Thank You,GW, for Giving Us the Day Off

I was sorely tempted to just sleep in today and forget opening for meditation. But then I pictured Marjorie walking all the way over to the yoga studio and finding the door locked. So I dragged myself out of bed and went into town. (This was after David came to bed at 2:30 AM and announced to me that I had 3 hours of sleep left. GREAT and thank you very much for waking me up to tell me that...)

Marjorie was there and so I was glad that I showed up. We had our usual half hour sit. Then I showed up at Deborah’s house at 7:45 to camp out and eat her Cheerios and drink her coffee before I headed off for a music lesson at 9:00 with my friend Bill. We had an interesting breakfast conversation about how doctors in a practice split the intake of money. It’s all based on how many patients they see. She takes her job as an internist very seriously, spending many hours writing up visit notes, reading, studying lab results, and making follow-up patient phone calls. This means that she often works 12-hour days, but sees no more patients than other doctors who might spend far less time. I feel incredibly lucky to call her my friend and my doctor. And she makes damn good granola that looks like bird food!

I was seriously caffeinated by the time I arrived at Bill’s house. Bill is a superbly talented musician, playing the double base with the NSO. So it is always a little daunting to play with him. He often says things to me like, “Just play an E-minor chord,” or “Do you know what a hemiola is?” that throw me for a loop. But I always come away with new knowledge and the positive feeling that comes from a sense of accomplishment. Today we warmed up with Bottesini’s “Elegy”, one of the first pieces we played together over a year ago. I beamed as we finished without stopping mid-way and Bill announced, “That surely was a lot better than when we first played it.” I have really started to feel a connection in breath and a shared emotional reaction to the music with the other half of any duet I am playing. We spent almost an hour painstakingly picking apart and putting back together a Telemann sonata. Then we finished with Bottesini’s variation on Verdi’s “Marriage of Figaro.”

I spent the afternoon working with 76-year-old Nancy, who is doing a presentation with me on “Music and the Psalms” at Temple Micah next Sunday afternoon. My part was to organize a subset of the choir to perform 4 Psalms with some group participation and to put together a handout. She is a real musicologist, having worked for the Voice of America for many years. She could tick off a long list of important musicians she knows on a first-name basis. What a treat to work with someone so talented. She planned the rest of the presentation, focusing on the evolution of the Jewish approach to musical settings of the Psalms. It should be a beautiful afternoon.

Then I ended the day with a yoga class with my teacher of 5 years Leyla. Poor Leyla had injured her shoulder, so she couldn’t demonstrate any poses tonight. Instead she pointed out various students doing the poses correctly. I was actually cited for “anjali mudra”, which involves putting your hands together in front of your heart while in Mountain Pose. It’s unusual for me to be pointed out as an example and I appreciate Leyla for being so supportive! Her ailing shoulder made her less conscious of how long she was holding us in the various poses, which often seemed like forever. My friend from my coffee klatch Marilu showed up for yoga and loved the class.

I know this doesn’t sound like a very restful way to spend my holiday, but these were all things that I really enjoyed. The good news today is that my husband’s sciatica seems to be better, so we can once again hug each other without him wincing in pain. I just hope he comes to bed before 2:30 AM tonight...