The Glory-Beaming Banjo

Hello, is anyone still with me? This is not the publishing schedule I envisioned for this blog's 10th anniversary . Somehow it's been eight months since my last post . Even worse, after ending my epic streak of playing my instruments every day for almost a year and a half, my practice time lost all sense of consistency.  In fact, I have barely played music at all since July. Without open jams or local festivals, I seem to have lost my motivation to practice. I used to take my fiddle with me to the office and play in the park down the street during my lunch break. Now that I only go in once a week, I just don't feel like dragging along my gear to work anymore.  Being at home so much the past two years, you would think that I'd find more opportunities to pick up my banjo or fiddle. That has not been the case. I think last year, there was more focus on staying connected to the old-time community virtually, through online jams, workshops and performances. After another yea...

It's been five months. That was when my son's school decided to transition to online learning for the remainder of the school year. That was when I started working from home full time. That was when the quarantine began.  I'm not telling you anything new. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything for everyone. Wearing masks, social distancing, staying home. Every day feels the same, like we're stuck in the movie Groundhog Day . Wake up. Find my son on the couch watching videos. Log in for work. Make coffee. Answer emails. Sit in on video conference calls. Complete tasks. Log out. Endure.  Wash. Rinse. Repeat.  My wife is unable to work from home. After being furloughed for about a month, she has returned to work. She wears a mask all day, but she also gets to interact with people face to face. I never thought I'd be jealous of being able to socialize at work.  I never truly knew the meaning of "ennui" until now. In fact, I didn't even know how to pr...