Self-confidence

I love this little article! A melodic lesson in the power of self-confidence The Elgar Window at Worcester Cathedral, from my week singing there seven years ago.

In the garden

Two photos from a quiet and somewhat cooler morning in the garden this past week. And some other garden photos this week:

Secretary

Whilst traveling two weekends ago, I stopped at several antique malls along I-70 in Missouri. At Brass Armadillo in Blue Springs, I saw an antique secretary I just had to have. But though the price was right, I would have had to figure out how to get it from Blue Springs to Saint Louis, and

Circus Harmony

Circus Harmony is emerging from the pandemic with safe, masked shows by the Saint Louis Arches, the elite circus troupe. They had a show at Union Station on Monday, and I showed up to document the occasion.

#TBT: Tangier

I long to return . . . .

Happy-makers

In no particular order, and without this list being exhaustive, these things have made me happy in the last few days . . . .

Tangier Sorties

Two years and a few months after first visiting Tangier, Morocco, and two years and one month fewer than a few months since I wrote the poetry, I am finally at work on my “Tangier Sorties” for voice and piano. The outline for the melody and harmony came together in a 25-minute flash last week.

List-making

I am a list-maker. Perhaps even a compulsive one. Witness how many of my blog entries have a bulleted list as part of the text. And as I write, on the kitchen table beside me are seven lists. Perhaps I need a list of lists? Just this weekend: Cooking plans To-do To purchase at Rogers

The puzzle

My dear friend Darin sent me a commencement card this past week. He is thoughtful and kind and aware of so many connections and sinews that bind him and me, but also that bind all of us in the human condition. The commencement to which he refers is the next act, one that I began

Elizabeth, the Queen

Book #8 of the year, with many more to come: Sally Bedell Smith’s readable and well-organized biography of Her Majesty The Queen. At more than 500 pages, this was not a puff piece, but it was an easy read about a subject of which I seem to not get enough . . . . Next