100 Days of Music
My friend Kari (HI KARI) discussed the 100-Day Project in a recent post, which is exactly what it sounds like: a commitment to 100 days of something. That something could be any kind of creative or meaningful practice, and I knew I was in immediately. But what could I do? I’m not an artist, and although I think about what I’m writing every day, it isn’t beneficial to me to actually write every day. It feels like a cheat to choose yoga or walking in nature, which I do every single day anyway. Then it occurred to me: piano. I play piano most days, but not every day. I always feel like I need a block of time to play, which can be insurmountable some days.
But then I remembered my concept for Yoga Club, in which the only requirement for participants was one posture a day. Why not apply this to the piano? I don’t have to play a concerto every time I sit down; I am committing to at least one song – maybe more! – a day for 100 days. I started on May 5, which will take me to August 13. I got so excited about this that I ordered a new songbook, and in the meantime, I’m working on some old and new favourites.
Do you want to join? You don’t have to be a blogger, you just need to commit to something you’d love to do. My friend Michelle (HI MICHELLE) is doing 100 days of postcards, and I cannot WAIT to see her creations. Wouldn’t it be fun, all of us doing something together, but apart?
The Bears Are Back In Town
I was reading on the deck with Rex at my feet, naturally, when I heard a little rustle from the neighbour’s property. Typically this wouldn’t even register, since there are myriad quail and other birds rustling around in the grasses and shrubs, but Rex suddenly jumped up and started barking frantically. He backed his body into mine and continued barking, as I looked to see what it was. I couldn’t see a thing so I settled back down in my chair, but he continued to be very agitated. At that moment my son opened the door and asked me to bring myself and Rex inside because a mama bear and her cub had just been beside his car.
Eeep!
He had been taking something to his car and wasn’t thirty feet away when he spotted them, and after the bear made eye contact with him, she and her cub disappeared down the bank. I guess we are back in Bear Season. I’m trying to be zen about it: there are no reports of black bears attacking humans, and they would only attack a dog if they felt threatened. Rex has had ample opportunity to prove that he will not go near bears, unlike the deer who he will chase forever. There’s nothing for it but to continue to keep the garbage locked up in the shed, scan the yard before letting Rex out, and deep breathing.
Walking Each Other Home
I had JUST come off a week of coyote encounters, so I didn’t really need the bear excitement. The most dramatic of the encounters occurred by the creek on the walking path, when a very brazen coyote was just walking along the path, with people and dogs everywhere. When I encountered him, Rex and I were 85% of the way through our loop, and there were two options: to keep going and hope that Rex’s size and loud barking would get him to leave the path, or to double back and do almost the entire 5 kilometre loop again. As I stood there, a very nice couple offered to walk with me until we passed the coyote, strength in numbers, etcetera. The coyote did disappear into the greenery as we passed, with Rex giving the warning bark, and I appreciated the couple and their kindness so much. It reminded me of Rumi, and that we are all walking each other home.
Speaking of such, I have been loving Simple Abundance so much; May has been a month focused on the concept of home. I found this quote so interesting:
Was Edith Wharton a Buddhist? Probably not, but it reminded me of the concept of the body being a rental house for the soul. Also, I did not realize that Edith Wharton was an interior and landscape designer! People contain multitudes.
Weekly Reading
Speaking of multitudes, I have a couple of very opposite, yet weirdly similar books this week.
