Since then — I am happy to note — more and more research has been done on the extraordinary community of beings who live in our guts AND the fascinating ways that they contribute to our mental and physical health.
All of this research underscores how profoundly our human lives are woven together with the lives of other beings here on planet earth — bacteria, viruses, plants (who provide us with oxygen to breathe, food to eat, and a bunch of medicinal options), fungi, and our fellow animals.
As you probably are well aware, medical science is discovering that it is indeed healthy to eat
A) High-fiber foods — such as whole grains, garlic, onions, leeks, and beans which are considered to be PREBIOTIC-rich foods,
B) Yogurt and kefir (without lots of added sugar) which are considered to be PROBIOTIC-rich sources of beneficial bacteria which can help to diversify and/or replenish our gut biome, and
C) Fermented foods — such as kimchi, kombucha, miso and sauerkraut — which also have lots of live, active, beneficial bacterial cultures.
There are TRILLIONS of bacteria in our guts, and the proportions of more-beneficial bacteria to less-beneficial bacteria are influenced by what we choose to eat.
As I say in my song, “the world within is calling for attention.”
What sort of attention do YOU give to your gut microbiome?
Even though I have not shared a new post for two months, my stats tell me that lots of people continue to visit my blog (maybe because I have over 100 past blog posts to choose from…?)
Whatever the reason, THANK YOU to everyone who keeps finding and reading my blog!
I have loved this song by Dar Williams ever since I first heard it a couple of decades ago.
Dar Williams
Ms. Williams weaves together several fundamental human themes — the value of role models, the heartbreakingly inevitable connection between love and loss, the challenge of female/male power dynamics, and the significance of being trusted — within the framework of a story told by a child about their beloved babysitter.
It is masterful songwriting.
I released it two weeks ago to coincide with the start of the school year here in Massachusetts.
I have several friends whose almost-grownup children are entering college — and they have shared with me that they are feeling simultaneously grateful/proud that their kids are becoming adults AND heart-broken/shocked that their kids are old enough to leave the family nest.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
I do not remember having many babysitters when I was a child.
There was one, however — maybe a friend my mother met at a painting class? — who taught me and my siblings how to cook eggplant moussaka from scratch.
We happily prepared that meal again and again during our child and teen years following her recipe.
It was delicious!
The theme of trust and trustworthiness in Dar’s wonderful song very much reminds me of how respected I felt as a young adult when I was hired to help take care of three small children (one each from three families) who had all dropped out of the same pre-school together.
I myself had recently dropped out of college, and it was a very powerful — and healing — experience to be entrusted with these three little human beings.
Parents have to tap into a deep well of trust to let someone else take care of their children.
Without a lot of interviewing and no background checks, I and two other twenty-somethings were hired to have fun adventures with these three children in shifts during the day while their parents — who were architects, college professors and a child psychiatrist — worked.
We were given the keys to one of their cars (a Saab), three car seats, and a little spending money in case we needed to stop at a grocery store or bakery for treats during the day.
The parents also gave us a book on child development by Penelope Leach from which I learned that I could follow the children’s lead and let them to explore their curiosity/interests — which included (among other things) ants and dogs and pistachios and flowers.
One of my favorite memories is driving with them to a wonderful nature area — the Punkatasset Preserve in Concord, MA — and wandering very slowly up and down the trails so that we could pause whenever something caught the children’s attention.
Their interest in flowers led me to serve them food — such as apple slices, carrot sticks, chunks of cheese — in flower patterns on their plates.
How are they able to capture and transform energy — radiating from a nearby star! — into something delicious we can eat here on planet earth?
What a miraculous blessing…
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
Last week I listened to a interview on YouTube in which an artist manager explained that Spotify’s algorithms seem to reward folks who release music on a monthly basis — and that if one is able to do this for 18-24 months, an exponential increase in streams sometimes kicks in…
This is what he has discerned from the streaming patterns of music released in recent years by a dozen independent musicians he is working with…
I have seen a significant (for me) increase in streams for the six songs which I have released (every three weeks) since the middle of April this year.
My recording of “The Babysitter’s Here,” for example, has gotten more streams (598) on Spotify in two weeks than many of the songs I first released have gotten in two years.
So I am going to stick with my plan to release a song every 3-4 weeks for the next 19 months and see if an exponential increase kicks in…
And any song you “like” or “heart” or add to a playlist will improve the algorithmic activity of my music there.
