Solstice miracles

Three weeks ago we attended a recorder workshop at which the afternoon was devoted to playing on Renaissance instruments: I think everybody in the room had at least two or three Prescotts, and two people had Prescott C-basses. A day or two later we got an e-mail from the Prescotts saying one of their customers had returned a C-bass for them to sell on consignment; after a day's debate, we jumped on it, and Friday two weeks ago we got a box containing... the foot joint, bocal, paperwork, and a couple of neck straps. The rest of the instrument had been shipped in a separate box, which according to the online tracker was at a sorting facility in Brooklyn.

The following Monday, according to the online tracker, it was "in transit" from Brooklyn to Queens. Several more times that week, according to the online tracker, it was "in transit" from Brooklyn to Queens. I filled out an online form to find out where the package really was and why it hadn't been delivered yet, then called the Post Office and was directed to the same online form. The following Monday, according to the online tracker, it was "in transit" from Brooklyn to Queens. On Wednesday, according to the online tracker, it was "expected to be delivered Thursday", and on Thursday it was actually delivered, over two weeks after it had arrived in Brooklyn. It's gorgeous, it has a solid low C (equivalent to the low C for a tenor singer), and with a few weird unintuitive fingerings it's capable of playing over two octaves, up to the low D on a soprano recorder. Now we just need to find opportunities to play it with people....

And finally, yesterday's weather forecast rain or perhaps a few flakes of snow, but overnight it snowed, enough to stick on the ground, looks like about two or three inches. Not enough to be a serious nuisance, but enough to be pretty and Christmas-y. If the weather forecasts are right this time, it should stick around for at least a few days, although it may melt by Christmas proper.