My Birthday

Sunrise 5:24AM. Sunset 8:28 PM

Celebrate my birthday by the Williamsburg Bridge with me!

Mars Sunrise

Sunset 8:29 PM. San Francisco

Dirt was the topic at this month’s After Dark event at the Exploratotrium. All kinds of dirt. The sun began to set few minutes before Paul Doherty’s lecture at on Extraterrestrial Dirt. While we all rang bells, Paul used his finger to simulate the horizon during the sunset, slowly raising it to obscure the image of the sun in the slide he was projecting.
However, that was neither a sunset nor the horizon on the planet earth. We were looking at a sunrise on Mars. One interesting thing we learned was that sunrises and sunsets on Mars turn the sky blue- the opposite of the fiery orange that is the normal color of the sky the rest of the day.

Besides learning about the color of the sky on Mars, we got to touch a speck of the very expensive dirt from the surface of the planet that was glued to the head of a pin.

Bill's Birthday

Sunrise 5:19AM. San Francisco

My brother would have turned 50 today so I dedicate this sunrise observance to his memory. If you listen carefully, you will hear the first few drops of rain before the sky opens up. Greetings from heaven?

Double Feature

Eclipse 6:33 PM & Sunset 8:17PM Marin Headlands & Ocean Beach

When Animals are People Too, a talk given by Rachel Mayeri and Laurel Braitman at the Marin Headlands ended, the solar eclipse was well underway. My friend Vangie and I had slipped out a few minutes earlier and were trying to figure out how to watch it without going blind. We tried poking a hole through some paper with a pen; then an earring. Both holes produced teeny tiny images of the sun, already covered by a small black crescent. It was so exciting but sooooo small. Then I remembered Bob Miller and the Exploratorium.

All we needed were our hands, criss-crossed like a lattice. Placing our hands in the air, our backs to the sun and whamo!! Multiple suns images. By the time everyone came outside, we had it down and passed along the pinhole-generating tip. Then someone noticed the images of the sun that the leaves were producing. Even though it wasn’t a full eclipse, it was still thrilling. The last solar eclipse I can remember was the one in August 2008, which I witnessed remotely from the Exploratorium. The museum had sent people to China where they experienced a full eclipse. As remarkable as that was, it couldn’t compare to actually being right there with the little crescents dancing all over your body.

Sunset at Streetopia

Sunset 8:15 PM. Market Street, San Francisco

Opening festivities for Streetopia on Market Street in front of the Luggage Store. I will be presenting What Can You Do? with a small team of performers on June 2^nd from 1:00- 5:00.

Streetopia is “a large-scale group exhibition taking place in venues throughout downtown San Francisco from May 18 through June 23, 2012. Curated by writer, Erick Lyle, and artists, Chris Johanson and Kal Spelletich, Streetopia will bring neighborhood residents together with at least 132 artists, performers, writers, filmmakers, activists, thinkers, and public policy makers in venues in the heart of the city, to address the show’s themes of Utopian aspiration for the city.

One part show and one part elaborate public experiment, the show will spill out of these galleries into the surrounding neighborhood with projects that include public murals, art on area billboards, installations in vacant storefronts, performances in the streets, and events at nearby community gardens.”

My friend Elisabeth Beaird who co-directs Circuit Network is on the far right of the photo.

Last Supper at the Exploratorium

 Sunset 8:06 PM. San Francisco, CA

Tonight was the last Awards Dinner of the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts, it’s home for the past 43 years. While major donors and former honorees dined out on the museum floor under the skylight, the staff celebrated in the McBean Theater at the other end of the museum. Tiny shades of Upstairs Downstairs- years ago the staff was invited and welcome  to join the guests. Alas the seats were much less expensive then, and after all, those were the old days. These days, however, everyone is looking forward to the upcoming move which is scheduled for 2013 to the new home right on the San Francisco Bay. Ahhhh.

Evernoisy

Sunrise 6:43 AM. Homestead, FL

Waking up has it’s own sound, and I love the cacophony of sunrise in tropical places. Here in the Everglades, the air is thick with birds and insects calling to each other and to no one as they go about the business of beginning another day. Most days sound pretty much the same to my ears. It would be interesting to know what actually changes from day to day. Different routine? New nest? New life? Somebody missing? In any event, for someone who is most definitely NOT a morning person, there is something inspiring and optimistic about this very dense earful of lively nonhuman activity first thing in the morning.

Bouncing the Light

Sunset 7:51 PM. Broadway, Brooklyn

If I am at home when the sun sets, I often just open the window and hang out over the street. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best view of the sun from that vantage point- at least at this time of year. Sometimes people look up if they hear the little bells, but most often they pass by disinterested or unaware. Tonight, I was especially fortunate to see the sky reflected in one of the windows of a building across the way. At first I thought I was seeing the actual sun, but the orange light lingered for so long, I realized it was just glow from the clouds. 

Another sunset from this view in 2008.

Anytime Café

Sunset 7:50 PM. New York City

During each sunrise or sunset this week, I would think, “Oh. I need to document one of these”, and then I’d forget about it. Completely. So this evening as I was sitting in the Anyway Café having dinner with my friend Maria, the sun began to set. I realized it was my last opportunity for the week to capture the moment so this is a spontaneous, rather clumsy grab in the dark from my iPhone. I apologise.