You are also welcome to visit my website — where you can learn more about my musical life (including upcoming gigs) here on planet earth if you are curious.
Thank you to Dar Williams for writing such a delightful song.
Thank you to the families who trusted me many years ago to take care of their precious children.
Thank you to Doug Hammer for his sublime piano playing AND his patient engineering expertise.
Thank you to the generous photographers and graphic designers at Pixabay — and to my friend Carolyn for the lovely photo she took of.a rainbow from her living room window.
Thank you to Stephen C. Fischer for transforming photos from earlier parts of my life into graphic designs for my current song releases.
Thank you to my neighbors for sharing their beautiful vegetables with me.
And most of all, thank YOU for reading — and listening to — another one of my blog posts!
I just looked up the history of Labor Day, and discovered — no surprise — that it has roots in labor unions.
You can click here to learn more if you are curious — and to see a great photo of an early Labor Day float being pulled by two horses during a celebration in 1916..
I have read that union activity is on an upswing in the USA.
With a current CEO-to-worker compensation ratio estimated to be 400 — meaning that chief executive officers are likely to earn 400 times the annual average salary of production and nonsupervisory workers in their industry — the time seems ripe to re-balance this extraordinarily greedy state of affairs.
I am an inactive member of two unions — SAG/AFTRA (for film and TV) and Equity (for stage) — as a result of working professionally as a child and teenager.
Me modeling as a child…
Go unions!
They are a vital part of our human socety’s interconnected systems of checks and balances.
Deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I originally featured this recording with pianist Doug Hammer of a great Gershwin Brothers song a couple of years ago as part of a very long blog post in which I shared the pros and cons of a chatbot-assisted music marketing strategy as well as some show business history.
Today’s post will be shorter and sweeter.
THANK YOU to everyone who has been streaming my songs in recent months!
“Gold In Them Hills” — which I released a month ago — has just surpassed 1000 streams on Spotify. This translates into approximately $4 worth of income — which is split, I think, between the person who owns the rights to the song (Ron Sexsmith and/or his music publishing company) and the person who owns the rights to this particular recording of his song (which is me).
“Nice Work If You Can Get It” — which I released near the end of June — has been streamed 685 times on Spotify.
So that will earn me another dollar.
Luckily I am in this for the long haul…and I earn enough money from performing at retirement communities and leading Music Together classes to cover my very minimal expenses.
I also feel very fortunate to be making and sharing music as a way to make a (very modest) living.
Music really is “nice work if you can get it.”
A musician named Bree Noble — who also does a lot of teaching and coaching of other musicians — recently sent out an email which I found inspiring.
She wrote:
“Did you know that releasing music — i.e. seeing a beloved project through to completion — can improve your mental health?”
According to her, “studies show that most people desire purpose and connection in their work, and without that, their mental health can suffer.”
“We thrive when we experience ‘birthing’ an idea and seeing it through (to completion) — taking on a project that is our ‘baby’ and nurturing it to ‘adulthood.'”
Releasing music “can give (us) the emotional and spiritual benefits of project ownership — taking on a new challenge, providing a goal to work toward, and giving (us) a …fulfilling event to look forward to.”
Best of all, “not only can the…process (of releasing music) invigorate (our) emotional and spiritual (lives), it can help (our) music reach new people who need to hear it, enriching their lives as well.”
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
I think this wisdom/insight can apply to any creative undertaking — even writing a blog post.
It also reminds me of an article I read recently about folks who live to be over 100 years old.
Researchers have been studying these people’s lives, and many common themes have emerged.
They tend to be optimistic — while also acknowledging the reality of their challenges.
They tend to feel connected with others — as part of an extended family, a circle of friends, a spiritual community, a bowling league, a quilting circle, a fraternal lodge, a blogging community or some other subset of beings here in the interconnected web of life on planet earth.
Their diets tend to be plant-based — eating more vegetables, fruits, beans/legumes, and whole grains AND and more “cooked-from-scratch” meals (meaning less processed/junk food items…)
They tend to get out into nature on a regular basis — walking, biking, swimming, doing tai chi, painting, reading, playing games, etc. — rather than sitting at home and watching TV.
And they tend to have a sense of purpose — whether volunteering their time, sharing their wisdom, contributing to group causes, creating things, etc.
Apparently if we feel that we need to be here on planet earth — contributing in some positive way to our families, friends, children, grandchildren, community, watershed, ecosystem, political system, etc. — we are less likely to die.
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I am curious to learn in the comments about what gives YOU a sense of purpose these days.
