But, I sometimes ask myself, what’s the point of practicing a Bach prelude on the piano for hours if no one else ever hears it? Why not just listen to it instead?
Playing Bach
Author: beverleystevens
I'm a writer of creative nonfiction whose day job as a copywriter at Xero involves drinking flat whites, writing and editing. Outside of work hours, I can be found drinking wine, walking and exploring Wellington, reading and listening to classical music.
You are here, here you are
"Everywhere you go, there you are." (Attributed to Confucius)
No ordinary quiet
I'd intended to write a daily journal of an ordinary life through this uncharted time but it hasn't happened. Instead, two weeks into lockdown, the prevailing impression is of the quiet.
Sunday visit
Steam wafted from the chink where the serving spoon emerged from the lid of the blue-and-white willow-pattern dish. A peek within revealed the bright green of the sweet steaming fresh peas. But the matching dish on the luncheon table with its bland dish of plain boiled potatoes muted the momentary anticipation. The extending table was … Continue reading Sunday visit
Going out
‘There must’, we said, ‘be a back exit’. But a mental scan of the corridor outside revealed no discreet service lift. Just a series of hotel-like rooms and, opening up in the other direction, the bland living and dining area, then through that to the large lifts down to the ground floor and further below, … Continue reading Going out
The loveliness of lists
Lists are not the bane of my life, far from it. Without lists, my life would be as bereft as a day without music, as soulless as a world with books, and as empty as a fridge without cheese.
Letting go of the children (or, I’ve not got Alzheimers yet)
Kahil Gibran wrote that your children are not your children. Even as a student in the 1970s I recognised the truth in what he said. And it turns out, bringing up children is a series of letting go's, from taking your hands off the back of the two-wheeler bike to walking away on the first … Continue reading Letting go of the children (or, I’ve not got Alzheimers yet)
To Dubrovnik and beyond
Our Facebook posts of our trip to Croatia and Italy show sunshine, coffee and pastries, cocktails, wine and beautiful landscapes. What the photos don’t show is the crazy, exhausting whirlwind of unfamiliar people and places in unseasonably hot autumn weather. Or the sense of being caught up in a mindless global madness to visit the … Continue reading To Dubrovnik and beyond
Out the window: a photo journal in words
A journal of journeys around Wellington harbour by bus, car, and on foot in the month of July.
Leaky orange Mazda, baby, and me
After years in the corporate world, I was more than ready to embrace the role of earth mother. Of course, that's not quite what happened.
