2021 is officially well underway. Vaccines are finding their way into the arms of awaiting humans to hopefully help bring this global pandemic to a close. 

Students and teachers are finding new ways to navigate the world of digital learning and are hopeful that those who want to attend in person classes will be able to do so perhaps even prior to the next school year. 

The internet is an incredible place. I first saw Melanie Whitson's art on facebook, in a Scotland group. Her clean, beautiful drawings truly capture the essence of place. My favorites? While they are all so evocative, her Leanach Cottage at Culloden has grasped my heart. I feel the wind blowing across the battlefield, smell the smoke and humanity, and remember moments of history, both large and small. 

Music for shifting times. Four years ago, when we chose the title for this series, we could not have known what lay in store. There is no need for me to rehearse those events for you, and in any case, you will see them as you choose. Several threads which I would encourage you to follow, though, and which run through the music we have been sharing with you over these years are respect, reflection, connection, integrity, and peace.

You stumble through your days, got your head hung low
Your skies’ a shade of grey, like a zombie in a maze, you’re asleep inside, but you can shake away
‘Cause you’re just a dead man walking, that’s your only option, but you can flip the switch and brighten up your darkest day.
Sun is up and the color’s blinding, take the world and redefine it
Leave behind your narrow mind, you'll never be the same

Nora Martin Hall is a contemporary representational painter working primarily in oil paintings, and utilizes a wide range of techniques, from classical painting methods to photorealism, creating trippy, large-scale portraits and installations. Requiring thousands of hours of focused training and dedication to execute, she blends the innate need to be spontaneous and reckless, too. 

In the northern hemisphere, it is winter. Winter has many faces and facets. As you travel through winter, you may well experience all of them. I have always enjoyed winter's aspects of quiet and the season's call to reflection; you may experience this time of year differently. There are holidays and holy days of most faiths; there are secular celebrations; there is the turning of the year. This music will help with the journey.

It’s officially the beginning of the end of 2020. December is upon us, and, thanks to the incredible efforts of the scientific community, there’s now a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. Vaccines and therapies are showing good numbers, and there’s hope that within the next 6 months, we’re far closer to a more normal, normal than we’ve been in a long time. Hope...it does wonders for the soul. I have hope for hugs in the near future.

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance” - Eckhart Tolle

Sun and moon, stars and sky are constants, wherever you might be in the world, and wherever you may be in your thinking about the shifts and changes that have been happening. So, too, is the desire for peace, for understanding, for connection.

Music offers ways to think about all these things.

Today, I'm so very happy to bring you the beautiful, interesting, creative, and playful art of a longtime friend, Hannah Miller.

We can all hope we’re lucky to, one day, look back in our rearview mirror and tell stories of life amidst the 2020 pause. It’s November–how are you holding up? Things sure are nutty these days.