Here is a link to “Nice Work If You Can Get It” in case you might like to listen to it on a streaming service.
As I have shared in past blog posts, if you “like” it or “heart” it or add it to a playlist, that improves the algorithmic sharing of my music on that particular streaming service.
Thank you to the Gershwin brothers — Ira (words) and George (music) — for writing such great songs.
Thank you to Doug Hammer for playing so exuberantly on my version of their song AND for being such. a terrific engineer/producer.
Thank you to Stephen Fischer for his skillful graphic design work.
Thank you to labor unions for helping to counter-balance the greed which seems to be an unavoidable part of our capitalistic system of economics.
Thank you to the photographers at Pixabay for their great images.
Thank you to whoever took my photo 50+ years ago on a front staircase somewhere in NYC.
And thank YOU for reading. and listening to another one of my blog posts!
“Music is a great encouragement to people in hard times.”
Deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I also explain in this past blog post about how little money is earned by performers and songwriters from streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, etc.
Spotify, which last year had an almost 50% market share of music streaming worldwide, still pays less than half a cent per stream.
Apple Music was the next biggest player, with almost 25% market share of music streaming worldwide — but paid a penny per stream (almost triple what Spotify paid…)
All of the other music streaming companies share the remaining 25% of worldwide music streaming — and paid anywhere from .00069 cents per stream (YouTube Music) to .017 cents per stream (Napster).
Here’s a graphic representation from this article of all of these numbers.
Suffice to say that I have not been earning any significant money as a result of people streaming the 37 recordings I’ve released during the past 34 months.
Deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
But I DO have the satisfaction of knowing that my music is out there in the world, being listened to by folks in fifty different countries — including the USA, Finland, Canada, Taiwan, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Chile!
“Music is part of what makes the world keep going.”
And in recent months my streaming statistics on Spotify have risen significantly (although my total numbers are still quite modest).
This rise in my stats helps me feel that what I am doing — releasing music — is not entirely futile, useless and/or egotistical.
And it gives me a small sense of hope, which is what Ron Sexsmith’s lovely song does, too.
Hope remains a blessed mystery to me.
I hope you feel at least a tiny kernel of hope in your life.
Recent regional elections here in the USA have renewed my sense of hope in our political process.
And small children — such as those who grace my Music Together classes — also give me a sense of hope as well as a reason to continue to work for a more balanced, sustainable, and respectful future here on planet earth.
I’d be happy to learn in the comments about what gives YOU a sense of hope these days.
Six weeks later, it grew into a pandemic — from which many of us are still recovering…
However, the WHO recently announced that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency.
This is good news.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
Apparently deaths from COVID are at their lowest point since the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.
This is also good news.
However, a lot of people are still continuing to die here in our Not-So-United States of America.
Last night I ordered a pizza and salad from a nearby restaurant, and after I picked it up, a woman waiting outside congratulated me on wearing a face mask.
She, too, was wearing a mask and told me in no uncertain terms that our COVID challenges are not over yet.
In fact, the 40-year-old son of one of her friends had just died from COVID.
Although this is a decline from a peak death toll of 2,500 human beings per day in early 2022, 150 per day still feels like a lot of people dying to me!
And all around the world, people continue to die — one every three minutes — “and that’s just the deaths we know about,” says WHO director general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “COVID-19 is (not) over as a global health threat.”
Yet another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I wrote the song in the player at the beginning of this blog post during the first year of the pandemic.
I was inspired — in part — by the months-long hospitalization of a fellow singer who was on a ventilator for a very, very long time.
Amazingly enough he has managed to recover — and resume singing!
He was cared for by a team of truly courageous nurses, doctors, and support staff who came to work day-in and day-out while most of us were sheltering in place at home.
I bore witness to the dedication and patience of many nurses, doctors and support staff during this time because — exactly as COVID was entering our lives — I was diagnosed with an obscure medical condition called PGNMID.
As the COVID epidemic grew worse and worse, I met with specialists at several hospitals, underwent kidney and bone marrow biopsies. and ended up being given three rounds of six-month-long-treatments — chemotherapy+immunotherapy+steroids the first time, a new immunotherapy drug the second time, and an even newer experimental immunotherapy drug the third time.
I appear to be responding well to the latest round of treatments — and may write more about this experience in a future blog post.
I mention it now because I saw firsthand — on a weekly basis — the brave and loving response of the medical community during that horrible time.
