To Do 07.02.20

READ: The Weekly’s online archive

I’m not just saying this because the Weekly used to pay me; I’m saying it because it has stories that illuminate this big, beautiful, complex county of ours. It’s a little tricky to unlock its full potential. You start on the homepage, and hover over the icon shaped like a magnifying glass in the upper right. Type in the search bar what you’re looking for: it could be Monterey Downs, Baktun 12, cioppino recipes, David Ligare, controlled burns, CHISPA, etc. The tricky part is that the initial search results will only be from the last 365 days. To go further back in time, click “Advanced Search,” erase the “365 days ago.” And voila. You’ve got a chronology of Weekly coverage from a deep roster of dedicated and talented people on whatever you’re looking for. It is a valuable resource. It’s vast, and growing every day. To know your future, you must know your past.

WATCH: Big Sur: The Night Sun

Emmy-winning, Marina-based musician and composer John Wineglass brought together a potent bunch of different influences to create the 24-minute symphonic tone poem he titled Big Sur: The Night Sun. He was staying at Glen Deven Ranch and the surrounding Big Sur trees and mountains inspired him; so did the poetry of Robinson Jeffers, motifs he heard from the kids of Youth Orchestra Salinas, Antonin Dvorak’s “Largo” from his New World Symphony, and Big Sur Land Trust. You can hear the performance, and also watch its Carmel presentation. It’s something to see: Jayson Fann playing on a six-foot redwood drum, Canyon Sayers-Rood of the Costanoan Ohlone and Chumash tribes in full regalia calling like a coyote, the Monterey Symphony coaxing the music into existence, and conductor Max Bragado-Darman (since retired) keeping it all cohesive and moving through its beautiful moods. Search “Big Sur: The Night Sun” on YouTube.

SHARE: Your story

Since shelter in place, parents have activated all kinds of engagement for their kids: learning apps, books, walks, video games, streaming content, etc. Our kindergartener’s teacher celebrated (via Zoom) kids’ birthdays by having their parents tell anecdotes about them. Each anecdote illuminated parts of the kid until at the end you had a rich story about them. We all have lots of stories in us. Share some of yours with your kids – maybe during a drive, at the end of a meal, or at bedtime. They don’t have to be amazing or adventurous. Our kids like my wife’s stories about her topsy-turvy hometown back East, and my past jobs including mobile home detailer. It’s funny how entertained kids are – and what questions they’ll have – about otherwise modest stories of our lives. It tells them about you, and themselves. As you tell your story, you replay it in your head, and you may reflect new insights on it and come to new realizations. Stories are alive.