Homage to November

And so the last day of November and the year is drawing to a close. Yesterday it snowed briefly up here in Portland, Oregon and last night we shivered away through the Zoo Lights, the magical electrical exhibit difficult to appreciate in the 32-degree night air and a dinner of popcorn and pretzels while waiting an hour for the five-minute train ride through the zoo. The highlight of the evening was the Max train ride back home, with Zadie telling some stories to herself, with gestures, facial expressions and intonations that would rival the best professional storyteller. This morning, my computer is a rectangular sheet of ice before the heat kicks in, this wimpy San Franciscan glad he doesn’t live in Minnesota and wondering about Florida retirement real estate. (Though if I headed South, I'd go to Rio!)

It has been quite a month. The San Francisco Day of the Dead celebration, the Orff Conference in Nashville, my Family Jazz workshop at NJPAC in Newark, New Jersey, a neighbor’s memorial service, a school alum’s baby shower, granddaughter Zadie’s 3^rd birthday and daughter Talia’s 30^th. 

A joyful month of teaching at school, made yet more delightful by the presence of the enthusiastic Interns and their own contributions as they begin to teach the kids. The Holiday Show scripts are written and cast as we turn toward the last three weeks of the Fall Semester rich with ritual, performance and celebration. The days are shorter, the air is colder and a few blessed rains have watered drought-stricken California, with hopes for more and yet more to come.

Here in Portland, the family stays warm under thick blankets before waking up to the day’s possibilities. One thought is to take Zadie to her first movie in a movie theater. (I believe we took her mom Kerala to her first movie at 12-days old!) As I write, I hear the doorknob turn and out steps Zadie! No contest between a morning hug from my darling granddaughter and clicking on these computer keys. Thanks to November and onward!