Recently another musical acquaintance shared with me that she stopped working as a nurse a year ago so that she could begin to recover from the stress and trauma of being a nurse during the COVID pandemic.
I know she is not alone…
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
It’s easy to forget — or ignore — the reality that most of the people who have died due to COVID were connected to a web of caregivers, family and friends who are now grieving their loss.
Deep sigh…
Millions of human beings around our planet — myself included — are now struggling to regain their hopefulness, their sense of connectedness with others, their equilibrium, their sense of purpose, and their mental health after being in survival mode for the past few years.
And some folks are also struggling with mysterious, lingering health challenges after being infected with COVID.
A recent interview on Fresh Air with a neuropsychologist named James Jackson reminded me that there are millions of people here on planet earth who continue to experience a wide variety of debilitating symptoms due to their COVID infection — the “long-haulers.”
As the Fresh Air webpage explains, these folks “struggle to remember things, perform basic tasks and solve problems” — which can lead “to a loss of employment, income, and important relationships.”
I have so many thoughts and feelings about COVID — as I am sure you do, too.
Maybe you will be moved to share a little of what you are feeling and thinking these days about the impact of COVID on our lives in a comment at the end of this blog post.
Part of me was tempted when writing this blog post to share a list of the high-profile folks — such as former presidential candidate Herman Cain — who downplayed or actively denied the significance of the COVID virus… and then ended up dying from it.
However, that seemed too disrespectful and schadenfreudey.
I did stumble across an interview earlier this year with a former Republican senator from Oklahoma — Jim Inhofe — in the Tulsa World, in which he explains that one of the reasons he retired was long-term COVID-19 complications.
At the time of his retirement, he said that he had tested positive for “a very mild case” of COVID-19.
But in this interview he admits that it has been much more serious.
I think he is referring to other US senators… but maybe he means members of Congress overall?
He also says: “I try to be careful, but I have to be reminded to do things like wash my hands. I have to do things I’m not used to and that’s difficult sometimes.”
I agree.
It can be VERY difficult for us to change our longtime habits and mindsets and patterns of behavior.
Apparently Inhofe has also been an outspoken climate science denier for decades — and we shall see how that ends up affecting him…and his family…and his former constituents…and all of the rest of the web of life here on planet earth in the upcoming days and weeks and months and years!
I think it’s been pretty hot in Oklahoma in recent weeks…
One final deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
Thank YOU for reading and listening to another one of my blog posts.
I am always surprised and heartened to check my WordPress stats and see that people continue to visit my blog even when I haven’t posted anything new in many weeks.
Thank you to all of my visitors!
And thank you to Pixabay for their wonderful and generous photographers.
Graphic design by Stephen C. Fischer.
And thank you to Doug Hammer for playing his Schimmel grand piano so poignantly AND for helping me to mix/master “Waltzing With COVID-19” via many Zoom sessions during the past two years.
If you are curious to hear more music, you can find me singing — with Doug Hammer playing piano — on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube and other streaming platforms.
And you can listen to “Waltzing With COVID-19” on your favorite streaming platform by clicking here.
Any song you “like” or “heart” or add to a playlist will improve the algorithmic activity of my music there!
I am going to continue to wear a mask whenever I am inside a movie theater or a bus or a subway or a friend’s car (if the windows are rolled up) or a friend’s home or an office or a hospital or a retirement community.
This is a simple way we can continue to respect and care for each other.
We celebrated Patriots’ Day here in Massachusetts earlier this month.
As you probably know, Patriots’ Day commemorates the battles fought nearby in Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy (now part of Arlington) at the start of the American Revolutionary War between colonists and British forces.
All of these events happened quite near where I live — in fact, British soldiers marched past the end of my street (about three houses away) en route to these battles.
And there are historical markers up and down Massachusetts Avenue which document the skirmishes — and often the deaths — which unfolded two hundred and forty eight years ago in my neighborhood.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
I wrote today’s song, “Democracy Is Under Attack,” a couple of years ago after participating in a big march in Boston.
I was inspired by some of the chants I heard during the course of the day.
I am guessing that most readers of my blog are well aware of the astounding political events unfolding these days in the USA.
I had compiled a long list of them to include in this blog post, but today I realize that I do not need to burden or discourage readers in this manner.
I can let my song speak for itself.
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
The great lyricist Yip Harburg — who co-wrote classic songs such as “It’s Only A Paper Moon,” “Over the Rainbow,” and “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? — once said the following:
“Words make you think thoughts. Music makes you feel a feeling. But a song makes you feel a thought.”
