A second post...

...in which I think slightly differently, but in an arguably comparably melancholic manner, about the passage of time.

On our way to and from W.V. this weekend, Cleo listened to another one one of her Classical Kids CDs: Mr. Bach Comes to Call, that is, in which the great composer manages to traverse time and space so that he can chat with and encourage American children frustrated with their own progress on the piano.

Such a synopsis sounds corny, of course, but in fact the plot is driven by a timeless question: how do we communicate with others, who may be distant or lodged in some unimaginable future? Indeed, it's a question that faced the designers of the two Voyager spacecraft that were launched into space in 1977. Their answer, in part, took the shape of the legendary Golden Record: a disc that was engraved with a variety of motifs and pieces of information that might be of interest to anyone who found, wherever and whenever they might be, the spacecraft. And, not coincidentally, that record featured recordings of three works by Bach.

Of course, there are other, less exotic ways of aiming at the same end. One could, say, compose a concerto - so that the score might be used as a basis for performances in future halls, before future audiences. Or one could write a blog, so that readers in sunny Vanuatu might read the events of a winter's day in Baltimore. Or, finally, one could press one's face into the soft pins of an exhibit at the Maryland Science Center, so that the details emerge on the other side, abstracted but nevertheless essentially recognizable. That's the path that Cleo took, and that I recorded on my phone, and it's the course that you, wherever and whenever you are reading this, can now enjoy, as well: