Yesterday, a woman flagged me down as I was leaving to go give a piano lesson. A black woman in late thirties or early forties waved a plastic bag at me. I pulled over and she explained that she “didn’t mean no harm.” But that she needed a ride. After determining it wasn’t too far out of my way, I took her where she needed to go.
This is the second time in a few months that someone has flagged me down and asked for a ride. I find this particularly startling because often local people look at me as though I were an ax murderer in a bad disguise. Or so it seems to me.

Today I have an appointment with the chair of the dance department of Hope College. She emailed me asking me if I would be interested in accompanying dance classes this fall. After giving some thought, I said no. But that I was looking for other more interesting projects. She asked if we could meet.

I’m trying to get my hopes about this. So often I have found that I am unable to connect with other people. I have just about decided that I am eccentric. This is perfectly okay with me. And while it’s still sometimes hard to accept that people aren’t interested in music, art and literature in quite the way I am, I keep reminding myself that this is okay. And that I should stay open to the possibility that I might run across someone locally I have more in common with. Hence today’s meeting.

I have been listening to records. This is lots of fun for me.

Monk by Monk  (1953)

Back in the seventies I bought several Jazz records at a used shop just outside of Higgins Lake. Most of them were in plastic sleeves and had no cardboard covers. Yesterday, I googled these as I listened to them to find out who is playing on them and when they were recorded.
Work (1953)by Thelonius Monk

This album is very interesting. Monk continues to arrest my ears with his unique compositions. The more I listen I think he was making some very cool music. On this album there is a cut called “Friday the Thirteen” in which he features a french horn as one of the soloists (the other soloists are himself on piano and Sonny Rollins on tenor sax).
John Coltrane from 1957

I’m not absolutely sure I have the right albums covers for the records I own.