Animal Instinct. I came for the pandemic sex, I stayed for the incredible commentary on motherhood, marriage, and the need for connection. Wow, this book! It was recommended on Catherine Newman’s substack, and it is definitely a Pandemic Sex Book, although I will say that the sex descriptions are much less graphic than what I’ve seen in so-called spicy open door romances. Here’s the synopsis: it’s spring of 2020, and newly divorced Rachel makes a profile on a dating app. She is fresh off of a demeaning and lonely marriage, and she is DTF. No strings! She is also kind of a tech genius and starts to create an AI bot based on all the good characteristics of the people she meets, kind of a perfect person. And she gets a little obsessed with chatting with this perfect, non-existent person. This story has so much to say about the pandemic and how it shaped our relationships with screens and virtual contact. It has so much to say about motherhood, and how a woman can be a good and devoted mother and a sexual being at the same time. It has so much to say about marriage and the division of labour, childcare, and the mental load. It has so much to say about not giving up on love, even after heartbreak, and giving life a second chance. I loved it so much, but it is NOT for everyone (Lisa, I’m looking at you, HI LISA, do not read this). If you are at all triggered by descriptions of early pandemic days, and particularly the thought of other people having a lot of casual sex in spite of public health protocols, this is not the book for you. Personally, I have come to believe that the loneliness epidemic and the long-term effects of isolation on mental health were terribly destructive, but some might find the furtive booty calls upsetting. Also, like I said, this book is not as graphic as many contemporary romances, but it’s still pretty descriptive. In particular, there is an anal sex scene that still has me inadvertently clenching and Kegeling whenever I think about it, including this very moment.
Mansfield Park. Speaking of Lisa, she had mentioned a book called This Motherless Land, which, she said, is a retelling of a Jane Austen novel. I immediately and stridently said that I WOULD NOT READ IT because I LOATHE retellings, but then remembered that I had been currently reading Caroline, and also once upon a time I loved Bridget Jones’ Diary. And also the movie Clueless. And then I looked into This Motherless Land and discovered that it’s a retelling of Mansfield Park, which is a deep cut, it felt like. Given the synopsis it seemed like a fascinating book as well. So in Lisa’s comment section, I came full circle, and put This Motherless Land on hold at the library. This is a long way to tell you that while I waited for it to come in, I pulled out my old copy of Mansfield Park, which I haven’t read since the Great Jane Austen Pandemic Reread in 2021. I think this is a really underrated Austen, with its interesting themes of infidelity and colonialism, of the British class system and the creation of wealth via unethical means, of kind generosity for its own sake and the indolence of inherited wealth. One might think that the two books I read this week have nothing in common, but that’s not true: they both involve social propriety and othering people who choose differently, loneliness and forbidden love. There is also a joke about admirals, with their rears and vices, so really, what else is there to say? Jane, you saucy minx!
Devotions. There is no good segue here, but I have been reading a poem or two prior to my yoga practice, and have once again finished this, the most wonderful collection by my very favourite poet. She brings so much meaning, and finds so much glory in the natural world, and I love her so very much.
We all know that I too find so much glory in the natural world, but I could do with a little less of the large predatory mammal part of the natural world this week. My nerves! There has been a lot of deep breathing and meditating, believe you me, and in the meantime, I’ll be assuaging my feelings on the piano. Do join us for the 100 Day Project! We’re all in it together. xo
I know this is off-topic, but I just love Rex’s gigantic paws (I couldn’t stop looking at them in the piano photo). ANYWAY- I love the idea of the 100 day project. I just don’t know what I would create- trust me, no one would want one of my homemade postcards. I’ll have to think about it! Have fun with your piano playing.
I love the Edith Wharton quote, and I was also surprised to hear she was an interior and landscape designer???!
I know bears seem scary, but I’m pretty sure you and Rex are safe, especially since he’s demonstrated that he won’t go near them. It’s a little worrisome that the coyotes are getting so brazen though! I would be worried if I had a smaller dog- again, I’m pretty sure Rex is safe. But still- I wouldn’t want to encounter a coyote on my walks.
WHO KNEW Wharton was an interior designer? Certainly not me!
Jenny, I agree that Rex is most likely safe from coyotes, unless they are in a pack but woooooo I cannot think about that. Deep breath. Our neighbour had a little tiny dog who got out of their yard, and the coyotes did get him. That also happened in Calgary to some people I knew with their outdoor cats. It was really sad.
I’d love if you joined the 100 day project! What about trumpet playing? A song a day?
Good luck with your 100 days project. Piano seems like the perfect choice.
Bears, yikes. It seems as if you have a good attitude about co-existing with them, though.
I keep trying, without success, to get my book club to read Edith Wharton.
