Night the disquieting wind
   That sweeps in from the frozen North
      Breaking the once promising Day
      The once trusting Light
      The once gentle Breeze

Fear, the beveling blade
   That cuts the comfort from Dawn
      Replacing calm with Chaos
      Dispelling once brightening Hope
      Darkening what once felt Home

 Now comes the new Sun
   comes the morning light
     gradual and calming
       orange and yellow and bright
         these colors and tones of new Life

              R D Latimer April 17, 2016

   

To walk in the Spring
To find a day like today
To be with a bright blue sky
And lay under contented clouds

To find happiness among daffodils
To lift spirits beyond the worry
To separate from pain
And walk among contented blossoms

To swim in an Ocean off a white sand shore
To gaze through palms at Noon
To tremble just once and then be set free
And wander at last to contented Home
   
                             R D Latimer, April 15, 2016

  Happy Tax Day, for what it's worth.
                               Thinking of Pete Townshend and My New World of Sound

  Don't ever get tinnitus... you know, the Pete Townshend condition, but if you do get tinnitus, stick with it, bolster your courage, you can live with the annoying ringing.  With time, I think your mind can learn to adapt.
     Years ago, I read how Pete T .. from The Who of course,.. had ruined his ears and had ringing in his ears, so he couldn't play in the band anymore.  I didn't think too much about it, and have gone on with my side life of playing in loud sound, amplified bands for many years.
   My ears started ringing last July, almost a year ago, after a night of playing fiddle in a loud Irish bar, and with loud speakers pointed in my direction. I'd been to see a couple of live bands in a local venue the nights before.  I didn't give all of this much thought.  My ears had been through heavy musical sound for many years.
   I've always loved sound, would always crank up the stereo.  More more more sound, bring it on. Turn those monitor speakers up loud!
  But then the ringing started, and never really stopped.  Some days maybe quieter, some days loud.  But the ringing is now a routine part of my brain I guess.
 I saw The Who just last month, 2016, fast forward for Pete Townshend.  There he was playing with his bandmates, and I could not tell from the distance if he had any sort of ear plugs.  He did have an array of monitor speakers at his feet, and the drummer, Zak Starkey - Ringo's son, was doing a great job of playing the old Keith Moon parts.  The band was energetic and great, and Pete did not seem to be a world of tinnitus funk and sound blocking.  A 6 ft high plexiglass shielded Zak's drums and their sound from Pete's ears.  Other than that it was all systems go for Pete's ears, his windmill arm rotations, Roger's swinging of the duct taped mic, and the band.
    Earlier in the month I had played fiddle with my loud band for St Pat's Day at a nice but loud venue in Bethesda.  I've been forced into a tentative on stage presence with loud sound. I wear musician ear plugs and sound blocking Vic Ferth headphones.  I don't hear much of the band anymore, except for distorted sounds reaching my ears or traveling through my cranial bones via vibrations.  It's not like before.
   I'm having to change things, have begun playing in unampified settings where plugs and headphones are not needed.  This is all a day by day adjustment.  It's definitely not like before.