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Music of the Spheres2nd February 2010 – St Thomas
The boat has been rocking back and forth all night, there was no wind but the waves kept coming across the harbor, creating a swell.
Anyway, I woke up with this great idea… To finally listen to what my husband has created, to discover his music. Of course, I have listened to few albums and tracks! But I have never taken the time to listen to all of his work.
I told Michael about my idea this morning and I believe that he liked it – he said "That will be nice :-)"
I will try to share my experiences with the boys, so they can too discover and appreciate their dad's music.
Straight to the internet… Let's go… Let's download iTunes.
Once the program was installed on the computer, I went shopping and purchased Music Of The Spheres. It was the first album that got my attention on the screen. So why not? I will work my way from the latest album backwards in time.
3rd February 2010 – St Thomas
Harbinger
Music of the Spheres is an album that I do know and have listened to many times. I heard Michael working on it. One of my pleasures was to make dinner and if Michael left the studio door open I could hear, from the kitchen, what he was working on in the studio. That is how I heard the sounds of this beautiful album for the first time. The actual first time I heard it properly was in a mastering studio in London. Wow, it was just fantastic… The music took me on a journey away from London, England, Earth!
After a long day getting ready for my chemistry exam that I have tomorrow, I have been looking forward to the time when I can have a glass of champagne and take the time to listen to my first track. I asked Michael for some headphones, luckily he had some spare ones on the boat! I got my glass ready, rolled a cigarette and clicked on play.
Straight away, Eugene came over saying "music music". I put the headphones on him and he just stood still, looking down and listening. At the sounds of the big drums he was startled and his little hands would tense and relax.
Today was an exciting day!!! A really nice boat that we have been hoping to buy someday, Mustang Sally, is still for sale, now named Bjorg IV and is in Tortola, just an island away. Maybe like Harbinger, it is going to lead to a wonderful new journey…Who knows!
4th February 2010 – St Thomas
Animus and Silhouette
You know some days you feel like you are on top of the game and others when you feel like you still have to climb something like Mt Everest to get where you want to be? Well today I don't feel so much on top as below everything and I still have to put more work into what I thought was gained!
This chemistry exam was so difficult! I wished I had five hours instead of three… Anyway, my brain could not do the job properly in that time. Working on the course has been difficult, but at times it felt really good doing calculations using Planck's constant and understanding these complicated formulas. But nope!!! Far from the truth that was!!! I will just have to work extra hard to get there :-)
I listened to Animus this evening and felt strange…Like the beauty of the track was bothering me! It opened some kind of folder! It really showed how talented my husband is and reminded me of how little I have accomplished compared to him. How can someone be so talented? Where and how to do you get that talent? I know that it doesn't come without any hard work, like the seed of a beautiful tree needs water and a lifetime to grow. But where do you find that seed, the something you are really good at? The something that can bring good to the world and really make a difference!
Then the next track, Silhouette, started to play and it soothed me. It brought a calm feeling inside of me, very much like meditation. I turned off my computer feeling refreshed from today.
5th February 2010 – St Thomas
Today, I went down town with Eugene… Just to do a little shopping and catch up on being girly. It is silly to think that looking at clothes, make up and jewelry makes a girl feel better… But it works!
I have been making a video to send to my dad and stepmother. I want to show them how our life is, make them feel like they are spending a day with us. I miss them very much! When we take the boat out, visit an island, a new marina, when it is a special day… I imagine that they are there talking to me and I can picture their faces, what they would do and say.
When I got back with Eugene, Michael took us out, for a short trip, on the new "rocket boat". It was just nice. The boys were running up and down like it was their new playground. And Jake found a new game: lying down on his tummy and sliding down from the raised bow floor using his life jacket. "Wheeee…." he went.
By the time we got back, gave the boys a bath, got ready to go out for dinner etc… I didn't find the time to listen to Mike's album. As I listened to two tracks yesterday, the "one track a day" title still works :-)
To tell the truth, I did make some time to open my new biology book instead. I received it yesterday and was eager to have a look at it. I was not disappointed, the book opened with the statement "What defines life?" and then listed the seven properties of life. The first property being "order", the book displayed a close up picture of a sunflower which is just incredible. This photograph filled my head with questions and wonder! How could nature be so beautiful, logical, ordered? It can't just be an accident? Is there something bigger that created this? Ah…So many questions!!! I should try to pay more attention to natural order and try to capture it with my camera. Will keep an eye open!!!
