Ed Jacobs, Author at EDWARD JACOBS

Friday, March 6

Mar 07.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Kauai/Princeville, day 6

A quieter day back in Princeville, again off-and-on rain all day. Pattie took in a few self-care appointments, and I got in good writing all day.

Re the writing, it feels a bit like Zeno’s dichotomy paradox…am at 96% done, then 98%, then 99%, then 99.5%, 99.75%, etc. There’s always another bit of tweaking to do, and I just can’t leave it, let it sit for a week while getting to the next project. But I’m telling myself that tomorrow’s the final day for tweaking at this stage.

With covid-19 all over the news now, we’re really wondering about how to handle our time in Europe, April 15-July 14…

In the afternoon we headed back over to Hanalei, just 3 miles west of us here in Princeville...

Tues-Wed, March 3-4

Mar 07.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Kauai/Koloa, day 3-4

Two wonderful diving days; Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon. We went with “Fathom Five” divers in Koloa, and really loved every moment with them. The folks involved at every stage—in the shop checking us in, the driver shuttling us over to the harbor, and especially Bahar (our dive guide) and Jordan (our Captain, were just amazing. By far the most friendly and engaging folks we’ve encountered in this context, it felt as though we made friends here.

The first nice element, on our way to Koloa, was the views on the road, such as this…

canopies everywhere on this drive along the eastern coast (we’re heading south)

The dives Tuesday were a bit low on visibility, and on Wednesday I seem to have goofed with the GoPro (left it on, battery dead ...

Monday, March 2

Mar 03.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Kauai/Princeville day 2

Another productive writing day; this final stage is always so gratifying, as every tweak seems to make for significant improvements in one way or another. After today’s writing, only feeling that the ending section could use a bit of tightening up as it feels a tad longer than necessary. Just another listen through will put it in proper perspective.

As I’m now thinking/hearing a lot re the setting of Jim Brasfield’s Celan, I hope to shift to that for a bit and come back to Let Them Not Say after a brief absence and re-setting of perspective.

In the later afternoon we headed down to a town just south of Lihu’e where we’ll stay for a few days for diving further south (Koloa) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sunday, March 1

Mar 02.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Kauai, day 1

Rain today, off and on all day, made for a lazy start to our stay here. Lots of good writing time, I’m glad to say, which brought this choral piece even closer to a conclusion. Now at a point of beginning-to-end completeness, just tweaking. 95% done, adjusting and readjusting some tempi, cutting a few things to tighten up pacing, and working on the biggest picture and the rhythmic/dramatic motion of the whole.

Midafternoon—didn’t get motivated to leave the writing desk until nearly 3pm—we took advantage of a lull in the weather to take a drive to a few recommended spots nearby. We drove to Queen’s Bath, along the way discovering just how upscale this area is. Resorts, enormous homes (though very cookie-cutter), golf courses, etc., make for a lovely drive...

February 29

Mar 01.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Molokai to Kauai

Our first tastes of rain arrived overnight and continued into the morning. Very windy, driving rain, but in 20-30 minute stretches. The storm and quickly moving clouds made for nice viewing as we got our packing organized. We had a few hours between checking out at 11 and departing for the airport shortly after 1, so we put everything in the car and sat in the covered area by the pool. When the weather cleared, we sat in the sun for a few moments; then went under cover as necessary.

We’ve enjoyed every stop along this journey, but this is the first time we really didn’t want to leave a place...

Friday, February 28

Feb 29.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Molokai, final day

Kalaupapa National Historic Park is a peninsula on the north side of Molokai. This little spit of land was, in the mid-19^th century isolated as a ‘leper colony’, originally using the east side of the peninsula, Kalawao. That original settlement, in 1866, was developed over several decades into one that supported about 1,100 patients, largely cared for by Father Damien, Sister Marianne, Captain Dutton, and often their own family.

We began our tour with a 7-minute flight to Kalaupapa, as there is no road in or out.

approaching Kalaupapa from the west, after crossing to the north of the island

A guide picked us up at the airfield there in Kalaupapa, then drove across the peninsula to Kalawao...

Thursday, February 27

Feb 28.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Molokai, day 5

Our final dives in Molokai today and, like the others here, easy and pleasant. The same boat, crew and even a repeat of sites we’d visited earlier this week. Small craft advisories and heavy winds had me a bit nervous about the boat ride to the dive site, but along the south shore things were quite calm.

Again, turtles galore around here, especially near their ‘cleaning station,’ but also a spotted ray, a little eel hiding in the coral, and a conch (not a conch, but a member of that family) shell re-inhabited by a sea slug.

look at the center of the frame for the little eel hiding in the coral

a sea slug moves in…

Following a spotted ray

Turtles stopping by for a cleaning

The winning experience of the day, certainly the week, and perhaps the mo...

Wednesday, February 26

Feb 27.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Molokai, day 4

A good night’s sleep—10 hours!—got this day off to a good start, ready for some work. Began by taking care of some business (including the pleasure-business of finalizing plans for a family trip in December). Took a long time to develop a response to learning that the Young Composers program of the NewMusic Initiative won’t continue to get funding….that was a sweet arrangement, with the School of Ed funding an assistantship so that a grad composer could spend time in the ECU Community School in S Greenville. This is a very worthwhile program, great for the children, as well as augmenting the music teacher’s offerings but, alas, funding shortfalls in the SoEd are no different than such shortfalls in other places. Hard decisions have to be made.

We ...

Tuesday, February 25

Feb 26.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Molokai, day 3

A dive day today, largely a pleasant replay of Sunday’s experience with Molokai Fish & Dive. The early morning easy drive to the harbor, the lowkey loading up at the boat, the small dive group (6 divers) with Annia and Gabe as dive guides, the ease of getting to know the other divers…all such a nice way to get the day going. This trip was with two very young newlyweds from Tampa, a couple in their 40s from Oahu, and two solo divers, one who splits his year between Molokai and Montana, the other visiting Hawaii for the first time, an experienced dry-suit diver whose entire diving experience was in Alaska.

The boat ride to the dive site offered, like most rides here and in Maui, a view of whales doing their thing.

Whales playing a bit

The whales must have ...

Monday, February 24

Feb 26.2020 / Ed Jacobs/ / Setting off.

Molokai, day 2

We took this day to rest, nap, write a bunch, relax, and enjoy this quiet locale on the east side of Molokai. We were both clearly pretty tired and just plain needed to rest. And this is a good, quiet place to get in that rest; I suspect we’ll use another day this week for rest, as well.

our apt complex in Molokai

In little bits that gained duration over the day, I brought Let Them Not Say to it’s 90% complete spot. Now it’s time for small corrections, editing, tightening up. Then it’s on to finishing Celan (James Brasfield) and/or getting going on Limbo (Marie Howe)…or the E.E. Cummings for Rachel and Ari…

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