Emily Carr, "Forest, British Columbia" (oil), 1932
I wish I was here. And in a way, I am.

Today was both wonderful and grueling.

We had the dress rehearsal in the gallery this morning and it was marvelous. This piece really has magic in it and it is even more magical in this perfect venue. If you can find a way to get to the McMichael Gallery tomorrow between 1:30pm and 3:30pm, I think you should go. And I'm not just saying that because it's my show.

We grabbed some lunch at the gallery cafe and I talked with the composer, the librettist, the pianist and his wife for a while. Then I got back to town and spent the afternoon getting a new cell phone (because mine always choose the most inopportune time to croak, in the middle of an important gig or when I'm travelling for auditions, when I have no spare time to go get a new one but I absolutely can't afford to be unreachable).

After that I went hunting for a dress to wear tomorrow because I’m retaining so much fluid none of my planned potential outfits will fit (they were fine just over a week ago). My feet and ankles look like they’re about to burst and I think I’ve gained a bra cup size, not to mention my puffy arms and face. Sheesh! I think it's a BP spike as a side effect of the antibiotics or some combo of them with the other things I'm taking. My BP was okay earlier in the week when I went to have my ears checked and got the prescription, but I’m sure it’s not so great now – and of course I was on my feet all day today which doesn't help.

In the interest of offloading the potential camel-collapsing straw, I decided it is prudent to take tomorrow morning off and not go to my synagogue gig as I had planned. The necessary folks were notified. I'm sure God will forgive me.

So in about 15 hours I'll be offering my voice to Emily and hoping she will share with me some of her vibrant spirit, her indomitable will, and her gift for expression so I can share with the audience my increasing admiration of her.