1. I drove to Spokane this afternoon to attend today's concert performed at the Fox Theater by the Spokane String Quartet. I left Kellogg plenty early because of wind advisories in the area, but my drive to Spokane was easy and uneventful.
Having arrived in Spokane early, I had plenty of time to make my first visit to First Avenue Coffee.
It's a roomy coffee house with a menu jam packed with coffee, espresso, and non-coffee drinks. I arrived having not eaten all day, so I was particularly happy to see an array of pastries for sale. I ordered a divine apple turnover. Its full name had the word "cheese" in it, but I can't quite remember in what order "apple" "turnover" and "cheese" were arranged on the product card, but I can tell you it was totally worth not to have eaten until 1:30 this afternoon and breaking my fast with this pastry and a 12 oz latte served, not in a paper cup, but in a broad rimmed white ceramic cup. A rarity for me.
2. The Spokane String Quartet swept me away with their virtuosity, non-verbal communications with one another, and their contagious energy as they, too, seemed swept away by the three pieces they performed.
The program featured works by Claudia Montero (1962-2021), Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven.
I loved the variety of this program. Montero's composition captured many of the moods, rhythms, music traditions, and vibes of Buenos Aires, the city of her birth.
While both Tchaikovsky and Beethoven drew upon Russian folk music within their compositions, for most of their pieces I did not have a sense of a place being brought to life. Rather, both composers in their own ways explored a wide range of moods and emotions ranging from melancholy and even despair to great joy and hope.
I especially enjoy string quartets and other chamber music because of the pleasure I take in watching the musicians. I can see as well as hear which instruments are playing what parts. Today I enjoyed being able to use my eyes to distinguish between the first and second violin parts, distinguish the viola from the violins, and tell the difference between the cello and the viola.
So, for me, going to concerts, no matter the genre of music, is as much a visual as a listening pleasure. I'm not that crazy about light shows and pyrotechnics. My visual pleasure comes from being able to see where the music is coming from.
3. I had a very good Leonard Oakland day today. (Leonard is a retired Whitworth professor whom I first met over fifty years ago.)
Before I left for Spokane, I streamed his Sunday radio program on Spokane Public Radio, "Sunday Classics".
Most Sundays, Leonard reads a poem on his show.
The poem he read today is one I've known for a long time and is one of my favorites.
It's also a very accessible poem (many are) and I'm putting it up at the end of this post for two reasons.
First of all, it's among the best poems I've ever read about the non-romantic dimensions of love, that most important element of love that Debbie calls "boots on the ground". It's not sentimental, sexy (or sexual), warm, fun, or tingly. As Robert Hayden's poem says, love is often austere, often lonely.
Secondly, this poem, like many, many other poems, counters the idea that poems are flowery and stocked with inaccessible language. Hayden stocks this poem with everyday language and it's the poem's compression, tightness, music, and focus on things we can see, hear, and feel on our skin that makes the poem work.
What else made today a great Leonard Oakland day?
Leonard attended this afternoon's concert of the Spokane String Quartet.
As I was crossing 1st Avenue, heading south to where my car was parked, Leonard was standing on the southwest corner of Monroe and 1st. I called out his name as I approached him, introduced myself (it had been at least six or seven years since we'd seen each other), and we shook hands and talked briefly.
Any conversation we might have had was cut short by the fact that Leonard had left his hat in the theater and was on his way back to retrieve it.
Here is the poem Leonard read.
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