I thought I might get away without ever getting Covid. I was wrong.
A couple of days after my trip to the Rodney Crowell song camp I woke up with a sniffle. Well, that sniffle turned into body aches, chills, and sweats.
The virus has kind of messed up my first week at a new job as an adjunct instructor at Southern Maine Community College. I taught one class in person. The next day I tested positive and taught that day’s class on Zoom. Then I had to cancel my third class. Hopefully, I’ll be okay to go back next week. My case of Covid seems fairly mild. It’s like a bad head cold with a few aches and lots of sweating. It’s day four and it feels like I’m on the mend. I’m taking Paxlovid to be safe.
Soon, I’ll get started on my sabbatical project for my West Coast job at Yakima Valley College. Once I get over Covid and get some car issues straightened out, I’ll be picking up a new MacBook Air for writing a rough draft of my memoir based on my book A Train Called Forgiveness. The iPad Pro is a great tool, but it’s not the best for writing and teaching on learning management systems.
I’m trying to wind down from being in high music mode. I’ve been working on songwriting for the past eight months. I thought I might just turn it off. But I’m still going. I’m thinking about my next project. I’ve got some clear ideas, not for songs, but for overall musical direction.
I’ve written the majority of my songs this year on a ukulele. I tried to jump right back onto guitar. It’s not so fast, and I’m discovering something that I’ve been on the fence about for many years.
I prefer nylon strings over steel strings.
There’s something about nylon that feels more expressive to me. I’ve also been developing more classical-like techniques and jazz-like rhythms using nylon strings. I’m playing my Cordoba travel size nylon-stringed guitar more since getting home from Nashville. But I’m still putting more time on the ukulele.
I also love small guitars over big guitars.
So what is all of this leading to? I’m considering letting go of some of my steel-stringed instruments, (but not my Fender Telecaster), and then buying a Torres Replica classical guitar as my primary guitar. There are many different brands and options of Torres Replicas out there but I’ll have to spend anywhere from $1500-$5000 to get something fairly decent.
If nothing else, Covid has forced me to rest. Even so, I’m still playing a little music each day and coming to some conclusions about my future musical direction.
Cheers. – dse
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