Month: June 2021

MusikHaus

Light at the end of the Tunnel

I got a call from the Orthopedic Surgeon’s office today. They told me I could stop wearing the sling on Monday, the 28th. Hallelujah! This thing is like wearing a sweater – in Florida, … in summer. I am looking very forward to Monday. Physical therapy is going exceedingly well. I am regaining mobility in the shoulder and the therapist just told me to cut back to one visit a week until July, when we’ll be done with stretching and launch into strengthening (Oh boy….)

Meanwhile, this weekend Michelle and I are going on a daytrip to Miami to the immersive Van Gogh exhibit at the Olympia Theatre in downtown Miami. It’s probably hokey, but it’s an excuse for us to take advantage of what Florida has to offer. They limit the audience, so we are scheduled to be there at noon for a 90 minute event. We’ll get up Saturday morning and drop Loki off at the doggie daycare for play and overnight boarding and then drive I-75 south to Naples and then east (Alligator Alley) to Miami, getting there about 11:00 so we have plenty of time to find parking and stroll around the heart of Miami. After the exhibit we have reservations at one of the better restaurants downtown. We should be back on the road by 4:00 and home by 7:30pm.

We love living here in paradise.

 

Hope you are all happy and healthy. Stay in touch.

 

I’ll be boating again soon!!! 

MusikHaus

On the Mend

For those who have asked, I am doing well. Computing is a challenge as I cannot use both hands – mouse is verboten. This text is laboriously being typed (with many bad words spoken aloud) with one-fingered left hand. My physical therapist is impressed with my progress and has cleared me to drive sparingly with one hand while keeping myself in my shoulder brace. This driving does NOT include my manual transmission convertible (!). At any rate, I do not intend to push my limits.

I’ve been incommunicado because at almost the same time I had surgery, Markus Utz received funding and green light for a series of concerts and recording sessions for my editions of Heinrich Isaac’s Choralis Constantinus motets, which have been my life’s work ever since 1982. He sent a list of motets that he wishes to perform and record and, of course, many were not in final form according to my latest standards. So I have been sitting at the computer with a track ball on top of a pillow (so my shoulder does not move) trying to work Finale with my left hand. Much profanity ensues….

But, Markus begins rehearsing this weekend and needed some music that I had not even begun. Then, he also got funding to add instrumentalists, so I am in the process of generating instrumental parts for the 22 motets in the queue.

The first recording session is early July. I would have liked to attend, but it is too soon after the surgery. Markus assures me that the process with extend into the fall and next year, so I am hopeful I can attend either a concert or a recording session. Meanwhile, he tells me that I am writing the CD liner notes (!). No pressure there.

Needless to say, I have done little else other than focus on Isaac. Poor Michelle has had to be my chauffeur until yesterday. Loki doesn’t get much exercise and the house is pretty dirty. I am (kinda) keeping up with laundry, but have had to hire out the yardwork.

Despite all that, the light is visible at the end of the tunnel. 11 more days in the sling. PT continues and I am scheduled to go back to work on August 8.  Michelle and I have managed to grab a few moments for fun. We went together for haircuts last weekend (I needed something that would not require using two hands. Check see the result at the right.) Then we stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall place next door to the hair salon for supper because it was pouring rain (Thank God, we need rain). King’s Kitchen, Fort Myers. Amazing service, amazing food. 

Next weekend we’re heading to Miami for an immersive Van Gogh exhibit. Drop off Loki at the kennel in the morning and take the 2.5 hour drive to downtown Miami. We’ll  take in the exhibit at noon and have reservations at a great restaurant for an early dinner and then drive back to Fort Myers and be home by 6:30pm. We LOVE living here.

So, Thanks to all of you who expressed birthday wishes. I’m older and no more wiser. Always happy to hear from you.