Is that angel food cake in the last photo? I haven’t had that in so long…
If only I was in your book club, Steph! I’d be on board for sure. I like Wharton a lot.
It is angel food! I made a berry coulis, kind of, I kept it chunky and it was delicious.
I love that you called out that that book is not safe for Lisa (NSFL). Lol. You are the best! I really enjoy thoughtful assessments of motherhood so I was thinking – hmmm, this SOUNDS interesting, but then it was clear it was NSFL. I will be curious to hear what you think of This Motherless Land. I hope it is not a dud for you! It actually kind of makes me want to try to oread Mansfield Park.
Mmmm, that angelfood cake looks sooo good! Especially with the berries! I had so much dessert this past weekend as we had our friends bring desserts on Thur and Fri night. So I ate allllll of the leftovers of the GF cakes and mini bundt cakes!
I love your 100 day project! I am wondering if your piano is a Kawai? Or my other guess is a Yamaha. I have a Kawai. I need to get it tuned as Paul will start piano lessons this fall. I need to try playing and see if it bothers my hand joint I had surgery on (which is healing but is still quite swollen and does not like being overused…).
I just started This Motherless Land while I was eating lunch and although I’m not even ten pages in, so far so good! Lol, do NOT read that book, no no no, it is NOT for Lisa! You’d be surprised how much I thought of you while reading it, in a “I love this, but don’t forget to warn Lisa!”
My piano is a Yamaha, and you reminded me that I am due to get it tuned! I knew you were a pianist and wondered if you missed playing because of your finger joint. I bet you do. I hope it heals such that you can play a little sometimes.
BEARS!! COYOTES!! I would be terrified to leave my house. The worst we have are aggressive geese and red-winged blackbirds. I saw ducklings and goslings for the first time over the weekend which I was excited about until I learned that you saw a bear cub.
I think I’m going to do a 100-day project starting in July having to do with sewing. I will be out of town occasionally, so I’m not 100% sure if I’ll be completely loyal, but I have two projects in mind – one to finish something I’ve been trying to sew for literally years and the other is a 100-day project I found on the interwebz. Maybe I’ll start in June. Maybe not. It’s really busy for me at work in June, but maybe I should start it as a way to give me something to look forward to every night.
Well, honestly, geese can be super aggressive especially during gosling time!
Engie, I think sewing sounds fantastic. I dithered about when to start, because what if I’m out of town, what if we have guests, what if what if what if. Then I remembered, this isn’t AA, I do not have to start over from zero if I miss a day! I can just add it on at the end. And that’s what I’m going to do if it comes to that. Ooooh I cannot WAIT to see your sewing projects!
Isn’t Rex bigger than a coyote? I don’t think any coyote would mess with him!
I just read This Motherless Land – it is a loose retelling of Mansfield Park – it took me a little bit to figure out who matched up to whom. It’s not my typical read (I’m a police procedural and medical memoir kind of gal) but I did like it a lot. I skimmed one part where a character I liked makes bad choices (I just wanted to shake her or hug her!) ; the characters seem very realistic to me. (I also read tow of her other recommendations – I liked How to Read a Book as well, not as thrilled with A Little Less Broken, which is funny because that’s my typical read!)
I will avoid the pandemic sex book – the Covid restrictions wreaked havoc some of my children due to the social restrictions and the loss of in person school. I have a hard time with anything set in that time period.
Mbmom, it’s true – he is way bigger than a coyote so I don’t worry if it’s a solo coyote. It’s if they are in a pack that I would get concerned. But I think generally he’s too big for a coyote to attack, although you never know!
I agree that you should skip Animal Instinct. The part about the kids doing zoom school, and worrying if they were going to go back to school in the fall, was very difficult to read. It was such a terrible memory for me as well.
YOU are inspiring ME! I love that picture of you at your piano. I’m still deciding on what I’d like to do. You know what I realized through all of this? While I’m chatting back and forth with my blogging friends in the comments, that’s when the ideas for my 100-day project come to me. So truly—I’m most inspired by all of you lovely human beings.
