So this is the strangely beautiful tree outside my front door. I don’t know the name of it. The flowers have a certain pathos, a sense of having given up. But the fact that they are still alive infuses them with spirit, so I see them as the trumpets of something better to come, even though they are upside down. Myself, I am about the same. This has been a particularly confusing period of my life, which has never been without confusion. My greatest dream appeared about to come true-- the musical I have been working on as long as some of you have been alive-- seemed to be actualizing. But then something strange occurred, fortunately in time to catch my notice, so I was able to intercede, and sidestep possible disaster. Interestingly, now that it might not happen, I am much more peaceful. I wish I could stay in California, with this view from my window, and hang out with the trumpets upside down. But there are things I must do in New York, where I am so far from peaceful. Where no one makes eye contact anymore, they are all so busy being on their way to something, or their gaze is fixed on their cellphone. If only Life offered us a world where we didn’t have to go to the dentist.