February 2026

A walk around the neighbourhood with Holly and an hour of playing planned. I figure I can write and edit and get used to writing as part of my daily routine. Does that make sense? I am into mindfulness. Getting into more than just routines. It is Tuesday today and I visit my friend Dan before chess at the condo. It seems like I have been living 'the dream' so to speak.

I have a friend, Dan, who has trouble with mobility. He spends a lot of time in bed. He has a Hoyer lift and has arranged to get out a couple of times a week. He also has a trainer on Saturday's who is into Wim Hof breathing and weight training. I'm into the weekly routine of coming over on Tuesday afternoons before chess. Lately we are reading and discussing mindfullness and how that relates to music. This week is was 'Dancing with Life'. He wanted an acronym for the foundations of mindfulness. So I came up with 'KNOW and not in that order'.

• K: know how any experience feels like in the body
• N: Note the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral feeling tone that accompanies every moment's experience
• W: Witness your mental state and your emotions in the moment
• O: Open to the impersonal truth of life that is revealed in this moment

Your supposed to develop mindfulness of the body experience (K) before going on to the other three foundations.

Dan is one of the most zen people I know already, so it's fun to go through this with him. Continually going back to following the breath is another key feature of this mindfulness. I try to breath while practising piano. It's a bit like chewing gum while walking.

I'm planning a 'piano sighting' trip around Aurora to find some venues that have pianos or jam sessions and see about what is happening live here.

When I was at John Abbott College in the Montreal West Island in the mid-seventies, there was a course on 'playing the blues' with a local musician, Trevor Payne. He was also involved with a choir downtown along with Daisy Peterson, one of Oscar's sisters. My piano teacher in the early seventies was Paul de Marky who had retired from the stage decades earlier and who's claim to fame was having had Oscar as a pupil. Small world.

Here's a song that was part of the reportoire 25 years ago when I was playing in a blues band around Toronto. 'My Momma Told Me'.

Brad played at 'The Whiskey Lounge' on Valentine's Day. We went and watched him play. I like his music and I think he plays very well. I also played a couple of songs. It was a fun evening.