she gives an assignment; they receive it and post it to a shared server, she has to read it and mark it and repost it; I'm sure that the kids are finding it tiring too.
Duncan received his bulletin today; it wasn't catastrophic, but his results are less good that the first bulletin, and frankly that wasn't stellar either. He's not moving in the right direction, so we are trying to encourage him to take some initiative and use this time for some disciplined review of the material that he didn't master earlier in the year. He did receive a code to log into his school's homework server, and he's at another computer that I set up in the attic, doing that right now. It's lucky that I am a bit of a pack rat when it comes to computers, so there are plenty to go around.
My run yesterday was nice: 15km in beautiful 16 degree weather... I didn't push my pace very much but stayed around the 6 minute per kilometre mark, and my heart rate never hit the high zone. I realise that I am now in pretty good shape from a cardiovascular point of view: I took a look at a similar run in Auderghem from around this time last year, and at the same pace and distance but less elevation climb, I was in zone five (the top heart rate) for two-thirds of the run back then, while for this race I was in zone three for the same amount. I have been trying to increase my distances to prepare for the Bouillonnante race that is scheduled for the end of April, but I am not optimistic that it will happen, given all of the other public events that have been cancelled.
When I got back from running I found that Bonnie had made a nest in my bluejeans, so I didn't want to disturb her and wore a different pair from the dresser instead. The animals seem to be enjoying the fact that there are lots of people around to give them attention. Yoshi is a bit of a pain when we are working outside though, because he associates the garden with playing catch, and is insistent that we throw the frisbee for him, even when we are trying to work. But he gets lots of kilometrage by going alternately with me and with Maggie.
After I got cleaned up after my run, I decided to finally take the opportunity to do one of my favourite solitary activities: sit in the garden with a good book, smoke a cigar, and drink a nice Trappist beer. I do not often smoke cigars, and have been so busy with singing until now that I think it might be my second one since September.
We've been eating pretty well: for breakfast I made burritos with scrambled eggs from our hens, shredded ham, shallots, green peppers, red salsa, and shredded queso oaxaca, which Maggie and I last enjoyed in Oaxaca, Mexico, back at Christmas 1995. Oaxaca cheese is made so that it shreds into strings easily, and so it works well in a breakfast burrito. I buy it from MexiGo, our Mexican importer, the same place that I also buy my Mott's Clamato when I get a hankering for a Bloody Caesar.
Yesterday we also took advantage of the nice weather to have lunch sandwiches outside in the garden.
Today it is still nice out, but overcast, and so I am starting a few small projects. I did some garden tidying, picking up branches and twigs, and other garden waste, and Duncan cut the lawn for the first time this year. Maggie has requested english muffins, so that has to get started this afternoon. And I think that I'll get some fresh air, walk over to the AVEVE store and see if it's still open, so that I can make some decisions about garden plants.
There are other projects: I measured up the kitchen cabinets that we reclaimed from that client, and will send them to Christopher, so maybe we can get going on that job this week or weekend. And the attic work can resume; I'm not sure if I can get the plumbing guys back out here, but I have to figure out how to continue with my wall insulation and gyproc work while still making it possible for them to reinstall the radiators, and do some rearrangement of the drain pipes in the attic bathroom to accomodate the thicker insulated wall.
It's getting a bit stuffy in the house, all of us being here together all the time. Maggie took some time at lunch to go running today, and I am encouraging Duncan to continue with his running training also. The uncertainties that have come with this whole pandemic response introduce additional stress, and exercise is one way to compensate.
On the social side we've had lots of phone conversations, and have been catching up with friends and family. As well, our apero yesterday seemed to go off without too much trouble; we had four different people on Google Hangouts, and it worked fine. We had it on the option of automatic video switching based on whoever was speaking, which is an interesting function. One important thing about multi-party video conferencing is that it is important to observe good etiquette, and not talk over top of another person, otherwise it gets quite garbled.
I do have some good news from a conductor that I worked with in the Netherlands this season: he's asked me to sing a Beethoven Mass in C major in middle November just after I get back from the Matthauspassion tour in Japan. It's a new piece for me, so that's a nice thing to have on the books. I hope that these concerts are far enough in the future that they can still happen!
Currently the schedule is:
Currently the schedule is:
- June 12th, 2020 Beethoven 9th Symphony (Netherlands) so far still not cancelled but I am not optimistic that it will go forward
- October 25th, 2020 No Tenors Allowed (Stirling, Ontario)
- October 31, November 1st, 3rd: Bach: Matthauspassion (Japan)
- November 15th, 2020 Beethoven: Mass in C, Choral Fantasy (Netherlands)
- March 27th, 2021 Bach: Johannespassion (Brussels)
- May 2nd, 2021 Vaughan Williams: Sea Symphony, Five Mystical Songs (Toronto)
- ? Homilius Passion Cantatas ?
- February 2022 Schubert: Winterreisse (Kingston)
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