Dear Friends,
Suez Canal
Last week, a sandstorm caused the cargo ship Ever Given to run aground in the Suez Canal, blocking it completely. The canal sees 10% of the world’s daily shipping traffic, but is only 300 feet wide in places. Ever Given is ¼ mile long, can hold 20,000 shipping containers, and makes the excavator digging it out look comically small. The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, providing ships an alternative to sailing around the southern tip of Africa.
After days of dredging using tugboats as well as two major attempts to re-float the skyscraper-sized ship (both timed with high tide), neither were successful.
Experts estimate it could take weeks to dislodge the ship and will cause a hefty economic impact on the world.
I’m wondering if some of us can relate to that same feeling of being overwhelmed with the tasks ahead. With Holy Week services, rehearsals and additional practice time, perhaps your routine is not flowing as usual and you feel “stuck” in the demands of the season.
This is when it is important to keep everything in perspective.
Whether we are music enthusiasts or performers, what a privilege it is to experience music as an integral part of our lives. When you come up for air, here are some things to be thankful for. Spring has arrived, the world is becoming a safer place (at least as far as COVID-19) and we share a love of the organ with wonderful colleagues within our chapter.
Warmly,
Judy Kohl
Dean