Ease on Down the Road (Day 4)
Nearly bit off more than I could chew today. I’d spent several hours in the gracious company of Eugene Simpson, with whom I discussed several research approaches to Hall Johnson’s compositional philosophy and ways I should prepare for a much more extended visit and study of the Johnson collection. I then visited and got a tour of the home of my host daughter, Tianhan. We went out for an enjoyable dinner of shrimp (me) and grilled octopus (Tianhan) at an uptown restaurant in Philadelphia. (BTW, if you know of a dignified way to eat corn-on-the-cob and take the head off of shrimp, please let me know.) I am so proud of how well she is adapting to her new surroundings, which are so very different than Iowa. Since she’s now graduated from the college, I guess I’m not technically her host mother any more, but I hate giving up the…
On the Road (Day Four)
Got off to a slightly late start after indulging myself and getting some extra sleep. Drove from Erie to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Got lots of pictures from the Skylon observation tower, the walkways near the falls, from the famed “Maid of the Mist” boat and some of the interesting building fronts near the falls. Decided not to go to Montreal, so the GPS directed me back into the States. Finally stopped for the night in a little town in Massachusetts. The route so far: http://mapq.st/o3Z6G9 Tomorrow, making my run back into Canada. I realized that I neglected a couple of critical parts of my journey. First, I need to acknowledge the musicians and their songs that helped me focus on my driving throughout my journey. So, I’m going back and posting links to a song that I recall most strongly from each day’s playlist. This day’s song is Roberta…
On the Road (Day Three)
Took the Ohio Coastal Trail on the way to Oberlin in the hope I’d get to see something interesting along the way. The only thing that got my attention was the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to one before. Spent most of the afternoon doing research at the Oberlin Conservatory’s music library. They have a beautiful goldfish pond outside the building, where I ate lunch and enjoyed the fish. Found a number of scores by Margaret Bonds, R. Nathaniel Dett, William Grant Still, Edward Boatner, and Wiliams Arms Fisher that I didn’t have. Got to Erie, Pennsylvania, in the early evening and found the campus identified on the Web as connected with the H. T. Burleigh collection. However, as I suspected, it was too late to find anyone around to ask about it. So, checked into my home for the night. Decided it…