August was such a dazzling month I have to write another summer post. It began with the annual Britt Classical Festival, in which Jenny has played viola for 17 years. She arrived after a week at Coos Bay where she plays in a short classical festival every summer. I can no longer get up without help from the low seats you are required to use for lawn-sitting, and the stands are the most uncomfortable bleachers imaginable. So Britt accommodated me with wheelchair seating which was great, the best seats in the house. I went alone to 3 concerts, sorely missing Mac, who was my companion there for the past several years. I sat right behind Jim Collier, the fabulous patron saint of Rogue Valley classical music. There is no group here that he does not support, and his generosity has been of huge benefit to the RV symphony, Britt, Brava Opera, and our local choral groups. He is wheelchair bound, but was at every concert I attended.
Teddy Abrams’ programming this year was disconcerting to read about beforehand – many short contemporary pieces and a few old chestnuts, with some gems scattered among them. But it turned out to be much better than it promised, and several concerts were memorable. The most moving and memorable was Mahler’s ‘Song of the Earth’. Teddy, who is usually a vigorous conductor and whirls and bounces like Lenny used to, quieted down considerably to suit the music. It was such a tremendous experience I forgave him for all his usual wilder performances! Mahler has lately been played by both our orchestras and how I delight in that.
Lolly, Keith and Sam arrived for the last concert and I was back in a lawn chair, with Keith to retrieve me when I needed to rise.
Jenny had been angsting over playing Teddy’s new piece since last winter when she got the scores from Britt. It is called ‘Unified Field’ and was written for a ballet in Louisville and builds to the most frenzied crescendo imaginable. Many orchestra members found it extremely difficult to get up to speed and by the time it was played at the closing concert I had heard so much about its challenges I was not anticipating enjoying it. So it was a wonderful surprise to find it an exciting and rewarding piece. The furiously fast and wild last movement made wonderful listening, regardless of the problems it caused the players. It was preceded by Gershwins’s ‘American in Paris and followed by Prokofiev’s 5th symphony and was a grand finale for the season. We all watched Jenny’s fingers fly and she seemed to be absolutely up to speed despite her lamentations. She was in 3rd chair and right in front of the conductor, which was part of her angst.
And by the way, there is a film of last summer’s Britt/Crater Lake centennial concert on public TV called ‘Symphony for Nature’ and Jenny flashes briefly on the screen.
And then the eclipse was upon us. Since we could expect 93% of totality here I made no plans to go farther north. And I gather that the turmoil outweighed the pleasure for many. The sleepy Oregon outlands were inundated with enthusiasts, traffic was heavy and accommodations long-since sold out. I took a 5-minute drive to the Northwest Nature Shop, where Kathy and Terence had chairs, lemonade and donuts, boxes with slits, and safety glasses and about 30 of us watched this marvelous phenomenon together. Looking at the changing shape of the crescent sun was the best, as the moon seemed to descend straight down until the sun was an arrow-thin crescent, then moved slowly up the right side almost to the top again, widening as it went, before stating its departure before heading down, becoming a larger crescent as it traveled.
But even more intriguing 
were the sun crescents
cast through tree leaf shadows on the street.
I was home again by 11 and back to work on my latest mosaic, a Piliated Woodpecker on a Ponderosa attending two chicks. The challenges get larger with every piece.
Today (Aug 25) is the day before our street painting, the first one to be done in Ashland and a big local event. I will do a separate blog on it.