Back to the classical!!!

                                                                                Busy is not the word!!! Wow, it is hard to believe it is already the 22nd of March!!! Where did it go? All I know is that it is SPRING and the sun is finally shining again in the pacific northwest! Might not be around for long as our really rainy season is about to begin but, at least for now, the cold has disappeared. The last month has been reasonably pleasant and I'll take it. While Vancouver does not get the recognition that Portland or the "other" city to the north, I love it's small town feel yet big city closeness. A great place to live is this!

On the running front, my goal of maintaining at least twenty miles a week has continued. Almost thought I'd miss last weeks but was able to get out and finish it. This week has also been tough as we finish moving the girls into their new home in Vancouver. What a happy time for everyone with the requisite soreness and tired feelings associated with moving. Not done yet but I'd say 75% of the way there. Time to close things out this week and start a new life in a new location. So happy for them. :-) 

It has been a few years since I'd been heavily involved with my classical music. I used to devour everything I could listen to,read and watch. For over 30 years I have done so, maintaining connection with that world and it's splendor. Then life took some turns and i stepped back to leave it alone for a bit. To get back that freshness that was beginning to disappear and drift away after so many years of attention. Exceptions were made, of course, with Mahler and my favourites. They never are far from my ears and will remain so till the day I pass from this planet. But in general, I gave it a breather.

My stereo system had been having some issues. So yesterday I got my act together and fixed it, making my apartment bloom with the sounds that had been missing for a long time.Now to get all of my CD's cataloged eventually and make a new home for them. All 5000+ CD's of classical alone. Yep, twenty plus years of collecting them and I have an incredible library of music that will last till the day I die. How lucky I am indeed!!! Now...to find a decent program for doing that. In the meantime, I'm getting reacquainted with my old  friends...Beethoven, Haydn,Liszt,Rachmaninov,Bruckner and dear Herr Mahler. The future looks to be very bright in this life I lead. With the beautiful ladies in my life ,Welsh, running and my music, life is grand indeed. I have no reason to be sad nor unhappy. With that I leave photos of some of my favourite composers.

     Paul Creston                                                                       Aaron Copland

   Gustav Mahler                                                                                             Sergei Rachmaninov

New Welsh adventure and the 2014 running season begins!

      A new race season for 2014 has arrived!! Sunday last, on 2 March, Energy Events held their annual Fort Vancouver race which included  6k,10k and 15K routes. I chose the longer race and knew the course well with it being part of the Vancouver Marathon half, which is in June. We were all ready to run this race when the weather decided to throw us some curve balls. The temperature dipped to 32° just prior to race time with wind and heavier rain making this event one we would remember for sure. The first few miles were cold and miserable. But, once soaked and cold, we soon became accustomed to the elements and settled into a routine cadence and pace. My goal was to run this with a sub 8:00/mile pace and I was happy to have reached that, finishing with a 7:52 and 1:13:56 time over the 9.32 miles. Ironically, the temperature later that day rose to 52° and cleared up a wee bit. Took hours to get warm again and feel better but in the end, it toughens runners up. Not that I want to do that all the time, heavens no. But now and then one needs to brave the elements and get out. Here are some photos from that day:

 The first race of the year was a great success with a fun racing season ahead.

                                                                                 New Welsh adventures always prove fun.  And spreading the word about the experience of learning the delightful language has been enjoyable. Last week, a friend in Wales I'd been in contact with, sent me some pins and lanyards with the word "Cymraeg" on it in the form of a speech bubble. These are used in Wales to let customers and others know that Welsh is spoken there.


   What a great way to promote such things here as well! After handing them out to the Cymraeg i Oedolion Portland/Vancouver-Welsh speakers group, I pinned my own on and hit the town in my Wales rugby jersey. 

                                                 Never really expected much but I went to a Starbucks close to work and was stopped by a fellow who also had Welsh family and blood in his veins. He saw the jersey and then the pin, keenly interested in learning the language. Gave him a business card and told him of the group and the Say something in Welsh program. Hope to hear from him soon!!   

                                                                      
                                                                                      As for the lessons, well I'm currently starting lesson ten of course one and usually understanding about 80% of the playback listened to. Can usually form decent sentences using the vocabulary learned the first eight or nine lessons, so progress is being made albeit slowly. I still blank out sometimes when trying to remember certain things and still go back and re-listen to lessons five to eight. Past,present and future tenses are the points I need to pay most attention to. My friend in the UK, Martin, has made up some wonderfully helpful emails/charts with the verb conjugations and various patterns. Many thanks, Martin!!!

                                                                                       As February has ended and March begins, I look forward to a new month of Welsh and running, both hand in hand quite often as I journey this path. Add the beard being sprouted back again ( on day 26 now ), this time for a good long while, and the coming months and seasons look delightful indeed!!!!!