I love this idea.
He continues: “Songs have been the not-so-secret weapon behind every fight for freedom, every struggle against injustice and bigotry.”
“(Think of) ‘The Marseillaise’ (or) ‘The Battle Hymn Of The Republic’ or ‘We Shall Overcome’ and many more.”
“Songs are the pulse of a nation’s heart — a fever chart of its health.”
“Are we at peace? Are we in trouble? Are we floundering?”
“Do we feel beautiful? Do we feel ugly?”
“Listen to our songs.”
Thank you, Yip!
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
When I am feeling overwhelmed by the news, I often turn to music for comfort, inspiration and balance.
I also turn to two writers: Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Hubbell.
Each of them shares a very thoughtful — and free — essay on an almost-daily basis which reflects upon what is happening in the USA as well as other parts of planet earth.
I am astounded at how many articles each of them is able to read and then synthesize into a cohesive and uplifting essay.
As I mentioned above, one doesn’t need to pay to read their work, but they DO accept financial contributions to support their work if one has the means to do that.
Here’s an example of Ms. Richardson’s writing from 3/23/23:
“In a democracy, the way parties are supposed to win elections is by making a better case for being in power than their opponents do. Losing elections is supposed to make leaders think deeply about how better to appeal to voters.”
“That system keeps all parties constantly honing their policies, thinking through problems, benefiting their constituents.”
“Our election laws are designed to try to hold the playing field level, and a party should want to keep the system fair in order to keep itself healthy.”
“But if a party is willing to cheat to win, it no longer has to work on policies that appeal to voters; it can simply game the system to dismantle the competition on which democracy depends and instead create a one-party state.”
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
Here are some thoughts from Mr. Hubbell’s post on 4/17/23:
“Americans are fed up.”
“A recent survey by the Navigator Group finds a dramatic increase in the number of Americans who believe gun violence is a top national priority. For tragic reasons, concern over guns is now the third-ranking priority among Americans—behind only inflation and jobs.”
“Strong majorities of Democrats and Independents believe that gun laws should be strengthened — as do 38% of Republicans.”
“The numbers are turning against Republicans on the gun issue. Combined with reproductive liberty, the climate crisis, and attacks on LGBTQ rights, MAGA extremists have picked the wrong side of nearly every major social and political issue challenging America. Although they can control legislation through gerrymandered legislatures, that is a losing game over time.”
“Democrats can win at the statewide and national level—where they can block G.O.P. lawlessness and enact gun reform.”
“We have a path forward — through grass-roots politics. It will be long and arduous, but we have a path forward. Let’s take it.”
Their essays are a welcome antidote to the firehose of information —and seemingly endless speculation — blasted at us by our media
Yet another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
So what to do?
I keep singing — with my Music Together families, with my friends Carole and Molly, with the residents of retirement communities and assisted living facilities, while I am washing dishes at home, and while I walk around my neighborhood.
And I keep giving tiny amounts of money to politicians — like the two young representatives in Tennessee who were recently kicked out and then reinstated — as well as organizations devoted to preserving/expanding our ability to vote.
And I keep reading my fellow bloggers posts.
And every now and then I write one myself.
I will end with a couple of quotations.
One is by President Joseph R. Biden (and/or one of his speechwriters):
“Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.”
The other is by Mahatma Gandhi:
“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”
Thank you to the photographers at Pixabay for the images in this post.
Thank you to Doug Hammer for his tremendous piano playing and expert engineering skills.
Thank you to anyone and everyone who sings-along — with this blog post, in my Music Together classes, at my gigs, while listening on a streaming platform, etc.
Thank you to Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Hubbell for your ongoing analysis and insights.
And thank you to YOU for reading and listening to this blog post.
If you are curious to hear more music, you can also find me singing — with Doug Hammer playing his Schimmel grand piano — on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube and other streaming platforms.
And you can stream “Democracy Is Under Attack” by clicking here.
Any song you “like” or “heart” or add to a playlist will improve the algorithmic activity of our music there!
While all sorts of extremely important events continue to unfold around the world on a daily basis, life — blessedly — goes on here in East Arlington, MA.
Last fall I discovered — and began happily patronizing — an organic farm within biking distance of my home.
It sits on the edge of an old reservoir which currently serves as a nature preserve.
The reservoir straddles the border of my town and the next town to the west — Lexington, where our Revolutionary War kicked off two hundred and forty eight years ago with a battle against the British.
