The Eve of Everything

Alas, here I find myself on the eve of a new semester's beginning at Sac State, the start of my 25th year on staff. Also the eve of my mother's 75th birthday. Quite a milestone! And the eve after the day of my return to San Francisco, after a long hiatus, an absence of what felt like many months after my most recent past of fairly regular visits. Indeed it had been just over four months since my last visit. Too long, too long. I am also near the end of August, having not written here since the beginning of July, and I suppose it's close enough now to call it the virtual eve of September, the long awaited month of Fall and cooler temperatures. 

It seems like the current place I am in is at the crossroads of many eves.

But I have not been entirely idle, not with my son starting competitive soccer this summer and I conducting the comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan, specifically Trial by Jury and The Sorcerer. The first time in seven years I had conducted anything! And before all that even, with what must seem like an annual pilgrimage over the rollicking seas of the Pacific Ocean to Alaska, as discussed in my previous post. And even a little overnight stay in Santa Cruz, just me and the boy, playing in the surf and collecting seashells and riding the rides of the Boardwalk.

Yes, it's been a somewhat full yet invigorating summer. And it comes to an end, now, as the old routine of work and school comes into full force this week. 

And this picture is from yesterday's sojourn to San Francisco, specifically from the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, a place I had not visited in many years. And while I am not a tea drinker per se (at all, really), it certain seemed apropos to engage in such activity when one is in such a serene and fantastically exotic location as this. And so I drank. Jasmine tea, to be precise. 

And Strawberry Hill was visited and Land's End, with Mile Rock Beach and the ocean lapping at the shore in a constant hypnotic drone. Peaceful. And lunch was had at the Sea Breeze Cafe just south of the windmills of Golden Gate Park. And all of this in the delightful company of one of my oldest and dearest of all friends. Such good times!

I did not go to Ghirardelli. Or anywhere on or even near the Embarcadero. I didn't even consume one single adult beverage. Too much to do and see, and too little time! I guess I'll have to go back again...

But no, I do need to retire so I can do this sort of thing more often. Who wants to pay off my mortgage? I've been trying to coerce the Publishers' Clearing House to handle this small detail for me, but they seem disinclined to select mine as the winning number of any of their sweepstakes. 

So, back to work I go. Year 25! It seems like only yesterday I was a young, bright eyed, enthusiastic youth having recently graduated from college and embarking on this new journey of adulthood.  Or a youth in relative terms anyway; I'm still a youth compared to some and yet so much older than the students I see every day wandering the halls. I mean of course, I've aged a whole quarter of a century and they have remained as young as they ever were! I suppose I should now get to sleep, though it is only just after 9:00pm, yet I find myself tired after a long weekend of frolicking about. 

The Cruise Is Over

Ah, the eve of July 1st, when the fireworks begin in earnest within the narrow subdivisions of our cozy little neighborhood. Time to forget what sleep at a reasonable hour is, whilst the cat learns again about irrational fear. Hopefully they'll stop before midnight tonight...

And we are back from our yearly cruise to the Great North. It was marred somewhat by Connor's taking ill after the first full day, and again on the last two days before returning to our home port in San Francicsco. Bookend illnesses! At least he tested negative for Covid, there's that small comfort anyway. But unfortunately the poor chap spent a good chunk of our vacation hunkered down in our little interior stateroom watching old episodes of Bob's Burgers on the TV and sipping from the little plastic shotglass cup of children's ibuprofen. So much lost time at the ping pong table! And the kids club!

But aside from that it was really a lovely trip, as my YouTube video will attest to. We were blessed with the clearest, sunniest weather anyone could wish for. It was almost...too sunny. But we had some adventures, built some new memories, explored some new land (on bikes no less) - all in all it was a productive use of our summer time. 

We finally got close enough to see Dawes Glacier! That was a rare treat indeed. Thanks global warming!

Though cruises are expensive times to be sitting in your stateroom nursing a child's cold. Maybe we need to transition a bit to doing more land based vacations, where crowds of people are far more dissipated and germs do not run as rampant. I don't know. Maybe we need to do another cruise just to prove we can do it and stay healthy (Connor came home with Covid from last year's trip). 

Well, next week we'll do a little overnight trip to Santa Cruz, perhaps that will make up for some of the lost time. Have to use up some free Boardwalk passes, which I'm sure my little buddy will enjoy.

