What a marvellous inducement to tranquillity and thoughtfulness it is to call upon one’s favourite pieces of music on command. Just part of the Apple Music catalogue which from the beginning has inspired me. To date I have 297 songs from which to choose; some I have deleted (not because I didn’t like them but because I was listening to the same song too often). Now I find many of the selections I have never heard entirely.

This is an eclectic selection of music derived from Apple Music “Listen Now”. It figures coincidentally many pieces which have been notable to me throughout my life. Otherwise there is no theme intended apart from what the algorithms betray. L. G. William Chapman, B.A., LL.B., Key Largo, Florida, Winter 2022 – 2023

I have begun listening to this collection in the car (connected through my iPhone to Car Play) for several reasons. 1) There is no disruptive advertising; 2) it is axiomatic that I will like the “shuffle” productions; and, 3) the genre of music changes with each choice of song though admittedly I fall readily into the categories of baroque, jazz and American schmaltz. Okay, and some opera too! The icing on this particular construct is the open landau and windows of my car when driving each day along the Appleton Side Road into Stittsville and back to get the car washed. I set the mechanics of the car to 80Km/h and sit back. Seldom am I perturbed by another driver pushing from behind to pass me. Let them curse the old fogey! Votre camion! I suspect the route I take is not particularly popular because of the speed restriction. March Road from the roundabout to the highway is more popular (though not of course my option of choice except when clouded by the necessity of appointment).

Calling the Appleton Side Road a “side road” is somewhat of a confusion to me.

A side road is a minor highway typically leading off a main road.  A side road may be so minor as to be uncategorized with a road number. In an urban area, a side road may be a narrow street leading off a more major street, especially in a residential area.

I had thought I once heard it explained to me by an Ontario Land Surveyor that a side road was an assured open public roadway laid out between lots (in the concession) every 5th lot so that there was access to land holdings through an alternative to the concessions which separated the lots from one another on the opposite parallel. The Appleton Side Road also distinguishes itself as a roadway which travels end to end through large open farmlands. It is invariably an idyllic drive. Even the stone and brick mansions which can be viewed in the distance from the side road are surrounded by cultivated farmland.

I began this narrative by mentioning music. I am listening to my “favourites” as I write.  And I have to say that some of them make me more than a little sentimental.  There are the usual killers “Time to say goodbye!” and “O Mio babbino Caro!”

“O mio babbino caro” (“Oh my dear Papa”) is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918) by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from Rinuccio. It provides an interlude expressing lyrical simplicity and love in contrast with the atmosphere of hypocrisy, jealousy, double-dealing, and feuding in medieval Florence. It provides the only set-piece in the through-composed opera.

But I can fall for just about anything.  Music does that to me.  Which is oddly enough no small compliment.  You see, I have always thought it strange of me that I become tearful from music but it requires a good deal more than that otherwise. Not necessarily because I am not sentimental; rather I may have inherited some of my late father’s taciturn nature.

7 Eras of Classical Music

No day of indulgence is complete without a visit to the bakery.  When I entered the shop I was reluctant to know whether they had any chocolate chip cookies today?  I was expecting “No!” as the answer.  Once before I had heard the baker only made them Wed – Sat and today is Tuesday.  And even if there had been some, most often they were already all gone.  So figure my excitement upon learning they had some! How many, I asked.  Seven.  I’ll take them all! It was a coup! And I was on a roll (that is, as much as a 75 year old man with a stick can roll). Soups, sauces, cheese, sausage rolls, exotic Italian meat. I am probably mixed up about something; but I can tell you that everything we’ve had from that place is exceptionally tasteful.

This complete lack of austerity on my behalf completed my drive on this magnificent day.  Except that is to mention I noticed one of the bushes alongside the road already had a burnished copper colour upon one side.