November 27 - Bright Friday

Marek,



Harriet, Claire, and I head out via



Walla Walla Canyon, into



clearing skies, for



Richland to visit



Doug and Miriam, who are visiting



Miriam's mother during the long Thanksgiving weekend, followed by an



about face in the setting sun, with views of



Columbia Gorge and



lonely poles, before turning back up



the



Ravine,



past farms,



up



to the



Plateau, again with views



downslope and



across the plain



(with train)



to the environs of the Blue Mountains.



A quick stop in the



last light back at



Tisha's, and we are off again



to College Place to visit



Leonard and June, then back for a



family meeting, and a finishing up of Michael Dirda's Book by Book, begun yesterday. Some work on iTunes cataloging and late-night googling on the iPhone of weather conditions, and it's a shaky lights out.

November 26 - Happy Foggy

Rain,


fog, and we are off, up the Columbia River Basin through trees and



rocks and


grassy slopes, the former beginning to give way near Hood River, the latter two absolutely dominating



beyond



The


Dalles,



unto



the



turn



off



I-5



to



lonely 730,



still often hugging the river, across from striated



cliffs,



near



the Twin Sisters,



over the Washington border,



up the Walla Walla Valley



to its



city, to rendezvous with Harriet's family, including



Tisha (showing off the potential store),



Marek (at the door of their lovely house),



Maricar,



Claire,



Jim,



Harriet, and



the cats.



We call Bette and George and Sorrel and Megan, and wish them, with Crystal and Kristina,



Happy Thanksgiving



to all!

November 25 - Slanting Northwest

Out with Harriet by 11am into the blazing Central Valley, north, parallel to the ever-beckoning Coast Ranges,



in



and


out of the Zamora Hills, with the mirage of



Sutter Buttes to the east,



as, eventually,



oppositely, Snow and St. John Mountains loom,



with Shasta a northerly distant dream,



until the Valley undulates and



narrows at Mountain Gate,



into the high country, where I-5 snakes past the



half-bathtub-of-a-reservoir that is the Lake,



North Gray Rocks,



Castle Crags,



and Shastina's mate.



Beyond Black Butte, the mountains recede from the high



Valley, past




sunny-



desertic



hillocks,



forlorn cows (real and sculpted -- but which?),



the heroic setting and



modest bustle of Yreka,



up the Anderson Grade,



down into



Klamath Canyon,



to mount the (eventually) snow-clad Siskiyous.



Lights out in Oregon's Rogue River fog, and the miles unfold to a Troutdale overnight by the Columbia River.

November 24 - Two Towers

Finish The Gospel According to St. Matthew: XXXIV. The Canaanite Woman, plus a bit of 21st-Century Music work before blasting past Mt. Diablo and



Christmas Cabanas to the College for second day of student teaching, with Alex presenting Yankee Doodle for dictation, which we board harmonize on the spot (before more delectable classroom compositions).



Elephant Bar lunch and pachydermish paper grading; evening class, rather astoundingly, from Alan Hovaness to Philip Glass (we are back in the classroom, rather than spacious choral room, due to a concert, and neither the blog audio nor video fast-forward/rewind are operative); then return to the local scene, mailing out the run of the December 2009 issue of 21st-Century Music before


lights out.

November 23 - Green Whirl

Page 3 of The Gospel According to St. Matthew: XXXIV. The Canaanite Woman orchestrated, plus beginning of the January 2010 issue of 21st-Century Music -- then out the door past the



South



Lagoons and



Fairfield Water Tank Hill for the first day of student teaching, with Oren and Stewart at bat for a nice bit from Beirut (plus engaging original compositions from the class at large), then to



Berkeley to pick up the December 2009 issue of 21st-Century Music, and home via



the Pinole Hills,



Hercules Straightaway,



Refinery Savanna and



Canyon,



the Carquinez Bridges,



Vallejo Cliffs,



American Canyon,



St. John Mine Mountain Ranch,



Sentinel Hill,



the Sulfur Springs Mountains, and the



illumined,



moony



Vaca



Valley



Quik



Stop. Back to the



gym with



Harriet and



company, then page 4 of Canaanite.