Commuting

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How long is your commute?

About as long as one of Beethoven's late string quartets, say, op. 127. If I listen to Schoenberg, the commute is too short. But I can hear smaller delights-Vaughn Williams-more than once, kind of a deja vu. Plenty of time to enjoy.

How fast do you commute?

Sometimes, the pulsation of the music is barely perceptible, like I am floating over a shimmering lake without moving at all. Many of the romantic composers throw a real rocker at you and it seems like you are blazing at the speed of light, maybe even out of control. Often, the pace is a sweeping dance, perfectly in step with graceful progress.

What route do you take?

Mountains, flowing rivers, fiery cauldrons, wistful dream landscapes, but mostly the routes traversed by the bountiful heart and the intricate mind. I may drift back to childhood, the landscape of a past romance, a dreadful trudge through surreal darkness, an epic vista of an ideal future. They are fictional yet familiar worlds that begin with thin single-dimensional lines that diverge and swell into 3, 4 and even 5 dimensional spaces. Amazing, it is always a different route.

Come on, how is the commute really?

Essential.

Doesn't it take too much time out of your life?

When conditions are right, it is truly timeless . . .