Kauai/Princeville, day 7

The rainy day pattern of weather here has been very conducive to writing, and Let Them Not Say is now sent off for review by the conductor.  Undoubtedly, as is always the case, there will be corrections and adjustments to make—perhaps even some re-writing if I’ve overplayed the ensemble’s ability—but this initial complete draft is something I feel quite good about.

The work’s poet, Jane Hirshfield, was scheduled to appear at a talk in Honolulu during our week there, and we were excited to go and introduce ourselves, perhaps find a moment to get acquainted.  I went online to purchase tickets for her talk and, alas, due to travel concerns surrounding covid-19 the event’s been cancelled.  I wrote her to say hello, let her know the work’s done, plant the seed of having her come to NC for the premiere, talk to English folks/poets…we’ll know better when the premiere’s scheduling becomes clearer.  She did mention a few other talks scheduled—Seattle, NY, Chicago—which haven’t yet been cancelled, although she expects they will be.  Seattle, especially, seems a focus of covid-19 right now, so that cancellation seems inevitable.

We’ve another week here in Kauai—two more days of diving down in Koloa again—then a week in Oahu before heading to the mainland.  Neither one of us is eager to let go of the many diving opportunities here in HI, so we’ve just scheduled two more days of diving in Honolulu for 3/17 and 3/18.

Pattie’s beginning to organize her purchases to send on ahead (to avoid excess baggage weight fees, which are much more expensive than sending home a small box), and it’s been fun for her to look through the clothes she so enjoyed getting here.

No big excursions today, as it was really just a day to work at home, then make a frozen pizza for dinner, do some reading, and turn in.