Some Things I’ve been Learning and Some Things that Have been Working Well

I just can’t seem to stop taking pictures of the sun shining through my piano glasses in the late afternoon and evening! Here are a few things I’ve been learning the past few weeks:

• At the piano I’ve been working on a lovely Chopin Nocturne, and I’ve really been enjoying the sense of calm harmony and the three against two and four against three rhythms. I haven’t played Chopin for a while, and working on this piece has been nice.
• On the cello I have been working on a Bach Sonata for violin de gamba with harpsichord. I’m not doing it with a harpsichord (or a piano, actually . . . I am just learning it) and it has been slow, difficult progress, but now that it is getting more fluent, I”m feeling a lot better about it.
• I have been learning some new ways to use pitched instruments like resonator bells, hand chimes and boomwackers with groups of elementary students, and I have been having a lot of fun with it.

Here are a few things that have been working well for me these past few weeks:

• I was reminded in the past few weeks about how having a book of poetry in the car to read while waiting for kidlets at various activities is such a nice thing. Poetry is so easy to stop and start and so lovely to enjoy in small bits and pieces. I also enjoy rereading poetry books more than any other sort of book. Recently I have been rereading poems by Billy Collins and Barbara Cooker. I picked up a book of poems by Ruth Stone at a display for National Poetry Month at my library, a new poet that I had not experienced before.
• I have managed to create a nice little morning routine for myself by consistently rewarding myself for getting out of bed at 6:00 a.m. (or maybe a little earlier) with gummy vitamins. Yum.
• A few months ago someone gave me the idea of reading scripture using the Revised Common Lectionary, and I’ve been surprised at how well it has been working for me. I like the idea of reading the same thing that many people in the world are reading that day. The website is super simple, super plain, and super easy to click and the selected daily scriptures just pop right up. There are no frills, and for some reason that has been great for me.
• Sneaking in some walking time while I’m waiting for kidless at rehearsals has been working out really well in the last couple of weeks now that there is not ice and snow covering the streets and the sun is up later into the evening. I so appreciate longer stretches of daylight this time of year.