My family always teases me for not taking the dogs on walks because of coyotes and other dogs. To be fair, Buddy was almost attacked by a pit bull in our neighborhood years ago, and I’ve had some lingering trauma about it ever since. But you exist with your nature in such a beautiful, grounded way that you make me feel like I could walk with my dogs there. 💜
Yikes, well, that would be very scary, Kari. I don’t blame you! I am not super worried because Rex is so big and I keep him on leash. Although…he got pretty close to a coyote on our property, so that was alarming.
I can’t wait to hear what you choose for your 100 day project! I’m sure you’ll come up with something perfect and lovely!
Bears at your house and coyotes on your walks, double EEK!! No thanks. I must admit I have loved hiking in the UK and not having to worry about snakes.
I will join you in your 100 day project and will do a photo a day. That will be easy now but harder to continue once I’m at home. I had fallen a bit off the photography wagon between trips so this will be a good incentive. Plus it should help me finish off a few little projects I have going.
Snakes! The only snakes we have around here are garter snakes. I think. I should check!
Yay, you’re in for a photo a day! This will be super fun, Melissa!
Nicole, you are the coolest person in the world playing The Scientist by Cold Play on the piano! I had to go listen to it on YouTube, and I have the hugest smile on my face right now! I definitely need some newer piano music. I’m stuck in the past with Tie a yellow ribbon ’round the old oak tree and Raindrops keep falling on my head. No wonder I never feel inspired to play! Do you sing along while you play? I want to be there!!!!
Oh no – bear season. My stomach got a chill when I read that.
Michelle, on one of my yoga playlists I had The Scientist, but instrumental with a violin, and it was one of my favourites! It’s such a beautiful song! I think you’re definitely due for some new music – I have been getting mine from Sheet Music Plus, where you can download individual songs as well as order songbooks. You too could be playing The Scientist!
I sometimes sing along when I play but I definitely have to really know the music first, otherwise my fingers and my mouth get mixed up!
100 days of piano sounds like a wonderful project! Whenever you talk about the piano, I am reminded that I ENJOY PLAYING THE PIANO, why don’t I do it more?!? I have been toying with 100 days of short stories, because I don’t read them enough, and there are so many good ones out there.
Ah the bears. Yikes. I think I have shared before that my parents live in bear country, at least in the summers, and I get so nervous about it. (Now I am distracted by thinking of Bear County [I think?] which is where the Berenstain Bears live/d, and that is NOT a scary place.) Not that they have ever even had a close call with a bear. KNOCK ON WOOD. I do feel like Rex adds a nice extra layer of safety for both of you. Very glad that he notices a bear (or a coyote) and will bark at them.
Oh, this reminds me: I grew up pronouncing “coyote” with two syllables: “KYE-oat.” Clearly, most of the English-speaking world says “kye-OH-tee.” How do you pronounce it?
Ooooh we could be piano playing twins! But short stories sound wonderful too.
Lol, Bear County! I used to enjoy those books! A few years back there was a big thing about Berenstain/ Berenstein and honestly, I don’t remember the details. But I did enjoy them!
I say kye-OH-tee, but I’ve heard it both ways!
To decorate one’s inner house so richly… I just love that. And the sentiment of “Walking each other home.” What beautiful imagery. I want to keep those front and center of my mind. How full of life and love they are. 100 days of something… if I had a piano we’d be playing the same tune…I think that art would be something that would challenge me to do every single day. I might just have to try that.
Oh YES, I would love if you joined! Some small daily art project, maybe? I’d love to see that.
Isn’t that imagery beautiful?
I love this idea of 100 days projects. I badly need stretch more and I may join you, just few minutes a day to make it count. How do you plan to track it?
Sorry to hear about the bear coming back, that’s so scary! Is your neighborhood planning to do something about it?
Coco, there is really nothing to be done about the bear. I mean, unless it was violent and aggressive, then it would be destroyed, but that hasn’t really happened. The best a person can do is to make sure garbage is locked up, because that attracts them.
