My day is always enhanced when I make a musical connection

Maybe I can grasp classical music after all.

It is a mere six mile flat run from College Of Marin where I take Alexander Vereshagin‘s Russian Music course. I do it mostly to spend a bit of time with Carol (world famous mother-in-love) and give her neck-and-back rubs during the listening sequences…Plus, this is one of those classes they are always threatening to close for Lack Of Popularity… “emeritus” classes. Every other student has silver hair, if any hair, there are canes under the chairs, and yet they perch intentlly as our prof, a wizardly stand-up comic and former conductor of the St. Petersburg Orchestra regales us with far-ranging stories that let us know about him and his life as well as passing his musical fervor on to us…

He commutes 60 miles from Redwood City in the South Bay, to get what, a hundred bucks or so per afternoon? It definitely doesn’t “pencil out” but I guess he’s as dedicated to his class as they are to him .Most have returned year after year to learn from him… yeah, I have come on over to it. Classical music. I couldn’t believe it when I actually recognized Tchaikovsky without realizing it. We were tuned into the 4th sonata by Tch, and I whispered to Carol, “doesn’t this remind you of that Yvgeny Onegin opera we heard last year?” She nodded.

Today, it was a bicycle connection…on my street. Upon return from COM class, the smell of figs drew me into Keith’s grassy yard, where the figs hide like Easter eggs (or in his eyes, shoe-goo) in the soft verdure.

The downstair’s renter’s door was wide open, and as I approached to ask permission to glean (with helmet already loaded) a young man greeted me.
“Hey, I’m gathering yr fruit, s’okay?” i smiled.
“Oh indeed. But here, the better ones are up here..”
Nah, those are YOURS I say, feeing generous.
I can only eat about 10 figs a day anyhow…Charlie too.

So we blither a bit about the Tragedy of Fruit Laying About in Marin, Unenjoyed. Somehow it led me to, oh, by the way, if you see the movie “How To Cook Your Life”, you’ll get 3 minutes of me.. and he replied excitedly,
“We saw the trailer when we were at Into The Wild at the Rafael…YOU’RE the one who was whispering about those apples being the best in Marin…but the people didn’t like to share? My girlfriend thought that was the best part of the preview..”
“Yep. It was on this street, just over there…those folks are the Only Republicans on Dogbark Lane”
and we were off and flying on the topic of Waste, Marin consumerism, his ten years at the Calif. Conservation Corps, and how he needs to quit, for some time to re-think his life..
“Move to Italy”
“We were thinking of living abroad, but don’t know what we’d get for work”.
“Just go, and muddle”
Typical JP career advice.
Ready, Fire, Aim.
Worked for me..
Ah, must turn into a bumpkin, it’s really late. Or early. J’ai besoin de sommeil.