“Thus, thereafter, the whole day long until the sun went under, the gods feasted, nor was anyone’s hunger denied a fair portion, nor denied the beautifully wrought lyre in the hands of Apollo nor the antiphonal sound of the Muses singing.” Homer: The Iliad.
The Greeks believed in the Muses and evoked their names often. These goddesses of music, song and dance seem to be alive and well and flourishing here at Eastman. The inhabitants of our natural world give evidence. The lake abounds with loon cries, all of which are described in this edition’s “Loon Lites.” When we look at “What’s Out There” and “Scene at Eastman,” we are reminded of the background music that makes life here so pleasant: a piliated woodpecker’s frantic yodel as it flies gracefully through the woods, the sharp cry of a circling hawk, the repetitive call of a barred owl, the string chorus of mating field crickets.
And we humans contribute to the melody. Some, like music teacher, choral conductor and accomplished organist Jerry Weale, have made music their life’s work. Others, like members of the Eastmans Family Singers, the Hand-Bell Choir and the Eastman Ensemble, work in other professions but have made music an essential part of their lives. Community residents, both adults and teenagers, have formed rock groups. Most all of us are music-makers’ followers, devotees of one or another jazz, pop, blues or classical group, each of whom plays for our pleasure at The Center, stirring things up or calming them down, as the case may be. In this issue, you can read about some of the talented residents who live here at Eastman and play locally.
So, whenever you are out and about, walking or jogging the trails and twisty roads that hug contours, a dance in itself, be aware of the cacophony of natural sound. Recognize, as well, that above or below that sound or, perhaps, right next to it, are the clear musical voices, the dulcet notes of string and horn and reed, the rocking pulse of band music and the measured movement of bodies responding to melody, all an integral part of us.
“Sing to us oh Muse…”
Judy McCarthy
mccarthy.judy@gmail.com
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