Quick Trip Home

     When Nan and I came down to Durham from New York in August, we drove down together using Nan's car and leaving mine home.  The plan was for me to head north after our trip to Wales and take care of some business involving certain legal matters I'm involved in and to meet with our contractor to discuss renovations that are to be completed before we get home in December.  Nan's broken foot made me think twice about leaving her alone, but she got clearance to drive two days before my scheduled flight and we were able to get some dog walkers to help her out.  So I went north.  I did shorten the length of my stay however.
     It was a busy week and a half.  After taking care of the business part of the trip, I played a bit.  September 22nd was a busy day.  I started by driving to Cobleskill to run in the Fam Fund 5k.  It's sort of a tradition and gives me a chance to see some of the people and friends I used to work with in Schoharie County.  It was a warm day and my time was slow, but it was fun to see old friends, particularly Tim Holmes, law librarian at the Schoharie County Courthouse.  He got me up-to-date about the renovations underway repairing the Courthouse from the flooding caused by hurricane Irene last year.  The first floor of the Courthouse remains uncompleted, even after all this time.
     On my way back from Schoharie, I stopped off in Albany and bought a ticket to the Albany Symphony Orchestra concert scheduled for the evening.  While in Albany, I visited an all-day street concert called PearlPalooZa and listened to a couple of groups.  The first was The Royal Concept from England.  They were all right, at least I could recognize a melody line.  The second was a country western group and it was too much for me.  So I headed home.  Here's a pic of The Royal Concept.

     The ASO concert was tremendous.  They featured Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony.  Both were exquisitely done.  The piano soloist was Valentina Lisitsa.  According to Wikipedia(I can't believe I'm actually citing Wikipedia), she was born in Kiev, Ukraine and began playing piano at three.  She now lives in North Carolina with her husband who is also a pianist.  Interestingly, she started her career via social media rather than by having a tour promoter or a record contract.  She was great.  If you're interested, her website is www.valentinalisitsa.com
      My son David is living in our home and working trying to get enough money to try and find work in California.  We were able to get out and play golf twice: once at Burden Lake and the other at Wabeeka Springs in Williamstown.  We didn't shoot all that well, but the weather was nice and the trees were starting to change.

           In addition to golf, I got to spend an afternoon with my sister Suzanne as she performed her duties as Assistant Director of the New York State Writers Institute at SUNY Albany.  I went to a program featuring Paul LaFarge author of a book entitled Luminous Airplanes. The book is supplemented(probably not the right word - but) by a web-site which continues and adds to the story presented in the book.  It was interesting to hear him describe the concept and how it was created and continues to grow.
          The trip gave me a chance to see a few people who I missed seeing over the summer, particularly Jim Miller and his parents.  The Miller's home was behind ours in Averill Park, and we all grew-up together.  Jim's parents are in transition to assisted living and it was good to see them.(This is particularly true since Jim's dad died last week.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Jim and his mom.)
          The trip back was long, as it was rainy and foggy from Oneonta though Harrisburg.  Anyway mission accomplished and I'm back in my daze.