On our way back from dinner, I looked up at the stars and wondered if a planet, a star, a solar system could be classified as living. A rock is classified as a non living organism but what about a planet? Does it agree with the seven properties of life? Does it have order? Yes. Does it reproduce? I would say our planet was created and it didn't just appear out of nowhere. Does it show signs of growth and development? I have read statements like "a star is born" or "our sun will die"; so yes, I believe a planet, a star, a solar system grows and develops. Does it takes in energy and transform it to do many kinds of work? Yes, our planet uses the energy of the sun. Does it respond to its environment? Yes. Homeostasis? Yes. Does it show evidence of evolutionary adaptation? Yes. Alright!!! I concluded that a planet is a living and conscious organism. A star is alive and that everything in space is just part of a very large living organism. Yeah!!!
6th February 2010 – St Thomas
Shabda
This morning, I told Michael about my conclusions about the properties of life and that I believed that space was just a big living organism and perhaps one among millions of others. His reaction was "I know! I have been telling you just that, since 2002, but you always answered me with a 'Come back to Earth Michael'…" I love my husband so much! He always makes me laugh.
I have just finished listening to Shabda and Wow! It is just fantastic, even better than what I remembered. The guitar, the flute, the choir made my heart beat faster and took me to another world. The music took me to a time when island people were traveling by boat and setting off for a journey to the unknown.
7th February 2010 – St Thomas
The Tempest
I have had a craving for cooking since yesterday…I just love looking at Michael and the boys being happy because they enjoyed their meal. It is a real reward to get a "Thank you mommy for a lovely dinner", it just makes me happy.
We took the "banana boat" (Michael renamed it) out for a Sunday picnic on the beach. On our way, I took this lovely photo of an old sailing boat…I wish I could put it in an empty glass bottle, I will have to look at some tutorials in Photoshop.
We spotted two sea turtles and it is incredible how fast they can swim, they rocket off as soon as they see something.
The Tempest is as fast as our banana boat. Listening to that track took me back to our hotel room in Spain and I could see Mike again, rehearsing for his concert.
8th February 2010 – St Thomas
Harbinger Reprise
I finished the DVD for my family… Last night Jake and I had a good laugh watching it. I hope they will like it. Today was a family shopping day at KMART Smart; Jake needed a new fishing rod etc… And Michael has been trying to make the Banana boat's auto pilot work. I am starting to get bored here… It sounds very spoiled, but I am getting bored of being on a permanent holiday.
I spent the afternoon reading and watching an online documentary about the Human Genome Project. It is hard to believe that we are all 99.9% similar and have only 0.1% in our DNA that defines our individuality. There must be something more!
An article on the internet caught my attention…we could be the collective consciousness of our planet and our cells could be the source of our consciousness??? I don't know…Maybe.
9th February 2010 – St Thomas
On My Heart
It is hard to believe, but I am still insecure and jealous listening to this track; that beautiful lady singing on my husband's music and working with him… I cannot have an objective view – how sad is that after nearly eight years of marriage? But I just can't help it :-)
My poor husband woke up this morning with a very unhappy wife who growled at him that she didn't want to live on a boat anymore. I have to admit that, most of the time, I am just a follower and incapable of making any decisions. Always uncertain, I have grown into letting Michael come up with the directions we have taken during our life together. Just nodding along when he asks me if we should move, live on a boat, go to the other side of the world… I will try everything, adapt to any environment and just make the most of it. Until it feels like I cannot breathe anymore. Then, I have this urge to state and regain my individuality and go back to the driver's seat. I wish I could be more settled, and learn to be a co-pilot instead. So, change of plan, we are not going to sell our boat for a bigger one and live full time aboard. We are going back to Nassau, to buy a small house and build our life there. I am very excited about it…
10th February 2010 – St Thomas
Aurora
Every couple has their problems and difficulties in their relationship but what strikes me about my marriage is how much we do love each other. Unconditional love, despite our ups and downs, even when I believe that it is the end… Michael pulls me back up and gives me the little word or look to make me feel that it is only the beginning for our family.
We took the boys to the beach, this morning. On our way, we stopped at a place where we saw some fawns few weeks ago and they were still there. I tried to take some pictures but the lighting was off. Now I know where their home is, I will be able to work on it and get a great shot.
Aurora is such a happy track…It is one that gets under your skin!!! I need to quote what Michael told me last night and it sure goes well with this track "Our life is just like a little spark in a beautiful fireworks display, only lasting a short moment but being part of something much bigger!"
11th February 2010 – St Thomas
Prophecy
This morning, I finished writing an article to submit to St Thomas magazine. It was really fun writing and sharing the wonderful experience of the birds visiting our dock. I don't know if she will publish it and I will wait patiently while checking my emails ten times a day for a confirmation.