So far I’ve just been doing little pink checkmarks on my calendar to mark the days – I think I’ll continue. Simple, but it works!
I don’t know what I want to do 100 days in a row. Hmmm. I need to think on this one!
I LOVE Coldplay, so it made me so happy to see you’re practicing one of their songs. Belle went through a phase of playing a ukulele and Yellow was the first song she learned well.
Bears. Nope. I refuse to think about this!
Ooooh I want you to join too!!!
You know what, I kind of want to learn the ukulele. But then I think NO, that is TOO MANY THINGS. But I love the sound of them!
I’m inspired to do a 100 days project but what will I do? So many possibilities. I’ll give it some thought. I live in bear country and a grizzly was spotted last week on property just up the road from us. Yikes! Every time I go outdoors I open the door and look in all directions before stepping out. I too love Mary Oliver and keep one of her books by my reading chair to read a random poem every now and then. Such a beautiful picture of you on the piano with Rex as your audience.
OMG A GRIZZLY!!! I would be terrified. At least I know black bears are unlikely to attack – but grizzlies! Eeeeee! Stay safe, my friend! I do know what you mean as I look in all directions and out of all windows before I let Rex loose in the morning.
Thank you! You’re so kind!
Mary Oliver is just such an uplifting and moving poet. A few of her poems are very sad and heartbreaking too.
Good for you doing the 100 Day Project! Are you going to post a list of songs played? I had coyote cross the road in front of my car in our neighborhood around 6 pm last week. It was surprising in broad daylight and makes me a little leery of walking alone. I do not remember reading Mansfield Park but now feel as though I need to. My sole bear encounter at Shenandoah N.P. is enough for me in one lifetime. Clapping for cake!!!!
Hmmm…maybe I will list the songs played but I repeat songs so often when I’m practicing. But maybe! I do like to switch things up to keep it interesting, so some days it will be classical, other days not, etc. I’m so excited for my new songbook though!
I assume, Ms. Nicole MacPherson, that as you proceed with the 100-Day Project of playing pianos, you’ll ensure not missing a day the best you can, and that if you do miss a day, you’ll just move on the next day and start playing again so that your accumulated number of days of playing pianos can reach 100.
I didn’t expect bears to be back in town either. And while I do embrace walking each other home, I also wonder if the city where you live has a guideline on where one is likely to encounter coyotes. Although, if there are no reports of black bears attacking humans, I assume that there are even fewer reports of black bear vs. coyote standoffs.
I can also see how the books you listed are very opposite yet weirdly similar to one another.
Based on the standards of a 100-Day Project, I think I’ve already done a 100-Day Project back in 2018. I was lifting 2 dumbbells – about 5 kilograms each – over my head 100 times a day for 100 days. If I ever miss a day, I’ll erase all my previous records and start over from 0. I don’t think there is much basis for that standard, though, and I absolutely don’t think you need to adopt that standard. But I did manage to finish it eventually. That project did, in fact, change my life’s trajectory, but to elaborate on the specific effects of that project will make this comment of mine over 1000 words long. And yet, I will need to do that to explain what makes me no longer interested in doing a 100-Day Project again in 2025. I wonder how you think I can go from there, Ms. Nicole MacPherson.
Nowadays, I actually do track my time every day, but if you cannot choose yoga or walking in nature as your project, then I cannot choose tracking my time every day as my project either. So we’re back to my previous paragraph.
When I first saw the 2nd image of this blog post, Ms. Nicole MacPherson, I thought that was Ms. Laura Vanderkam in that image. Of course, I later realized that it was you, Ms. Nicole MacPherson.
Yukon, that is very interesting about your own 100 day project – and I can see why you might be reluctant to start another one. It does sound like a very healthy and strengthening project! I’m not sure if I’ll start from zero if I miss a day – I might just add an extra day to the end. We will see!
There are no reports of coyotes attacking people around here, but they do attack and kill small animals, including small dogs and cats. I’m not worried about this happening to Rex though, unless there is more than one coyote and they pack up.