Ummagumma

We planted these two magnolias in our front yard many years ago.  They are separated by a maple that we also planted, some time later.  They offered many fragrant blossoms beginning in late May and lasting all the way through June.   We have planted four magnolias on our property through the years.  The first one was in the back of the house.  My mother gave it to us.  It was small, maybe two feet high when I dig a hole and planted it.  I kept it watered it its budding years with a five-gallon drip bucket.   Years later we planted three magnolias in our front yard down by the road.  Two of them have really thrived and are now close to twenty feet tall.  The third one was planted nearby, all were planted on the same day.  They form a triangular relationship.  But the third one has grown poorly, though it is healthy for its size.  The soil is just poorer in that spot of ground. Nevertheless, the magnolias started putting out their gigantic sweet blooms at the end of May and they

New confirmed cases per day in the US from the Johns Hopkins site.  As you can see, we are approaching a new peak.  The overall downward trend flattened about a month ago.  Now the count is going up.   June 23 globally. I have been watching the excellent Johns Hopkins Medical Center COVID-19 dashboard on a daily basis since before the pandemic was declared a pandemic.  It now shows a disturbing upward trend that theoretically was not supposed to happen until the fall.  Hell, Trump, in his infinite wisdom said "it will just go away."  Well, clearly that is not the case. There are two critical pieces of information that are just being glossed over by the media, or not mentioned at all. 1) Barring a vaccine or a mutation of the virus into a less harmful form, 60% to 70% of the United States population will eventually become infected . That's 200,000,000 Americans.  This virus hasn't even gotten started yet.  Just to make sure "politics" is taken ou

Part One of Three.   The classical music world is celebrating the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth this year.  I have wanted to post about Beethoven’s extraordinary string quartets for some time.  Since I am not trained in music it is often difficult to articulate what draws me to classical compositions.  But, nevertheless, here goes in my amateurish attempt. Beethoven’s composed sixteen quartets for strings .  They are traditionally divided into Early, Middle, and Late periods .  His first six quartets all fall under opus 18 in his oeuvre.  He composed these in his late 20’s in Vienna, a society ripe to appreciate them. The Viennese enjoyed chamber music “parties” during this time.  Professional and amateur musicians often joined together in salons, anywhere outside of the performance halls, to perform and celebrate all forms of chamber music, particularly trios and quartets.  The first six Beethoven quartets were an instant hit in 1801 when they were published

Note:  This is the final part of my series analyzing J.R.R. Tolkien's greatest literary work. The final section of The Silmarillion begins long before Númenor falls.  We review happenings upon Middle-earth during its rise and fall and in the days of Elendil in the Second Age .  Meanwhile, back at the ranch …With the destruction of Beleriand during the Great War of Wrath , the remaining Elves scatter across the refashioned geography.  Gil-galad leads many Noldor at the Grey Havens .  Teleri survivors of Doriath and Ossiriand move eastward into the wooded regions.  Eregion becomes a Noldor kingdom as well.  Here great craftsmen emerge with Celebrimbor , grandson of Fëanor , being the most skilled.  The Dwarves of Moria ally themselves with Eregion. We are told that the downfall of Númenor “was more terrible than Sauron had foreseen.”  The Dark Lord survives being cast into the abyss that swallows the once great island nation.  He offers repentance to the Valar .  Tolkien