I have known about this reservoir — which is no longer used for drinking water — for the past thirty years.
Yet I have rarely visited it because I live on the east side of town, and the reservoir is located on west side of town.
Biking there takes 25 minutes, and it’s mostly up hill — following a converted rail-to-trail bike path.
However, this past fall I resumed leading Music Together classes indoors at a karate studio which is located five blocks from the reservoir.
And not long after we had begun our fall term, someone (we still don’t know who) drove into one of the karate studio’s front walls.
This meant that we had to find alternative locations for our classes while repairs were being made.
A couple of my Music Together families offered to let us hold class in their backyards — and one of those families lives a block away from the reservoir.
So one morning after class in their backyard was done, I decided to explore the reservoir on my bike.
Photo courtesy of Lexington Community Farm website
It turns out there is a lovely path all the way around it — and when I reached the far side of the reservoir, I found myself gazing onto a field full of vegetables!
And then I saw a sign welcoming people to walk through the farm and — on Fridays and Saturdays — buy fresh vegetables at their farmstand.
Because I had been part of a summer/fall farmshare of fresh produce which was driven to Arlington each week from an organic farm in New Hampshire, I did not visit their farmstand right away.
But when my farmshare ended in November, I decided to check it out.
What a thrill to enter a room full of very locally grown — and vibrantly colored — organic carrots, potatoes, lettuces, sweet potatoes, scallions, leeks, collard greens, swiss chard, kale, turnips, beets.. and the list went on and on and on!
I bought a bunch of leeks, a bunch of kale and a bunch of collard greens.
And I rode home very happily on the bike path with all of them erupting in different shades of green out of a shopping bag in the front basket of my bike.
We are now experiencing a stretch of wintery weather in Arlington after a relatively mild December, January and February (during which I have been able to continue riding my bike!)
The first crocus and snowdrops appeared in our front yard two weeks ago, but they are now buried under an icy crust of snow.
This week we are experiencing snow and sleet and rain, but I trust that spring will return before too long — with more croci and snowdrops and mini-Siberian irises and grape hyacinths poking their way out of the soil and opening their flowers to the sun.
I also trust that activity will resume in the fields and greenhouses of Lexington Community Farm.
My longing for spring is what has inspired me to share a recording of “The Garden Song” by Dave Mallett which Carole Bundy, Molly Ruggles and I included on our first eight-song CD last summer.
As you probably already know, you can play it by clicking at the very beginning of this blog post.
You can also listen to it on various streaming platforms by clicking here.
Thank you to all of the people who make the Lexington Community Farm a reality — inch by inch and row by row!
Thank you to Carole Bundy and Molly Ruggles for learning this song with me.
And thank you to Mother Nature for bringing everything back to life here in the northern hemisphere of planet earth!
You are always welcome to visit my website — where you can find many songs and learn more about my musical life here on planet earth if you are curious.
You can find me and Carole and Molly singing on various streaming platforms by clicking here.
You can also find me singing — with Doug Hammer playing his Schimmel grand piano — on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube and other streaming platforms.
Any song you “like” or “heart” or add to a playlist will improve the algorithmic activity of our music there!
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
And most of all, thank YOU for reading another one of my blog posts!
So far this winter I’ve managed to avoid being infected by the flu, strep, Covid, RSV, and the common cold — all of which are leaping from one human host to the next here in the Boston area.
Maybe it’s because I remain an ardent wearer of face masks whenever I am indoors — leading Music Together classes, performing at retirement communities, shopping for groceries at Trader Joe’s, riding public transportation, or going to see a movie.
Deep breath of gratitude in.
Deep breath of gratitude out.
As some of you may be aware from news I’ve shared on Facebook, I was invited to participate in a 50th anniversary reunion concert with (most of) the remaining members of the original cast of the musical PIPPIN at a nightclub called 54 Below in the theater district of Manhattan.
I wrote a blog post in 2016 about my time as a standby for the role of Theo in PIPPIN when I was ten years old which you can read by clicking here if you are curious.
After I wrote that post — in which I wondered if any of the original cast members remembered me — I nosed around online to try and find contact information for any other original cast members.
I found one listed as a teacher at a performing arts school in Colorado — with what appeared to be a current email address — and sent her a message.
I was very touched to receive an enthusiastic reply in which said that she DID remember me!
