I can’t tell you how good it feels to get back to everything! School. Private students. Opera. Symphony. Life is good.

It was wonderful to meet with the Santa Clara University oboists again today; what a delight you students are! It’s great, too, that we are in a much better room than we’ve had in the past, and I’m hoping we can hang on to it.

I look forward to my very early mornings with UCSC students. I actually don’t mind the early start; it gets my day going in a very fine way.

Now that I’ve had both an opera and and symphony set, and I’ve taught at both SCU and UCSC, and all my private students have returned, I feel as if my music making life is back to normal. As normal, of course, as a musician’s life can be. Which is abnormal. And all of this makes me feel more like me: abnormally normal … or is that normally abnormal? I am thinking the latter makes more sense.

In the summer I sort of feel as if part of who I am has left the building.

Guess it’s sort of like Sweeney Todd, when he declares, “At last, my arm is complete again!”

But I promise I won’t be making any meat pies. Although I do have sharp knives and razor blades.