Peddle and Paddle

And so we turn the corner for Week Two of this marvelous Orff Course. The first day always feels like a week, the second week like a day. Such is Time.

The weekend was a welcome and needed rest. Mission Impossible movie Friday night, kayaking with the teachers on Saturday and Eighth Grade movie that night. The kayaking wasn’t as wonderful as it sounded, slogging through seaweed, my seat popping out, a posture that was uncomfortable for my back while paddling. But I did enjoy passing the playful sea otters and seeing some jellyfish near the tip of my paddle.

Sunday was renting electric bikes and zipping around the Monterey coast, mostly the 17-mile drive through the Pebble Beach Golf Courses. Last time I rode one of these was in Salzburg some 7 years ago (wrote a blog called Acoustic Bicycles) and I remembered the same sensation of pedaling and getting that extra little electric lift, like the wind at your back effortlessly doubling your effort. I liked it. A metaphor for your guardian angels or all the seen and unseen hands that gently push you forward in the direction you’re pedaling. However, a bit dangerous, as you can get spoiled by it and when it gives out (electricity did run out on one of our four bicycles), you’re stuck with a heavy bike that’s harder to peddle. Better stick to the acoustic versions, depend on nothing but your own effort and enjoy the wind at your back when it comes.

That’s my DTOF (Deep Thought of the Day) as I turn towards today’s classes. 400 years of Western music history sung, played, danced and analyzed in 90 minutes. On I go, peddling and paddling through the promise of a new day.