Summer Vacation

I work part-time for the Corning Union Elementary School District during the school year.  I work 117 days each calendar year.  My last day of work for the 2014-2015 school year was yesterday.  I am now on "summer vacation" until August 16th.  Karen retired in June of 2014.

I walk 3.6 miles in the morning each day starting at 5:10 am; with laps interspersed with Taijiquan forms practice.  I teach yoga 3 or 4 evenings each week from 5:20 - 6:40 pm.  I lift weights at the gym 5 days each week from 4 to 5 pm.

We both work on home improvement projects, water, and garden each day.  During the hottest time of each day, we read, research and write indoors.  We use a simple evaporation cooler and a couple of fans to keep us comfortable during the hottest time of each summer day. 

This summer I will complete Phase 4 (indexing and concordance) for my Tao Te Ching project.  As usual, I will post to the Cloud Hands Blog each day. 

We listen to a lot of New Age music in MP3 digital format as well as use Pandora.  I also listen to a good deal of string quartet music.

I have four books of intellectual history that I plan to read, as well as the Essays of Michel de Montaigne.

This summer I will learn and use Photoshop CS5, AskSam 6, and the Atlantis word processor. 

I plan to watch parts of the Tour de France starting on July 4th. I enjoy the scenic and historical commentary, as well, of course, as the tactics and athleticism of the bike riders.  I seldom have ridden a bike in my lifetime, although I rode small motorcycles for 12 years for transportation in the city. 

Karen and I will complete the repair, painting, and remodeling of our back porch.  We will finish removing three dead trees and four overgrown trees in the wrong locations.  We will rent a dumpster and clean up materials stored in our far south field. We will tend our summer vegetable garden and enjoy the harvests. 

Our children and their families will be visiting us in late June and early July.  Karen and I will join my two brothers and their wives in Bodega Bay, California, and in Peyton, Colorado, for the Blaize Reunion.  Karen and I will also go up to Portland once. 

So, assuming good health, we will have a busy, productive, and pleasurable summer vacation.

If our son is fortunate enough to get a kidney transplant (he has waited 4 years), then Karen will go to Portland for six weeks to help him during recovery, and we will help with finances.  That event would make it a wonderful and perfect summer.

Raku: Music for the Relaxing Arts

Music for the Relaxing Arts

Raku by PC Davidoff and Friends

Meditation

Nature Mysticism

A fine way to start of the day: sitting in the garden at daybreak and listening to
Raku. 

Working, Reading, Listening

I have been very busy with home improvement projects, gardening, reading, loading and testing software on my new HP desktop computer, weightlifting, walking, and writing.

It has been very hot, over 100F, each day in the afternoon.  These high temperatures make outdoor work or exercise after 11 am quite difficult for us.   

Karen and I work Tuesday and Wednesday at our school jobs this week.  Starting on Thursday, we are off work at our school jobs for summer vacation.  Karen retires this Thursday, 6/14.

I have enjoyed reading the following two books about the history of string quartets.  First, "The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet" edited by Robin Stowell, 2003, 373 pages.  This was a Father's Day gift from Karen.  My daughter gave me three string quartet albums for Father's Day.  Second, I am also reading Paul Griffith's "The String Quartet: A History," 1983, 240 pages.  Both are difficult reading for me when it comes to the detailed explanations about the musical theory of particular compositions.  I can neither play music nor can I read music.  I'm more interested in the historical development, biographical and cultural backgrounds, the technology of the instruments and recording, and innovations.

This week, I listened to Beethoven's String Quartets, Opus 18, No. 1-6.  They were played by the Tokyo String Quartet.  I listened to the MP3 digital recordings.  Clear, crisp, exciting!  These string quartets were composed by Beethoven from 1798 to 1800.

Also, I have been listening to Kitaro's "The Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai," Volumes I - IV, 2006-2010.  This music is classified as "New Age Music."  The Ku-Kai albums were nominated for New Age Grammy awards.