Thursday, September 3, 2015

RIP Tom Zajac


Sad news in the world of early music: Tom Zajac died earlier this week. He was supposed to conduct the choir and orchestra at our early music festival this year, but he had just had his fourth surgery for brain tumors. Unfortunately, there was nothing the doctors could do for him. He was an amazing performer and a wonderful teacher, and he gave me one of the most interesting compliments I have ever gotten: “You read music upside-down better than anyone I’ve ever met!” RIP, Tom.

I forgot to mention that last Sunday at the Union Terrace, after Prairie Man had left, Travalon and I took Rodney for a short walk. We saw a bunch of people watching a guy battle with a fish, and when he finally landed the big, ugly carp, everyone cheered. Imagine having everyone watch you fish! They could watch me never get even a nibble on my line.

Yesterday evening Travalon and I took Rodney out in the boat again. We went toward the lake, but the wind was making the water very rough, so we went back into the marsh, where the water is always calmer. To our surprise, we saw a bird swimming underwater with just its head sticking out, like a periscope. A Google search leads me to believe it could possibly be an anhinga, a subtropical bird that occasionally comes this far north in the summer. It would be a rare sighting, but not entirely out of the question. If anyone has any idea what else this bird could be, feel free to leave me a comment.

Famous Hat

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