At about 1:45 this morning power coursed through the veins of our home’s electrical system. Lights flashed! The television spoke! Last year we went without power for nearly a week, and this time, according to our town mayor, it would likely be longer. Hurricane Sandy, however, forced us to deal with candles and Kindle light for just two days. What a blessing (quiet, don’t awaken the grid gods-the system could collapse again)!

So many in our state of New Jersey suffered and continue to endure profound losses, including the deaths of loved ones. We’ll let the climate gurus argue about global warming and its possible effect on this catastrophic storm and the one we endured exactly a year ago. Of course, when spikes send us looping off in unexpected directions we tend to hold onto to the things that matter most. Family first… fortunately ours was ok.

Then,,, ah, music! I was rewriting the last movement of “Not Forgotten: Three Scenes For Violin and Piano” when Sandy struck on Monday. Like countless others, Jerri and I climbed into bed quite early that night,,,before 9 p.m. We read and were about to fall out when I grabbed a flashlight and headed down to the basement, where my studio is located. I sat at the upright piano and worked on the piece for another 45 minutes or so. What a pleasure!

It was easy to imagine Beethoven, who (according to legend) sat up in his death bed to shake his fist at a raging storm, doing the same thing.