Back Down South

     A week ago yesterday I drove down from the snowy northeast to the sun and warmth of North Carolina.  The weather in Averill Park has continued to be very wintry, with at least three storms dumping about 15 inches of snow on my beautifully clear driveway. This year the two weeks north for skiing seemed just right. Meantime, "down south" it has been warm and spring-like. I don't miss the snow and cold at all.
     The weather down here has been very conducive to getting back into shape.  I've managed to get in three runs and two workouts in the gym - God, am I out of shape.  The jogs, workouts, and walks with the dog have at least started to make a dent in the "tire" around my waist.  I also managed to get a session on the driving range in an attempt to reconstruct my swing. On one of the runs Finn ran with me.  I'm sure he's telling all his dog friends that I slowed him down for the whole 3 1/2 miles.
      On Thursday night we had the pleasure of attending a concert at Baldwin Auditorium on East Campus of Duke University.  It was entitled "Two Shades of Blue" and featured The Duke Wind Symphony and The UNC-Chapel Hill Wind Ensemble. Despite the official title, I heard concert goers calling it "The Battle of the Bands".  It was wonderful.  Both groups were outstanding.  UNC did four pieces all of which were written in  the 20th and 21st century.  They started with a Gustav Holst number entitled "Chaconne" from his First Suite in E-flat.  It is a very accessible piece ending in a brilliant E-flat major chord.  Their next presentation was written by a Durham resident Steven Bryant; and "parodied" the Holst.  Mr. Bryant was on hand and explained his opus, which was creative and fun to listen to.  The third UNC number was entitled "Fascinating Ribbons" and used the patterns and rhythms in Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythms"  The UNC conductor Evan Feldman took the time to explain and demonstrate how Joan Tower used Gershwin to construct her number.  It was truly fascinating.  Dr. Feldman reminded us a lot of David Allan Miller conductor of the Albany Symphony.  In taking the time to review and demonstrate portions of the number, he allowed us to better understand and enjoy it better. Dr. Feldman got his undergraduate degree at Duke, Masters at Ithaca, and doctorate at Eastman.
      The 4th composition, "Savanah River Holiday" was written in 1953 and premeired on NBC radio.  It attempts to catch the various moods of the 350 mile long river that forms the border between South Carolina and Georgia.  At the conclusion of the UNC set, the audience, led by the Duke Symphony, gave the Tarheels a "standing O".
     The Duke group performed three compositions, again all modern. The first number was entitled "Avenue X" and tried to capture the mood and vitality of a New York subway line that ends at Coney Island with its roller coaster, midway, and freak shows.  Its raucous tempo and syncopated rythms required some superior musical talent. The second, "Refections in a Tidal Pool", stood in stark contrast to the opening number.  Quiet and comtemplative it painted a picture of a seashore at low tide.  If I had a complaint with the performance, it was that the attacks at the opening of various segments were weak.  The third piece was similar to the first with a "blues" underpinning.  It featured a clarinet solo by Bryan Morgan that was outstanding.
    The bands joined together for the thrid act of the program.  Each band played their respective fight songs and then en masse played "Irish Tune fram a County Derry" and :Shepherd's Hey".  Kudos to Duke Wind Symphony Director Verena Mosenbichler-Bryant and Dr. Feldman for bring these two talented groups together.

Up North - Week Two

      Started the week with an audition in Pittsfield with the Barrington Stage Company.  It was less than a stellar performance.  Let my nerves get to me and cracked on the song.  Oh well, another learning experience.  I'm going to start sounding like a losing baseball team - Just wait til next year.  I've never really spent much time working on getting my voice in shape for an audition.  I've always just sort of sung myself into vocal shape.  If I'm really serious about getting musical roles, I going to have to work a little harder.
     I spent quite a few hours this week in the role of Executor for the estate of a friend, meeting with the lawyer for the estate, marshaling assets, responding to multiple e-mails from heirs and legatees.  Lets hope the rest of this process is not as time consuming as the first two weeks have been.

      Wednesday was one of the highlights of the week, met my friend Tim at Gore Mountain.  That's Tim in his ski togs. Here he is at lunch

    We ate at the mid-mountain restaurant with a great view of the high peaks.

      This is the top of a trail called Cloud.  The conditions were pretty good.  Gore is a much larger mountain than Jiminy.  In fact it's almost two mountains.  To get to the actual summit of Gore, you take a gondola to the top of one ridge, ski down the backside of that shoulder, and then take another chair to the actual top. You can get some great long runs in,and we did.

      We got our moneys worth, with around 20 runs for the day.  There is More Gore.
      Ended the week with good news.  Met my friend Eric Peterson for lunch on Friday.   Eric is Artistic Director of Oldcastle Theatre Company in Bennington.  I had given him a copy of my play and he has been very encouraging.  As a matter of fact, it appears that Oldcastle will sponsor a formal staged reading in the Fall.  I guess I better finish the rewrite of the second act.

Up North Week One

      The primary reason from my trip north was to do some skiing.  As indicated in my previous blog entry, there was plenty of snow.  There was also plenty of cold.  As a result, I didn't hit the slopes until Wednesday morning.  Went to Jiminy Peak over in Hancock, Mass. and skied for 4 hours in marvelous conditions.

