Haslum again and discover that not much has changed in all the years since I was in the company in 1978 and 1979. Everyone in the company was bright eyed and bushy tailed, attractive and energetic college performers. We loved spending two days in Falmouth. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to get home to our old lady beagle, Thisbe.