Blog Archives

Thursday, July 16, 2020

A man on the move

We’re up in VA, helping Christine and Stephen with their move from an apt in the Neon District of Norfolk, to a lovely, big house in Suffolk. It’s about 20-25′ drive, and really feels like a trip to the ‘burbs. All has gone very smoothly, and certainly we hope they’ll enjoy this quieter and more roomy locale.

Delighted to get a video call this morning from Joe and Jackson–always such a fabulous way to start the day! During the call he was displaying lots of his mobility, crawling all over, then to the walker and taking in much of the house. Though the clip above wasn’t from this morning, it’s a good indication of how he’s spending lots of his days of late. Could just eat this little guy up!

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Tuesday, July 14, 2020

The past few days very interesting.

Having taken steps to have all my teaching moved online, we got fast ‘net for Surf City, to allow for online teaching from here. Was pretty easy, though pretty expensive.

As I read the news these days, I’m reminded of a graphic I posted some time ago, of the 1918 flu pandemic’s progress. The “we are here” was a comparison to the coronavirus state-of-things in mid-March. I guess we’d now be comparing to about October on this graphic–well into the “second wave.” Though i’m not convinced we ever got past the first wave.

The daily news about the coronavirus, with intense surges, outbreaks, hospital and equipment strains, feels and sounds very much like the news from mid-March. Nothing’s getting better...

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Friday, July 10, 2020

Jackson keeping Ellie comfortable as tropical storm Fay approaches

I’ve spent too much time over these past weeks/months reading about the state of coronavirus/Covid-19’s spread in the U.S. Some areas/states/commumities have handled this wisely, though at tremendous economic cost, and seem to have brought themselves to some level of control over this pandemic’s spread. Other areas were too impatient–too overwhelmed by economic pressures and protests by people who simply will not think of the public health–and are now experiencing massive outbreaks. The daily numbers are beyond frightening. North Carolina is, like other states, experiencing a surge in case numbers.

We are, as a global community, absolutely in uncharted territory, even with history’s lessons from past pandemics...

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Sunday, July 5, 2020

“But, your fathers, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of this day, of the infallibility of government, and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to the wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints. They went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to.”

From Frederick Douglass’ “5th of July Speech” in 1852. Full text: https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/2945

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Thursday, July 2, 2020

Yesterday’s dive at the quarry was a pleasure for us. A nice hour-long drive there, then a leisurely pair of dives, practicing some skills, just being in the water–all felt great. Pack it all up, then head home. Generally a 4-5 hour day, and a very nice way to spend a date-day for us.

Today, Pattie heading up to Norfolk to spend a day with Christine, and to bring her some moving boxes. She and Stephen are moving to a new pad, so Pattie will spend a day or two visiting.

I returned the tanks, then headed down to Surf City before Joe, Cristin, and Jackson departed for return to NY. Got here about 11:30, finding Jackson enjoying his lunch. Soon we headed down to the beach, where for the first time he really enjoyed being in the water, experiencing the waves and the sand.

An...

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Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Over this past weekend, I finally got to finish the piece for Jason Calloway (solo cello), naming it Witness Marks. From the program notes:

Witness marks  [n.] A scratch or similar mark on each half of an assembly used to position of locate parts.

This music was written in a period of great disorientation, with a hope that focusing on a single line would help me put one step after another, to find a way forward in a time of so many different kinds.  I felt the writing of this to be a welcome and necessary diversion, a break from the darkness surrounding our days during the spring of 2020.”

Now sent off to Jason, and am curious to hear his thoughts, and to implement whatever suggestions/changes he comes up with.

I’ve never used this function in the notation software before, b...

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