And of course returning to the real world after sailing through forests and mountains and ice means getting back to work and all of the real-world tasks I temporarily left behind. Mostly for me that means doing score study of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas I'll be conducting towards the end of this month and into the first half of August. Trial by Jury and The Sorcerer. And of course Connor is starting on his new soccer adventure of his competitive team here in Natomas, and before we know it it will be time to get back to school!

Is it ever not busy?

And just to add a little cherry on top, I got a jury notice for standby service the week of July 17. Sure, why not? Add one more thing on to the pile. But really it's not so busy right now, at this very moment, despite all these things. Not really. I found some time today to go for some walks and even a bike ride, to do some shopping and some reading and to watch some TV, and I reviewed my scores a bit and filled out a post-cruise survey (yeah, that took an hour and a half out of my day). And here I am writing a blog post, the first in two months. So it was a productive day today, Saturday, the first of July. A good start for the month!

I mean really, I'd rather be back on the cruise though. No matter how much you see, no matter how much you experience, you always leave wishing you had found time to do a little more. To eat a little more. To drink a little more. To explore a little more. To just sit and watch the world float peacefully by a little more. The trips go by so quick and there's never enough time. 

But alas, the cruise is over! And reality must step back in.

The End Is Nigh

Soda tastes better from a cup. As opposed to the can or bottle from whence it came. I don't know if this is some sort of divine design, or just a mental fabrication of my own. A psychological trick of sorts. Or maybe it just needs to breathe, like a fine wine. In any case, pour it in a glass or mug and sip it slowly! It's just. Better. 

Yes, I'm using phrases now like "from whence it came", inspired entirely by my most recent leisurely reading of Tolkien's The Simarillion.

I don't drink soda very often anymore, but as the temperatures heat up and business is booming at work, sometimes a refreshing bubbly is just what the mid-afternoon needs. And there was a single can of Dr. Pepper in my fridge, having sat there for untold months, just waiting to be consumed.

So I drank it. From a ceramic coffee mug displaying the old state seal as the symbol of the University, back in the days before CSUS had an identity crisis and became Sacramento State. And yes, as I finished the last drop, all was well with the day.

Here's a sand dollar. It's from Ocean Beach, on the western most edge of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, just south of the Cliff House and Land's End. I went to the coast again last weekend, this time with a new girl (pronounced "woman") I've been seeing, one from a past long ago. For an adventure. And good times. And soaking in the cool ocean air, and the majestic sound of the waves beating tirelessly on the sand. There's lots of sand dollars there, so much so that even with the known fact that a majority of sand dollars found on the beach will be broken, cracked, damaged in some way - you can still find a good handful of them intact and unspoiled. I flung this one, much like a frisbee, allowing it to be free to find its own destiny. It plopped on the moist sand near the edge of the grasping waves, where perhaps it still sits, or else it has likely been drawn back to the sea. From whence it came.

I'll admit, one of the highlights of that trip was finding the gravesite of the ashes of Wyatt Earp, famous lawman of the late 19th century, further immortalized in the late 20th century in the movie Tombstone. Yes, I have gazed upon the burial site of Kurt Russell! But what an interesting character Mr. Earp must have been! The life he lead and the stories he inspired are truly things of legend. And the quote on his tombstone: "...That nothing's so sacred as honor, and nothing so loyal as love!" Ponder that one awhile.

And yes, the end is nigh now for the spring semester at Sac State, with just two more weeks and seventeen concerts to go. Plus a music festival and several other outside group events. We will have had 91 concerts this semester by the time it's all done. 91! I'm not sure if that's a record actually, but boy, here at the end of April it certainly feels like a lot. And it is, it is. And this weekend: two outside group orchestras will take the stage. More work for yours truly. Work work work.

I'm ready for the semester to be over now. 

Birthday Come and Gone

It's early morning, April 1, and my birthday has come and gone. Actual birthdays seem more surreal or at least the concept is more abstract these days, partly because of our long history of celebrating them on the nearest weekend where the family is all free, regardless of the actual date of the celebration. (Hence we celebrated my birthday two weeks ago). And partly because I never quite feel like celebrating my birthday, per se. Not that it's any sort of Peter Pan Syndrome or anything, but I really don't want to get older. I've had enough of aging, the body slowly wearing out, greying, and all the other fun things that naturally come with aging. I don't want to get older anymore. 

Of course, it beats the alternative.