Today, we took Jake deep sea fishing. He has been looking forward to it so much, my little boy's dream is to catch a dolphin-fish and sell it. It was a wonderful feeling to be out at sea, on top of the 300m drop, looking to the horizon hoping to catch the sight of a whale or a dolphin. Jake and the captain caught a barracuda, had a look a it and released it. Poor fish, it looked so terrified! Michael and I are not much into fishing and much prefer feeding them bread and watching them swimming around the boat.
I really love the sound of the piano in Prophecy! It must be so incredible to have your fingers dancing on the keys and producing a wonderful melody. It has always been one of my deepest and most childish desires to learn to play piano; Michael tried to teach me a few years ago but, being born with the opposite of any musical talent, I was afraid that it would hurt his ears too much and so I gave up. Maybe when I am an old lady I will give it another try!
During dinner, I told Michael about this theory of cells' collective consciousness that I read and wonder about. Like always, he had just the right arguments to give me! If the cells' collective consciousness is the source of our own, what gives the cells their consciousness? The atoms, electrons, neutrons and protons give it to them. So what is the source of the electrons' consciousness? And then I am lost without any answers! There must be something else that we haven't got a name for… But what is it?
12th February 2010 – St Thomas
On My Heart Reprise
This morning we got done our passport pictures and went shopping. The boys are a real handful, full of life and sparks. They are just two little dynamos!
When we went out deep sea fishing, I heard Eugene counting from 10 to 1 and since then I have tried to make him do it again in front of Michael but he kept saying "No 10". Still, in my effort to show Michael what I think is just incredible for a baby that is just 2 year old, I started asking Eugene to count again. I wish I had a secret camera in our car, it must have been hilarious! Driving back to the boat, Eugene saying "10" – and Michael, Jake and I going "Yeah" – "9" – screaming "Yeah" – "8" – "Yeah" and so on… until he reached "1" and we were all laughing and very proud of our little baby. What a wonderful memory! These special moments just like that one are so precious and are really what makes life happy. Oh, I love my family so much!
I found On My Heart Reprise a very sad short melody… Nothing like the laughter and simple joyful moment we all had in the car today.
Tonight, Michael was really excited about this new "Telecaster" album he wants to do. I believe that both of us are now ready to move back to Nassau into a house with a studio for him to work, a garden for the boys and a new horse for mommy.
13th February 2010 – St Thomas
Harmonia Mundi
I have spent the morning cleaning the boat and it feels like a never ending job with the two boys making a mess as I go. These two need space to run around like crazy! Like Michael said, "the boat has stretched out its skin to hold all of us now".
I showed Michael my new website for my photos, www.fannyoldfield.zenfolio.com and, always supportive in my new ventures, he complimented my booby bird photos. I don't know if anybody will like them enough to buy them, as I don't really consider myself as a photographer, but since Christmas it has just brought me lots of pleasure and it might make someone smile to have one of the booby bird pictures hanging on their wall - why not?
Fluffy, the dog, went to get her "make over" as Jake says; she now looks all clean and pretty. The quiet presence of this wonderful dog following us in our life no matter where is amazing. When we look at a photo album, she is always there by our side. I remember Fluffy lying on my tummy and feeling a kick when I was pregnant with Jake like it was yesterday. Every night, around 3am, I had the routine of waking up and going downstairs to have some chocolate biscuits and a glass of milk. And of course Fluffy, like my shadow, would give me a cuddle and share the food! Her face when Jake kicked her was full of confusion but by the time I was pregnant with Eugene she knew exactly what it was all about.
When Michael plays the acoustic guitar it sounds just like he is talking! Everything about this track is subtle and elegant, just beautiful!
14th February 2010 – St Thomas
The Other Side
Last night as we fell asleep, Michael was singing "Rock a bye baby…". The boat has been rocking non stop all night and all day!
I discovered a wonderful website called www.peoi.org "Professional Educational Organization International" which aim to offer free college education online. What a wonderful idea! Anybody and anywhere in the world would be able to study at home when they want to. It is hard to believe how college education can be so expensive, with all these adverts on TV about mortgages to offer your children the best chances for a successful life. This project is the future! Anyone, anywhere can learn anything they want and for free! Wow!
For Valentine's day, we went out to one of our favorite restaurant in St Thomas called Oceana. Jake was asking lots of questions about when we got married and when he was in my tummy. It brought back lots of memories, especially memories of Music VR. I told Jake how, when I was working on Maestro and pregnant, his daddy sawed the legs of my desk so I could work in my comfortable armchair without having my desk being too high. He found the story very amusing.
This track brings up an exotic atmosphere, I could imagine the opening playing at an Arabian horse show when the exquisite fillies are being presented at walk in front of the judges.
