A new year, with new hopes
01/18/10 04:14
It’s MLK Day today. A day to reflect on past and
current struggles: the stark images of Haiti, the fight
for universal health care, the battered economy. Like
everyone, the new economic realities have hit home:
selling the ‘second’ car, putting off completing the
new CDs for the moment (we now have two in process),
and cutting back in a lot of areas around the house.
Despite all the difficulties, there have been some wonderfully bright spots. We spent 10 days in China in October, playing concerts and giving masterclasses in Beijing and Qingdao. The hospitality of our hosts was truly unrivaled. They were so very generous, the food was incredible and the hotels were excellent. It was an amazing experience. We took the Chinese ‘Bullet’ Train from Beijing to Qingdao and saw much of the countryside. Almost all the labor was done by hand in the fields. One of the most amazing sites was the acre upon acre of green houses. While there were open fields in places, the majority of what we could see from the train in rural areas were plastic homemade green houses stretching as far as the eye could see.
Since then we have enjoyed club dates and private parties in Chicago, Madison, Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania.
We are looking ahead to fun summer concerts. It looks like we’ll be on the west coast for a week in early to mid June (San Francisco and LA), on the east coast for a week in early July (in D.C.), and in Kansas City after that.
In the meantime I continue to teach and have started cooking at a neighborhood pub/bistro, helping to create dishes for a new menu. Another creative outlet.
Despite all the difficulties, there have been some wonderfully bright spots. We spent 10 days in China in October, playing concerts and giving masterclasses in Beijing and Qingdao. The hospitality of our hosts was truly unrivaled. They were so very generous, the food was incredible and the hotels were excellent. It was an amazing experience. We took the Chinese ‘Bullet’ Train from Beijing to Qingdao and saw much of the countryside. Almost all the labor was done by hand in the fields. One of the most amazing sites was the acre upon acre of green houses. While there were open fields in places, the majority of what we could see from the train in rural areas were plastic homemade green houses stretching as far as the eye could see.
Since then we have enjoyed club dates and private parties in Chicago, Madison, Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania.
We are looking ahead to fun summer concerts. It looks like we’ll be on the west coast for a week in early to mid June (San Francisco and LA), on the east coast for a week in early July (in D.C.), and in Kansas City after that.
In the meantime I continue to teach and have started cooking at a neighborhood pub/bistro, helping to create dishes for a new menu. Another creative outlet.