So the State of California saw fit, several years back, to make my birthday a state holiday. Apparently my birthday also corresponds with the birthday of labor leader and civil rights activist, Cesar Chavez. That's okay, he can share it with me. But frankly I was more excited, as I often am, about having a day off from work than about having another birthday, than about ticking off one more year of existence on this rock. Making another trip around the sun, as my father would say.

I followed the best course of action I could think of: I went to Chili's for margaritas. And they've brought back the Margarita of the Month, after a brief hiatus in January, for some unknown reason. Good for them. Good for me. And now I've entered the first day after clicking over to year 48 of my life, I can't help but wonder: what is this month's margarita?? Inquiring minds want to know.

And of course I did what I typically tend to do when I have days off, aside from taking the kid to school (K-12 schools don't see fit to honor Mr. Chavez, or me, by taking this holiday). I ran errands, did some shopping, caught up on laundry, and did my usual walkabout. Steps! It's a rare treat to get over 15,000 on a weekday of a week in which I have my son.

And now here it is, Saturday morning, the weekend just opening up before me, full of possibilities. I'll probably do little, but read and play Minecraft, and walk some more. That is, after the kid's 9:00am soccer game. Oh and also, after needing to stop by work to reset the stage for tonight's guest artist concert. Who plans concerts on a holiday weekend?? Apparently we do. Or I do, at least - I'm the one who coordinates the schedule, so I suppose it's fair to say I keep shooting myself in the foot, as it were, with that one. And yes, it's April, one of the busiest months of the year. 38 concerts this month, plus festivals and other outside group events taking place at Sac State. Sigh. This month is going to be rough. As it always is. 

But for now, here's to the dawning weekend! The sun has risen and it's nearing 7:00am. The boy should be up soon, and it will be time for breakfast soon. And the day will go on. And oh yeah, it was my birthday yesterday. Did I mention that? Well anyways, birthdays come and birthdays go, and if not for the frequent pinging of my Facebook app from people wishing me well yesterday, it probably would have gone by with but little thought from me. 

Just another day in the week, right?

The Post-Spring Break Narrative

Well Spring Break has come and gone, once again a fairly uneventful benchmark in the school year for me. I did take Thursday and Friday off, and spent the days reading and walking and dreaming. And doing laundry. I took a walk on Sunday in the early morning, too early for most respectable people to be out and about. The greenbelt that frames the biking trail, which is basically a glorified irrigation ditch, had a low-lying misty fog hovering above it like an ethereal blanket. Unfortunately I did not capture it in this photo. It was a tule fog really, and briefly transported me to the Middle Earth of Tolkien's fantasy, at least within my own imagination, and it lasted just as long as I could ignore the existence of tract housing framing either side of the trails. Early morning scenery, damp with mist and early morning dewdrops and full of the charm of mystery, certainly can inspire imaginations. And mine does tend to wander wild. And in the physical sense I wander often. Wanderlust, as the Germans might say.

Of course it may have been a contributing factor that this past weekend I watched the entire Hobbit, which is no small feat, being just shy of eight hours in length. So I found myself to be already predisposed into that mindset of fantasy and lush expansive landscapes. And it has been awhile since I did a movie marathon of sorts like that, and on the literary side I am complementing this by working my way through the entire Tolkien saga, starting with The Simarillon. Goals!

The Simarillon, incidentally, is a bit of a rough read. It's laden with names, names, and more names. From people to rivers to lands to mountains, the book throws a myriad of names at you. And everything and everyone has two or three names - a proper historical name, a modern name, other names that different races have used, and on and on. It's no exaggeration to say that hundreds of names get thrown at you...and sons and siblings often have similar names. Finwe and Finarfin and Fingolfin, oh my!

But anyways, on my walk this past Sunday I started drafting this post in my mind. My best writing is done on my walks, and unfortunately most of it is lost by the time I actually sit down to write. The material that actually gets written is a much more clumsy narrative. I suppose I should take a tip from the late Steve Allen and carry a tape recorder around with me, to record my sudden inspirations in real time. I could be a real profound writer if only I could just spread the content of my brain at will on the page. Like jelly on toast.

Perhaps I could be an author, a novelist even, if only I could find the material to write about that anyone would actually want to read.

I suppose I could write about my wanderlust.

