Megan's birthday is celebrated with all pomp and circumstance,
on the 19th day of spring (high up 4 to 66, 2nd highest of year thus far, bested only by January 14's almost-summer -- 69) and an early one, rising w/ the new recycle trucks, first the organic pick-up -- almost missed because of the new iPhone's quck-to-go-to-security lock, requiring re-typing of the 6-digit access code (reasonably soon enough dealt with / overridden),
then, in the dramatic setting moon (or is that a ufo-analog friendship light?),
the metal-paper-plastic pick-up.
For what are we out here, anyway?
To solve the mystery of the overzealous good-Samaritan neighbor, who has been kindly bringing back our one, but now three, receptacles, and waking up Harriet with noise thereof.
And behold, Marie appears on the street, we strike up a conversation, and she avers that she's out to ward off Bud, who has for years been looking out for us all with various yard projects, but she is there to ensure that he does not perform the neighborly put-back duty, since the recycle folks are dropping off a new bin and taking back the old.
And as we chat, Shelly emerges, taking back her bins and -- aha! -- almost ours. I explain the situation and she eventually graciously reniges.
A little more sleep until PGE arrives to trim the verge,
so, go out to
inspect the situation,
although, by now,
the crew's on
break, but
a fine opportunity to take in the distant Coast Range from
other angles,
as well as the upper-closer
palms, olives, and cypress --
and
Harriet's
delightful /
surreal
backyard
artistry.
Time to get to work, composing page 2 of
Book of Dreams, 2022, Op. 376 (2022)
III. January 3 - 4am Coached by a Black White Soccer Squad / 5am Pouring Water into a Recycled Paper Bag
which also doubles towards a new edition of
Satie Orchestrations, Op. 292 (2018)
II. Sports et Divertissements: XVII. Tango (after Igor Stravinksy's Tango)
and bring along more text (although not much... sometimes the dreams are not forthcoming) to the continuing evolution of former with:
January 18-19
3am Turning Left on to Nut Tree Road from Yellowstone, w/ Harriet...
and other labors,
against a background of
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) - Cello Suite No. 1 (1723): I. Prelude,
Niels Gade (1817-1890) - Symphony No. 2, Op. 10 (1843),
Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) - Suite No. 2 in C Major, Op. 53 (1883),
a second hearing of the Foerster (1859-1951) Cyrano (193) from yesterda, for some reason, this time on YouTube,
Josef Suk (1874-1935) - Fantastique Scherzo, Op. 25 (1903 - no jokes, please),
Ottorino Respighi - Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 2 (1923): III. Campanae (wait, we've been here before, too -- have we not?),
turning political in the early evening with Don Lemon and
Rachel Maddow (briefly back in her residence) and great news of the Supreme Court not blocking the
release of the Lyring Psychopath Seditionist Traitor's 1/6 records,
a decision only dissented by the so-often-problematic Clarence Thomas.
Opus 94 planning (whoops, took the picture too early to include the divine Ms. Cullen) and
Family Zooms,
intriguing PBS program on Alaskan Dinosaurs (and no, the region was apparently not tropical, continental drift notwithstanding, in those times, and so feathers may have been at least part of the solution as to the keeping-warm dilemma).
A bit of research re Jpeg vs. Heic / Heif (historically, have not been fond of the latter, since they could not be opened on old MacBook Pro 2014, but now... well, they save space and are of even better quality than the current Jpges + save space, so that is tough to argue against, and looks like we'll go that way) and
what exactly is this new iPhone anyhow anyway? It's the SE, despite no info on the box and not a complete recounting even on the phone itself -- but, judging from the description, has got to be the second-generation 2020 of same...
Also, a bit of sleuthing about Victoria Falls,
which served as an early Zoom background pour moi,
Explore a number of
photos
and
maps --
specifically,
where exacrtly is the Zambia / Zimbabwe border?
Oh, right at the Zambezi River,
tracing down from First Gorge to Second, Third,
Fourth, Fifth and beyond,
putting the Devil's Pool squarely on the Zimbabwean side,
tracing the River back upstream
to the strange
quadruple-boundary area of the aforesaid realms with
Botswana
(having only about 150 feet-or-so bounding the Zambezi, but that nicely accessed eventually with a bridge from Kazingula, Zambia) and Namibia --
the River's watershed being directly adjacent to the Okavanga Delta. And what's the deal with the Caprivi Strip -- Namibia's long extension (geographic salient) west from the main bulk of the country to the Zambezi? Well, a direct product of the former German colony's desire to connect to what was thought to be a navigable water route towards Tanganyika (Tanzania). Too bad about that pesky Victoria Falls, unknown to the powers-that-were at the time, being in the way...
Nevertheless, certainly part of Indian Ocean drainage, as opposed to
"American Mediterranean Sea"...