15th February 2010 – St Thomas
Empyrean
I passed Chemistry!!! Yeah! I am so proud and happy, it was hard work and I really thought that I had failed the final exam but I got an overall of 68.16% for the course. Job done, now I will be able to concentrate on Biology. I have registered with PEOI as a volunteer and I am really looking forward to contributing to this great project.
Ah, the drums always get my heart going and get right under my skin. It is an empowering track.
16th February 2010 – St Thomas
Musica Universalis
My back has been hurting me a lot, so this morning I decided to go for a deep tissue massage. With the thoughts of a nice relaxing massage, I went to the spa. How wrong I was!!! The therapist really tortured me as she kept telling me that it was for my own good and that my body desperately needed this treatment. The result: I spent all day in pain, like a truck had rolled over me. Never again will I have a deep tissue massage!
It cheered me up to go for a walk with Michael in the evening and say hello to the deer. I have tried again to take some pictures but I still cannot get anything really good. I'll just have to keep at it.
Musica Universalis is really something, I could hardly breathe as I was listening to the track. It really got me emotionally, like the ending of a wonderful movie. It is something that has to be said about Mike's music, it always makes you feel something…it is not like any boring track that is almost invisible. Mike's music stays with you, tells you a story, brings emotions and gets your heart to beat faster.
17th February 2010 – St Thomas
My back is still hurting me a lot, it is just like if my skin was raw and burning. Being in pain and having the children arguing got the most of me today. Jake always challenges me. Fortunately, like always, Michael was there to calm everybody down and rationalize it all. As I gave up cooking dinner, he took us out to my favorite restaurant. It was lovely to watch the boys playing, running around like crazy and just being happy children!
18th February 2010 – St Thomas
Last night, in bed, I had a real fun picturing us as what kind of boat we would be. Michael would be like Sea Dragon, different, beautiful, sleek, fast, reliable and inspiring. I would be very much like the small jet engined Yamaha boat: nice, pretty, once it gets going it is a good reliable little boat, but sometimes it goes all over the place and can be difficult to control. Jake would be like Sea Dragon's tender: little, full of it, will not go in the reverse gear but always go forward quiet happily. And Eugene would be our inflatable kayak, small and gentle.
This morning I had the surprise to see that my mother was the first one to purchase a canvas from my new website. It is really sweet and encouraging, thanks mom :-) I will, in turn, probably, be the first one to buy anything that my boys sell…
What a wonderful day! We took the boat for a day out to the small island named Culebra. The water was as beautiful as in the Bahamas and I was brave enough to go snorkeling with Michael, despite my fear that a shark might gobble me up for lunch. We spotted three different sea turtles but these small creatures are really difficult to observe. They just pop their little heads out for a second and disappear again into the deep. We also fed three huge remoras, it was so much fun! It made me realize that Jake and I share the same love for animal training as, he was tapping the water three times and feeding them, trying to condition the remoras to come when he tapped the water.
I finally got to make my special pancakes for dinner. The stuffed pancakes with chicken, mushrooms and cheese fondue sauce was a real success.
19th February 2010 – St Thomas
Music of the Spheres
The internet is so slow, it takes ages to do anything. But I manage to buy my new lens, a Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L IS USM… Wow…I can't wait until it arrives! I also bought our return ticket to Nassau on the 14th of March, purchased and downloaded Mike's album Light and Shade. A good morning indeed :-)
Eugene is having his afternoon nap, everything is quiet and I am going to treat myself to listening to Music of the Spheres in one go.
Well…I tried! Jake fell over and my wonderful voyage had to be paused. After some kisses to make it better and wiping off his tears, I continued on my journey. The track Shabda is really the one for me, I just love it so much!
When Eugene woke up, as promised we took him to buy his new "djouver" as he called his scooter. He watched impatiently his dad building it for him as he was already seeing himself scooting away… But sadly it started to rain and he could not take his new scooter for a fun trial. After spending all evening looking through the window at his "djouver" standing in the rain he finally convinced us to bring it inside. To cut the story short, Eugene fell asleep with a smile on his face and with his new "djouver" in bed with him :-)
Well that's it for Music of the Spheres…
© Fanny Oldfield 2010.
To see more of Fanny's photos and to buy prints, visit http://fannyoldfield.zenfolio.com/ |
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Join Fanny Oldfield on a journey through her husband's music, set against the backdrop of their life in the Caribbean.
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| Music Of The Spheres |
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| Light + Shade |
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| Tubular Bells 2003 |
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| Tres Lunas |
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| The Millennium Bell |
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| Guitars |
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| Tubular Bells III |
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