Three Worlds/ Three Days (8/20)

How astonishing to consider that the same fellow who woke up on Saturday morning and walked down barefoot in the sand to swim in Lake Michigan walked through a foggy Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Sunday. Went to his bank and buy some bagels and cream cheese to enjoy a brunch with his two daughters and their good friend Ariel, visiting with her 3-year old son Walker from Germany where she had moved. Ariel was not only our neighbor growing up but went to the SF School with my daughters Kerala and Talia for 11 years. So after the bagel brunch, we had a “school singing time’ with guitar and piano, going through the impressive list of songs Ariel had been singing to her son. He sang with us and occasionally accompanied the songs on rubber chicken.

 

And then on Monday night (really Tuesday because of the International Date Line), that same fellow (me!) was sitting at a vegetarian restaurant in Beijing with some music colleagues, one of whom he first met in China 20 years ago. The familiar 15-course vegetarian feast— lotus root, Chinese yam, black bean tofu, eggplant and peppers, butternut squash, Chinese greens, chicken, shrimp over glass noodles, peanuts and melon seeds, salad, mushroom tea and more! (Note not a single grain or rice.) 

 

These the miracles (much to the body’s confusion!) of modern travel. Three distinct places in three (technically, four) days. Ahead lies the body’s hope to catch up to itself, like a part sung in canon finally joining with the main melody. I’m back at the same hotel as last year, but then each day was sunny with 95-degree (Fahrenheit) temperatures and today there was a thunderstorm and the air is considerably cooler. 

 

Originally, I was to begin teaching my Jazz Course, but for a variety of reasons, some people dropped out at the last minute and there wasn’t enough to make the course run. So while initially disappointing, I realized I have a little vacation time! My good friend Cao Li who organized the course decided to take me on a little trip to a countryside town to make up for the cancellation. I always enjoy spending time with her and have only been to big cities in China, so the new plan suited me well. I met with a publisher interested in translating two books I published under my Pentatonic Press, enjoyed a fine meal of pea shoots and tofu (two dishes instead of the over-the-top feast!) and took a walk in the nearby park. 

 

Michigan was a mere four days ago but feels like another lifetime. So is the life of this traveling music teacher.