Three things from DAH.

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I pen, promote, and make change (not the coin kind). 

First up this week, Delay …  
I'm part of a large local choir. Our 80+ singing members haven't been together since 9 March 2020. 80 adults singing indoors in close proximity is a proven super-spreader event. The Skagit Valley Chorale experience offered a real-life cautionary tale. Like other pandemic-times social activities, our choir moved online. But group singing online is problematic due to the latency delays inherent to internet communications. So many little delays in the transfer of sound data between computing devices makes real-time synchronization between a large number of voices impossible, so far. As our delay continues choir memberships (not just ours) are dropping and many are stretching for creative work-arounds.
How an $8 part from Walmart makes it safe for choirs to sing again

Second up this week, Delivery …  
Delayed delivery is a drag. But if the past thirteen months have taught us nothing more, we've learned that almost anything can be delivered to our homes. At our place we're drinking better wine because almost all of it is ordered up to be delivered … we're not just settling for whatever looks interesting in our local grocery store (which does have a large selection). Close to our home Pip Wine Bar & Shop has delivered us vinous joy. Several wineries have, too (Cedarville, Vino Noceto, Three, Navarro, Carlisle). And I do love shopping online with Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant. We get groceries from Imperfect Foods. Cheese! From Vella and Nicasio Valley. And books: Occasionally from Amazon, but more often from Bookshop.org or my current favorite: Blackwell's of Oxford -- their online prices include free delivery to the USA, I get the English editions of books (they smell different), and a fine bookmark in each shipment. 
The pandemic boosted food delivery companies. Soon they may face a reality check

Third up this week, Delight …  
Wine and book deliveries make it feel like any day might be my birthday, with special gifts arriving. Yes, I selected those gifts myself. And it's still a delight to have them turn up on my doorstep. All the Merriam-Webster definitions of "delight" include pleasure, joy, and satisfaction. I'm so in favor of all three. I guess most of us understand delight and, like me, delight in honest delight. On the other hand, I just did an internet search for the keyword "delight." The results were all about customer satisfaction. That's probably a Google algorithm dialed into my many marketing subject searches. But I refuse to be detoured by marketing schemes! And I grow weary of deferred or delayed delight. Butterflies like me grow gray waiting masked behind closed doors, waiting for a new safe world. I need to remember more little delights. And order more wine, cheese, and books. 
100 Ways to Be Delighted

And a bit more, and it's still National Poetry Month!

Harlem, by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

      Does it dry up
      like a raisin in the sun?
      Or fester like a sore—
      And then run?
      Does it stink like rotten meat?
      Or crust and sugar over—
      like a syrupy sweet?

      Maybe it just sags
      like a heavy load.

      Or does it explode?

And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver’s poem "Sometimes" …  

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it. 

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