Jiminy Peak offers a variety of trails and is always well-groomed.  It wasn't too crowded in the morning and around lunch the slopes were clear.  I think I got in about 14 runs.  Some of my favorite runs take a little poling to get to, but offer great views of Mount Greylock, where my little girl is getting married in just 7 short months.

       Four hours was just about right, as my legs just started to feel it.  Also my finger tips were getting a little numb.  In spite of the brilliant sunshine, it was cold.  One of the interesting aspects of the day, was the lack of conversation between my co-lift riders.  It wasn't until almost my last run that some actually spoke.  He said, "Has everybody take an oath of silence on this lift today?"  I laughed and chatted him the rest of the way up.  No one else joined in.  Maybe they did take an oath.
      On Friday I went to dinner with Sue, George, and Jim Miller.  We went to The Redfront in Troy and then on to the RPI hockey game against Colgate.  RPI has been playing well this year and has been ranked nationally.  We joked at dinner that as Colgate was the last place team in the league,  RPI would probably play down to the level of the competition (which is their history from our perspective).  They did, losing 2 - 1 in overtime.
     Saturday I went over to Steamer Ten as Theatre Voices was doing a staged reading of The Rainmaker. Some of my friends from Facebook were in it and several people(Yvonne and Chris Foster) were in attendance.  Eileen Schuyler directed and it was well done, particularly the first act which was crisp and well-acted.
     Sunday I sang with the choir at the Church of the Covenant. We did an arrangement of The Prayer of St. Francis with Gail Welkey having a solo.  It sounded good.  The message was on point for me, about letting go of the feelings that make you want to control everything around you. Just let go and give it to God.  Much needed pep talk as so much of what I do is fear based.  As Monday's calendar featured an audition for Barrington Stage and fear was taking over, the message was well-timed.

A Super Sunday with Family

      I started Super Bowl Sunday by going to church at the Church of the Covenant in Averill Park.  It's always fun to sing with the choir there.  After church they had a Souper Bowl fund raiser where we each paid to get a bowl of soup.  Sat with Val Gray and his girlfriend and Carol Gray and her husband.  I've been singing with Val and Carol since the early 60s when we all attended the West Sand Lake Methodist Church.  Val and I were each in Oneonta during the late 60s, he at Hartwick and I at SUC  Oneonta.  Our path crossed regularly during those 4 years.
     After church I drove up to Saratoga and met Sue and George for a little cross-country skiing.

We went over to the Saratoga Battlefield National Park and skied the Wilkenson Trail, which is about 4.5 miles.

The conditions were excellent.  It was warm enough that the snow was a little granular, but it gave a great glide and wasn't sticky.  Only one fall, and that was minor.

      After the ski, we went back to Sue and George's house for pulled pork, cole slaw, potatoes, and the football game.  A busy day, but very rewarding.

Busy Week

       The past week was a busy one in Durham.  Part of this had to due with taking Nan to doctor appointments and to her classes.  Her knee is still giving her trouble; but as a result of the MRI findings, she does not appear to need surgery right away.  Much like the treatment I underwent for my ruptured ACL, the doctor suggests a strenuous physical therapy program which will strengthen the muscles around her patella. This hopefully will prevent it from dislocating again.
        To start the week I went to a Duke v. Navy lacrosse match.

      I stood next to some of the parents of the lacrosse players and it was interesting to hear them discuss the injuries that their children have played through.  On my other side was a father and son from South Carolina.  They were visiting the campus as the son plays lacrosse and would like to attend Duke.  I did my best sales pitch (although I think the institution sells itself).  Had a nice chat with Herb(the Crazy Towel Guy).  He only stopped off at the lacrosse match for a few minutes as he still had to make appearances at the swim meet, the tennis match, and a football dinner. The life of the Crazy Towel Guy is tough.
     On Tuesday the weather was nice enough to get in nine holes of golf.  Had the course pretty much to myself - played two balls most of the time. If I decided to take the best ball for each hole my scoring might improve(although it is a sign of my mediocrity that I usually scored the same with both balls)  Below is a picture of my nemesis hole - the 4th.

Everything slants down to the water and I manage to find it almost every time.  The greens are a little inconsistent this time of year, but it's great to get out.
      I was going to head north for some skiing last week, but Nan's injury put that on hold.  After receiving the positive medical report I decided to head north on Saturday.  The weather forecast was not good for that day, so a 6 AM yesterday I started north in a sleety rain for Averill Park.  Drove out of the precipitation fairly quickly and got to AP by 4:30 PM only to be greeted by 2 feet of snow in the driveway with a 5 foot glacier blocking the entrance.  It took me 2 1/2 hours to clear a narrow path into the garage.

I didn't even try to do a path to the front door.  There was a drift almost 5 feet high around our lamp post.

This morning a tried to go out on the back deck.

No luck.  I did use the snow rake to get some of the snow and ice off the roof.  Now my right shoulder is killing me.  Who needs a gym membership when you live in the Northeast.