But there's little time for that now, as this week it's back to work, whilst the parents have departed just today on a cruise to Hawaii. Good of them! It is fortunately not a particularly busy week, with only three concerts in four days (this Friday being a holiday, not directly for my birthday but might as well be). The calm before the storm is what it is, as April will bring 38 concerts in 28 days. Busy! I'm not looking forward to that. But it is what it is, and frankly it's not even usual for the first month of spring at Sac State. 

If I survive past this week, one more time, one more year, perhaps I'll write again.

Maybe next time I'll have a more cohesive and prepared narrative to share.

Nah, who am I fooling, it will be my usual pedantic ramblings.

10...

Well it's 10 days till my next birthday. Not a milestone of any sorts, but inching incrementally towards one in any case. Two more years till I hit the 50 mark! And this year marks 30 years since my high school graduation. Wow! 30 years! I don't know if anyone is planning a reunion. There's been some scuttlebutt on the alumni sites about one, but it's hard to say. I haven't been to one, not at 10 or 20 or 25 years. I actually only heard about one happening, at 20 years I think, and I heard about it only a few weeks before it supposedly happened. I had a vacation planned already and was out of town. So it goes.

And it's spring break now at Sac State, weeks before my son's and everyone else's, it seems. Tomorrow, Wednesday, is my Friday, as I've taken the rest of the week off. I haven't made any plans per se. But it should be clear weather-wise for my mini-holiday. It's been raining and windy today and for most of the year so far, it seems. Far more rain than we've been getting in recent years. Which is a good thing. California has been parched! It would be nice to hit the summer and not be inundated with all sorts of several drought warnings and water use restrictions and so on. So we are fortunate to have so much rain, at least so far, in 2023.

I like the rain.

I could do without the wind.

And I've just about recuperated from the time change, the "spring forward", which occurred just over a week ago. Honestly I don't know why we observe this antiquated ritual. It seems no one else does either. Lawmakers argue about it every year, and despite having bipartisan support for its dissolution, no one can ever seem to agree to abolish it. There's been rumors - just rumors - that this was supposed to be the last change. We'd go to Daylight Saving Time this month...and then leave it there. I have no idea if this is true. How can anyone know if anything is true these days?

But it took me awhile to adjust this year. I guess I'm getting old. Oddly, I seem to wake up even earlier despite the time being later. I'm backwards. Maybe it's just psychological. Connor had no problems. His internal clock is in far better shape, resetting itself with ease. I now miss those days!

And while people seem to agree we should stop throwing time back and forth like some intangible sports ball, what they can't seem to agree upon is whether we should stay sprung forward or stay fallen back. Of course not, no one can agree on anything these days. I'd much prefer the Daylight Savings Time, the "spring forward". With work work and school occupying so much of Connor's and my time, why wouldn't we want more daylight in the evening? When we're home, and have some free time. Driving in the dark morning isn't so bad. It really isn't. Nor does it last too long anyway, with the days lengthening slowly but surely. Incrementally.

Like my age.

So here I sit, on the eve of the Friday of my spring break week, struggling to find some point of inspiration to share, to justify the supposed wisdom that should accompany my advanced age. Something that someday, perhaps, my son will read back after I'm long gone and fertilizing some flowers in a field somewhere, that will make him realize I was a pretty thoughtful and interesting person. 

I got nothing.

But that's okay, the world is full of examples of wisdom to share with the general populace. Just check the fortune cookies at your local Chinese restaurant. Smart stuff! But as I approach the top of the proverbial hill - not quite there yet as I'm only turning 48 - I do think the view is pretty good. And as if to prove my point, here's a picture from he North Natomas Regional Park, taken two days ago on the one day of the week where it wasn't cloudy and threatening to wash us all away.

The world is pretty! I hope it's still so, when my son hits the age I am now, and he's looking at the state of things and reminiscing about how his life has gone. I hope he finds that it's gone well, or at least as well as mine has gone. Not that it was any sort of picnic; there were good days and bad days, and good times and bad times, but in general it's gone pretty well. Which is a way of saying I can't complain. No regrets!

And in just over a week and a half I'll hit another birthday, which undoubtedly will feel like just another day in the week, just another day in the month. Honestly I've had enough birthdays, I don't need anymore. Save for the purpose of reminding myself that I'm still alive. Perhaps I'll treat myself out to pancakes that day. 

Well there's something to look forward to. Pancakes! In just 10 more days. Let the countdown begin!