Saturday 9: Beethoven

Good morning! This is day one of our new "normal." Tim is home indefinitely due to Pennsylvania's closure of all non life-sustaining businesses. I am home indefinitely due to the fact that I resigned from the nursing home after my shift last night (a long story for another day).  

It's a cold, but sunny morning and God is still in control no matter how it feels. I'm celebrating that it's a great day to be alive by joining in with Sam and the rest of the gang for the Saturday 9.


Complete Symphonies (2019)

This week we're classing up the joint with a well-received box-set by the Danish Chamber Orchestra. You can listen to the orchestra here.

1) Beethoven is one of classical music's best known composers. Do you often listen to classical music?  No. I don't hate it, but it isn't one of my favorites, either, so I don't choose to listen very often. When I do, I enjoy it. I guess I have to be in the right mood.

2) Though a musical genius, Beethoven never learned to multiply or divide. When faced with a simple arithmetic problem, do you do it in your head? Or do you rely on the calculator in your phone or on your computer?  It depends on how "simple" it is.

3) Beethoven bathed often, which was considered "quirky" for a man of his time. (Understandable, since you had the heat the water, haul it to the tub, and then empty the tub bucket by bucket when you were done.) Do you bathe in the morning or in the evening?  Again, it depends. If I am dirty at the end of the day or if I worked at the nursing home, I shower at night to get rid of the dirt and/or germs. I prefer, however, to shower in the morning because it helps me wake up and feel ready to take on the day.

4) Adam Fischer conducts the Danish Chamber Orchestra for this 5-disc set. He began his musical career young, when he sang in the children's choir of Budapest's National Opera House. Have you ever sung in a choir or chorus?  Nope. I, along with everyone else, recognized my complete lack of musical talent at a very early age.

5) Mr. Fischer was awarded the Gold Medal of Arts from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Tell us about a prize or award you have received. (Yes, that ribbon you earned for penmanship in second grade counts.)  It took me a while to remember the handful of awards I've ever received, but the first one that popped into my mind was the safety award I received the summer I worked for the Youth Conservation Corps in the Pocono Mountains.

6) The Danish Chamber Orchestra is beloved in Demark. When, in 2014, the Danish Broadcasting Company announced it would no longer fund the Orchestra, citizens began a crowdfunding campaign and raised more than $1,000,000 to keep the music playing. Have you ever contributed to a crowdfunding platform, like GoFundMe, Kickstarter or FundRazr?  Once or twice back when they first started popping up, but not lately. I'm so leery of scams when it come to anything online these days.

7) The Orchestra's "home" is the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. Where were you when you last heard music played live?  Live? Probably at the nursing home. They get musicians and groups to come in at least once a month.

8) In 2019, when this boxed set was released, China became the first nation to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. Are you fascinated by stories about space?  Yes. I've always been fascinated by space and even (briefly) considered majoring in astronomy.

9) Random question: Tell us about your week. These are extraordinary times, and it might feel good to share.  Well, gee, I kind of did that up there at the top. Whoops! To tell the truth, our lives had not changed until now. We were both still working outside the home and continuing on much as normal. Today is the first day we join with those finding their way through being socially isolated. It doesn't feel terribly isolated so far. We have a small family community right here, in that my daughter's family lives on one side of us and my mother and step-father live behind us. We see them daily. In fact, my daughter and I are going to the grocery store together this morning. Sunday our son and his family are coming home (he is also experiencing this new normal as of today). He would probably not normally come right now, but he has reversed his stand on guns and purchased a pistol due to his fear of how crazy people may become if this goes on long enough. He's coming to learn how to use it properly from his dad and I.