LIKE EMERGING FROM A DARKENED ROOM

Things are beginning to revive. Even with the uncertainty of COVID variants, events are starting cautiously back up. It feels like breathing fresh air after being in a spaceship, or blinking in the bright daylight after emerging from a darkened room. Cautious, but hopeful. It's hard to shed the masks and anxiety, even if you've been four-times vaccinated like me. But I'm ready to step out. I need it and though it might take practice to relax into a reduced version of caution, I'll move gently forward.

For me, "stepping out" has additional significance. I'm walking normally after what was a cataclysm in my world, henceforth known as The Boxing Day Fall. I'm so...well, the best word is grateful. I'm grateful that the pelvic fractures have completely healed, grateful that physical therapy really works if you're diligent, grateful that I didn't need surgery and that I had family to take care of me till I could do for myself once again. Best of all, I just called my first contra dance and though it felt a bit rusty, all went well. Better yet, I'm slated to call three more. The next one will be soon—May 21 in Santa Rosa, followed by the Sacramento Contra dance on Saturday, August 27, and the Berkeley Contra Dance on Wednesday, August 31. All these require masks and proof of vaccination to attend. The Hayward dance required well-fitted masks, but they didn't have to be N95s, but you'll want to check to see what's specifically required. No one seemed to have trouble dancing with them. So maybe you'll feel like stepping out to join us?

ONLY ONE MORE VIDEO

Libby McLaren and I have one more video to record to complete our free YouTube lessons. This last video will be a bit more challenging to edit because it will include some video of Libby's hands on the piano with voiceover audio, and a few still images with voiceover audio, but since part of the fun for this pandemic project was learning how to use Final Cut Pro, we're holding our noses and diving in. Lesson 5 will provide simple tools for creating your own vocal harmonies that will help you switch it up from learning rote harmonies.

Though the project is fun, it hasn't been without its hiccups! We decided our third and fourth lessons would feature a song we secured permission to use on the Carmony album, Elizabeth Cotton's Freight Train. For the video, we made the mistake of asking for permission after we'd done most of the recording. It was going to cost a lot of money for something we're pretty sure won't go viral, and that we just didn't want to monetize! So we re-recorded the lessons using a traditional song, The Water Is Wide (aka O Waly, Waly). The song originated in the 1600s, so we knew we were safely not violating any copyrights. Well, wouldn't you know, Sony has licensed a version of the song that was scored for choir and piano and challenged our right to use it! I contested the claim with evidence that the choral version uses the trad tune and lyrics — which have no copyright. Now we wait; will Sony relent? Stay tuned for this and more about the foibles of Celia & Libby's Excellent Harmony Lessons!