She also shared that the remaining members of the cast stayed in regular contact — and that she specifically recalled a conversation we once had backstage about how I felt no pressure from my parents to stay in show business as I grew older.
I don’t remember that conversation, but it rings true…
Neither of my parents had any experience with the advertising/entertainment industries, but my mom had grown up in Queens, NY, and every summer my siblings and I and my mother would return to her childhood home and stay with my grandmother for a couple of months while my father stayed at our home in Washington, DC (he worked for the Department of Agriculture) and commuted up on the weekends to visit.
In 2017 I also wrote a blog post about how much I loved my summers at 47-39 197th Street — right on the border between Bayside and Flushing — and what it was like doing commercials, voice-overs, TV shows and movies as a child and teenager which you can read by clicking here if you are curious.
After I learned that I’d been cast as a standby in PIPPIN, I remember sitting on the brick stoop in front of my grandmother’s house and thinking very excitedly that my life was about to change…
And it did.
I think my parents said “Yes” to me being a standby A) because they thought it would be fascinating to see how a Broadway musical is put together; B) because PIPPIN would be previewing at the newly-constructed Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (where we had lived for seven years); and C) because most Broadway musicals end up failing…
But PIPPIN did not fail, and I ended up living year-round at my grandmother’s house — which meant that I could audition a lot more (for commercials, voice-overs, made-for-TV movies, and plays), and my career as a child performer took off.
Until it gently crashed back to earth a few years later, and I entered a prep school called Hotchkiss.
But that is another story.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
In the fall of 2021 I was surprised to be contacted by a journalist who was writing a book about how PIPPIN came to be created.
After stressing to her that I had just been a ten-year-old standby for the very small role of Theo and probably had nothing important or insightful to share with her, she still wanted to interview me.
So we had a pleasant phone call and — to my surprise…. as well as my chagrin — I ended up being quoted a couple of times in her book, MAGIC TO DO, which came out in October 2022 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of PIPPIN opening at the Imperial Theatre in NYC.
My third PIPPIN-related surprise was being contacted last summer by the original standby for the role of Pippin, Walter Willison, who has had an illustrious career in the entertainment industry.
He told me he was organizing a 50th Anniversary musical event at a lovely club in Manhattan called 54 Below which would feature original members of the cast.
And he wondered if I’d be willing to join this musical adventure.
I reminded him that I had only been the standby for the role of Theo.
But he very patiently persisted with his invitation, and — with equal amounts of excitement and fear — I finally agreed.
Another deep breathe in.
And deep breath out.
I found his invitation to be quite profound because I have had an anxiety dream at least once a year for the past fifty years in which I am asked to fill in at the last minute for one of the cast members in PIPPIN.
In this nightmare I gamely attempt to learn (and/or recall) the necessary dialogue, choreography and blocking while being rushed into someone else’s costume…
Then the curtain rises, and I hit the stage with everyone else, and I try to keep up with what’s happening all around me…
And then I wake up in a cold sweat.
So Walter was basically inviting me to live out this dream/nightmare in real life with most of the remaining original cast members as my companions!
One more deep breath in…
And deep breath out..
Long story short… the four performances at 54 Below happened earlier this week — and were very well received!
PIPPIN Reunion cast at 54 Below (I am on the very left side of this illustrious lineup!) — Photo by Stephen C. Fischer
I will probably write at least one more blog post about the experience — which was full of many funny moments, poignant moments, loving moments, anxiety-inducing moments, joyful moments and much, much more!
I am deeply grateful to have been asked to participate — and very curious to see if I ever have my PIPPIN-related anxiety dream/nightmare again…
Thank you for reading another one of my blog posts.
Thank you to Walter Willison for the HUGE amount of work he did to make these performances a reality — and for inviting me to participate!
Thank you to all of the beloved original cast members of PIPPIN who welcomed me back into their hearts — forty nine years after I had outgrown my role as standby for Theo and left the cast.
Thank you to the people whom I did not already know — music director Michael Lavine plus performers Joy Franz and Aaron Lee Battle) who also participated in this musical adventure.
Thank you to Doug Hammer and Mike Callahan for recording “Magic To Do” with me as part of a show we did at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston called WILL LOVES STEVE — which featured songs written by Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Steve Sweeting, Stevie Wonder, Stephen Flaherty, Cat Stevens and Steve Schalchlin.
And thank you to Stephen Schwartz for writing all the songs for PIPPIN — which people around the world (including me) love to sing!
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
You are always welcome to visit my website — where you can find many songs and learn more about my musical life here on planet earth if you are curious.
