blog

September is fast drawing to a close and we’ve settled into a morning routine now…an hour of mostly happy breakfast chaos, the snapping on of bike helmets, good-bye kisses and then…quiet. For the first time in 10 years, it’s quiet. […]

School is here.  Summer is gone.   In the opening lines of Walking On Water Madeleine L’Engle reflects, “…But there is still a pattern to the summers which I hope will never change, a lovely kaleidescope of family and friends coming and going.” This one  saw a lot of loved ones coming and going, bed linen laundering, late night grocery runs and BBQs.   […]

I’ve eavesdropped on a lot of funerals. I’m hired to play prelude and postlude music, but in between I meet the most fascinating and well loved people – through the ones who love them the most. It’s a unique way to learn how to live life well – and, reading between the lines, maybe not so well. […]

I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from writing…anything. I’ve blamed it on the frenetic pace of family life but truthfully I’ve been avoiding it. Because writing, even just a 300-word piece, is hard work. “The Idea” might be germinating but it’s hazy, almost reachable, and then the tyranny of the urgent takes over and “The Idea” gets shelved along with the organic tomato sauce in the back of the pantry. […]

After a 6-year hiatus, I’ve started teaching piano again. And I’ve been thinking about my own piano teacher. Mrs. Cuthbert took me on as a student when I was 7 and we worked and learned and grew together all the way through to my ARCT, when I was 18. She has been the single most influential music teacher in my life. […]