A Crate of Ideas

“Always thought speaking would involve less gear than DJing” I huffed and puffed, dragging a telescope up the stairs at a fancy retirement home.

A pal watched, chuckling.

Sometimes I’ll get away from gear, but never from DJing, in the loose sense of the word.

The road wound east yesterday, through wintering forests and fields settling down for the frost. A grove of giant oaks stood in russet nightcaps, ready for their long winter’s nap.

A briefcase and a tiny Bluetooth speaker sat in the back seat, unusually light luggage for a road day.

Another mile, a slight rise, and then a dip into sudden suburbia, and it was time to talk Bach.

And Mozart, and Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky.

“Look, I asked Grok to draw Bach as an action movie hero and Arnold Schwarzenegger, so he can say I’ll be Bach.”

We talked about music all day. Well, with four talks in four buildings, it was all day.

We discussed the Baroque through the Romantic era, and listened–to the Brandenburg concertos, to Mozart’s deft weaving of strings and a timeless levity, the “God’s fire” of Beethoven, the flamboyance of Tchaikovsky and his seasonal Waltz of the Flowers.

“What is this called” a man asked, poking his head into the afternoon lecture. “My mom would love to catch the next one.”

“Uhhh…Uhh…Well, just look for Josh Urban on the calendar.”

What is this called?

Another place got the billing wrong, saying I was there to build instruments and improve hand-to-eye coordination. Sometimes I’ve done similar, and other times we talk about space.

“Sorry, folks, I’m here to talk about Beethoven.”

People ask me what I do, and I tell them various things.

“Hey, you haven’t finished the solar system yet” a friend reminded me at a recent talk. “We only got to Mars.”

“Fixing that on the 13th.”

We all sat around watching the screen at 4 o’clock. Herbert Von Karajan lead the 9th.

Then it ended in silence. We sat there, stunned.

“The space talk last month isn’t as different a subject as you’d think” I finally said. “They don’t have Mozart on Mars…I guess. This is a reminder of why it’s good to be an Earthling.”

We were all glad.

I guess I’ll always be a DJ, hauling ideas up and down the stairs, putting them on a platter, and pressing play.

What’s in your crate?

–Josh