Any song you “like” or add to one of your playlists will greatly improve the algorithmic activity of my music there.
I hope you stay well.
And I welcome any comments you may be inspired to write.
I will close with a photo of the moon over Central Park which I took as I was walking up Broadway at Columbus Circle after our second afternoon of rehearsals…
Thank you to everyone who continues to read my blog posts — old and new!
Today is a rainy and windy day in the greater Boston area.
Now that it’s December, part of me wishes that it were snow falling insead of rain.
The sentimental part of me, that is.
The practical part of me — who would be helping to shovel it from our sidewalk, porches, and driveway — is OK with rain.
I was very grateful to read recently that Massachusetts has mostly recovered from last summer’s drought due to the rain which has fallen in recent months.
But as most of us know, the rest of the world is not as fortunate — with water levels falling to unprecedented levels in the western and southwestern parts of the USA, for example.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
I wrote a blog post in January 2020 which featured an older version of today’s song.
You can click here to check it out if you are curious. I went wild with lots of water imagery from Pixabay…
However, in keeping with my current resolve to share shorter blog posts, I will include fewer photos today.
I’ve been getting acupuncture on a regular basis for 30+ years.
My practitioners have been part of the five-element school of acupuncture, which is an extremely wise and beautiful branch of acupuncture.
Each patient, for example, is viewed as a garden to be tended to by the practitioner in order that all five elements/phases of our body/mind/spirit — water, wood, fire, earth, and metal —remain harmonious and in balance.
The water element corresponds — among many other things — with the season of winter, with the feeling of fear (and/or the lack of fear), with the taste of salt, with the sound of groaning, with slowing down/resting/sleeping, with meditating, and with the experience of not-knowing.
You can click here for a linkto an acupuncturist’s webpage which describes more about the water element if you are curious.
Most of us are a blend of all five elements/phases.
I, for example, was diagnosed by J. R. Worsley as a Wood type — with Earth and Water within (ie: Mud as I like jokingly to say).
He recommended, among other things, that I do more swimming — and in the years since my diagnostic visit with him I have spent many hours in pools, lakes, ponds and oceans.
Recently, however, I have become less excited about swimming in the crowded chlorinated pool — which also hosts swimming classes for children of all ages — nearest my home.
So nowadays I swim in lakes and ponds (and occasionally the ocean) during the warmer months of the year — although a friend and I did have share a brisk, final swim in Walden Pond this past October.
It is very easy for many of us to take fundamental blessings such as daily access to clean water for granted.
I continue to be a fan of counting one’s blessings as an antidote to the onslaught of news and commercial messages with which most of us are bombarded every day via social media, television, radio, ads on the sides of busses, etc.
May we all be mindful of ways that we can conserve and honor and re-use the water flowing through our faucets, our showers, our baths, our washing machines, our dishwashers, our veins, our arteries, our lymphatic vessels, our skin, our tear ducts, our plants, our forests, our systems of agriculture, etc.
I will end with a few more delightful images from Pixabay of different forms of water.
Thank you to all of the photographers who share their work there.
Thank you to Doug Hammer for contributing his artistry to my song as a pianist and as an engineer.
You are always welcome to visit my website — where you can find many songs and learn more about my musical life here on planet earth if you are curious.
They also both opened my eyes to how complicated, interconnected and corrupt our human-created world can be… especially when our wounded hearts lead us astray into greed, retribution, domination and revenge.
I watched several episodes before bedtime; so it is probably not a surprise that I woke up in the middle of the night and was unable to fall back asleep…
So I got out of bed and skimmed my inbox — which these days means that I deleted inumerable emails asking for money from all sorts of political candidates and organizations — until I found two uplifting pieces of information.
1) News that Catherine Cortez Masso is projected to win her senate race here in the USA.
As Michelle explains it on her Boomer Eco Crusader blog, ikigai is similar to the French idea of raison d’être — which means “reason or justification for existence.”
And one can explore ikigai by reflecting upon four ideas/concepts/topics:
You are always welcome to visit my website — where you can find many songs and learn more about my musical life here on planet earth if you are curious.
You can also find “A Beating Heart” on various digital music platforms by clicking here.
You can also find me singing — with Doug Hammer playing his Schimmel grand piano — on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube and other digital music platforms.
Any song you “like” or “heart” or add to one of your playlists will improve the algorithmic activity of my music there!
amusicalifeonplanetearth 