My husband, Peter, and my two cats, Shoga and Futo, and myself all make the long trek up from south Florida to Wisconsin for the summers. Back when we decided to move to Florida for more musical opportunities for me (and OK, better winter weather!), we kept this place in WI. We love this house – it’s been our home for 17 years now, so it’s not an easy thing to let go of. But the weather is. So far this summer it’s rained almost every day. I think today’s high was 57F!

Peter and the Minnie Winnie!

That’s been frustrating especially for Peter, who was eager to work on our new RV. We haven’t named her, by the way…anyone have suggestions?

Of course, for me, I spend a lot of time inside practicing and getting my new site going. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do that and keep up with my practicing – but I manage.

Summers are a rather strange thing for us. I have a couple of students here I still am privileged to teach, and we have some friends and family nearby. And of course, I keep in touch with my FL students on Skype. But summers for me mark a different chapter in my life.

Every year before I return, I have a master plan in my mind as to what project(s) I’ll tackle. Being able to leave a routine that you have can be destructive on some habits that you formed, but it can also be like wiping the slate clean: you get to rethink your whole schedule. It’s like a big reset button on your life twice a year. So I use this time to do projects that I may not have time to devote to during the school year.

One of my goals was to get my right hand back in shape after a freak accident with Shoga – I’ll probably talk a bit more about that later. But there was an infection, and some minor nerve damage that healed, but I’m still in recovery. I’m trying to practice not only to get myself back in “shape”, but as I’m writing all of these articles for this site, I’m refining what I do at the piano as well.

My summer piano setup

So for now, here’s my piano room. In FL, I have an acoustic grand piano, but it just doesn’t make sense to keep an acoustic in WI to use only 3 or 4 months out of the year. So I have my Kawai MP11 to practice on. For a digital piano, I really like it. It’s got a great feel to it.

Maybe someday we’ll figure out a way I can have my MP11 set up in the RV for when we take it on trips!

But for now, we’ll be staying at home and trying to enjoy whatever good weather comes our way.