Notes on Houston

Mockingbirds in the spreading branches of the Live Oaks. Their ever changing song competes with the tropical notes of the grackles. There are layers of sound in the fog. I have strong coffee and watch the sparks tumble down the concrete from the construction site across the street. Later, I learn that coffee protects the liver from cirrhosis. This is good.

1927 recording of Gershwin playing the piano for Rhapsody in Blue while I write this in my hotel room. More longing in the opening clarinet notes than I've ever heard. It would be a good soundtrack for the exhibition hall; the medical people being wooed by the sales reps.

First dinner on the patio this year; humid breeze, cigarette smoke, happy hour beer. We toasted Erika's engagement and our first meeting in a year.