From now on

You’ll have noticed the sparsity of postings here through the summer and fall. I’ve been suffering from assorted and stubborn maladies. The big ones are in large part consequences of my having sat hunched over keyboards (typewriter, then computer) for more than 40 years. To keep these ailments at bay, I need to spend less time at the computer.

While I’ll continue to produce Letter V, I’ll do so as I had planned to in the first place: Providing a comprehensive calendar of classical events in Virginia and the Washington area on the first of each month, and selectively posting news items and reviews of performances.

Selectivity got lost in the shuffle. Other local media weren’t covering a lot of noteworthy events, old habits kicked in, and pretty soon I was reviewing most of the ticketed classical performances in the Richmond area, spending three or four nights a week going to concerts and coming home to spend another couple of hours at the keyboard.

Mind and body were signaling me to ease up, I tuned out the signals, and I’ve been paying for it.

I seem to be over the worst of it now. (One doctor told me I am “approaching normality.” Hmm.) To avoid relapses, I’m going to attend and review fewer performances. I’ll be absent from some events that many readers would consider major, and will cover events that some might consider marginal or offbeat. When local presenters cluster events into a few days, as they seem to be doing with greater frequency each season, I’ll almost certainly skip some.

Regrets in advance to those whose performances I miss. I’ve learned the hard way that there are limits, and to respect those limits.