However, this is such a cozy and friendly place that it was a perfect place for the occasion.  In case it’s too dark to see what’s happening, the waitress came over to our table as she heard us ringing. She and Maria rang, sampled and critiqued the bells while I stepped outside to hear the sharp objections of a poor little dog at the end of the day.

If you are ever in the neighborhood, the Anyway Café is a really relaxed and comfortable environment. Good food, no hurry or pressure to give up your table. And for those who may be interested, they have flavored vodka.

Knowing Your Place

Sunset 7:34 PM Chicago, ILL

In order to say what the time sun sets it is necessary to know what time it is or where you are located. When traveling in an airplane several miles above the earth, it is difficult to know either (except for knowing your seat number which doesn’t help much). I have always enjoyed the challenge of trying to pinpoint the time and place of the sunrise or sunset from an airplane.

So when I saw that I would be in transit somewhere during the sunset hour on a recent cross-country flight, I looked forward to figuring it out. It turned out, however, that the sun set during a 4 hour layover at the O'Hare Int'l Airport in Chicago. No problem knowing the time or place of the sunset. Just business as usual on the ground, although someone on the PA did keep asking, "What's your 20?"

Happy Passover and Happy Easter

April 8, 2012 Sunrise 6:45 AM
Easter Dawn


A photo from my backyard with the audio sunrise.



April 6, 2012 Sunset 7:37 PM


Norman rings in the beginning of Passover for Lucy and me. Happy Holidays

Birthdays and Death Days

Sunset 7:30 PM San Francisco, CA



From the time I was young, my grandmother told me that March was the bad luck month in our family. Everybody died in March, or so she said. As it turned out, my mother was born on this day in 1933. 3-30-33. Her father died on her birthday a few years before she herself passed away. I have a little altar with photos and assorted statues, tools and tchotchkes from family and friends who are no longer alive. I wanted to include them in this evening’s ringing and share the photo for the update this week.

Vernal Equinox 2012

Sunset 7:21 PM San Francisco, CA



Every year I try to make sense of equinox around the conflict between what is happening and what we expect or imagine is happening. What is happening is the center of the sun is crossing the equator. We look to that moment as a turning point towards the light, towards spring and the beginning of the end of winter. Many of us also imagine this day to divide the darkness and light in half.

Of course we know that it is impossible for the entire world to experience equal light and darkness on the same day- the equinox. It doesn’t make sense, yet we go along with it. A convenient truth. Close enough.

Until now- at least for me. Because I have discovered the name for the day of equal light and darkness. It’s called Equilux. And because there is a name for it that both distinguishes it from the Equinox as well as relates to it, I feel relieved of the struggle to resolve the conflict between my expectations and reality (as far as this goes anyway).

I confess that I am much more partial to the Equilux than the Equinox (at least in the spring). The time when the light and darkness are balanced for an instant, yet poised to tumble towards the light is a hallelujah moment. Besides, the Equinox always comes after that day for all of us who don’t live right on the Equator. We have already moved into the light by then. It is really anticlimactic if you think about it.

But hey, why not celebrate both days- Spring is here!

Spring Equilux in San Francisco

Sunrise and Sunset 7:18 San Francisco



Today is called the Equilux, and it always occurs before the Equinox in the spring. Think about it. It's not possible for the entire world to experience equal light and darkness on the same day- the moment when the center of the sun crosses the equator. That's the Equinox. You can find when the Equilux occurs where you live by checking the sunrisesunset.com calendar. Get ready for the next one in the fall.

Must Wear Pants

Sunrise 6:36 AM Eugene, OR

This was one of the nicest sunrises I have experienced in a while. At first I thought maybe we wouldn’t be able to film this one as one of the participants didn’t want to wear any pants. But he was easily convinced, and we proceeded as planned.

Such a lovely place. For those city dwellers among us who might not recognize it, that is lichen hanging from all the trees. Not only is it amazing to see in such abundance, the lichen is also an indicator of air quality. As it is unable to grow in the least bit of pollution, you can imagine how pure the air is here.

Not to mention – quiet.

Many thanks to my hosts for a wonderful week.

Leap Day! 2012

6:02 PM, San Francisco



Inspired by the LEAP in Leap Day, I am temporarily hopping over the media bottleneck that is now the month of February and present the sunset observance for Leap Day 2012. Nothing special as the day went, especially compared with last Leap Day (sunrise and sunset) in 2008, but neither did it go completely unnoticed.
Enjoy!

On a Hill in North Beach at Sunset

5:56 PM. San Francisco

One of the few occasions that Sally and I had observed the sunset together was in 2008 in front of the Sushi restaurant in the Sunset District. Today was another non-event, but this time in North Beach. It was right about dinnertime again this time, too. So as soon as we finished ringing the sun down, we launched ourselves in the other direction going UP the hill in search of something to eat.

Early birds catch the first hole

7:09 AM. Litchfield Park, AZ

In his 21 years on this earth, besides the normal bumps and bruises one collects on the way to adulthood, my asthmatic, accident prone nephew has punctured his liver, broken both of his legs (not at the same time), fractured his arm and suffered a serious concussion. One of his more recent escapades was to attempt a stuntman kind of trick with his younger brother. He directed his brother to drive the car straight at him, thinking he would simply fling himself onto the hood and roll over the top of the car- “just like in the movies”. When it didn’t quite work out the way he had planned, he admitted that it wasn’t one of the brightest things he had ever attempted.

So when he invited me to attend his graduation of his second year in The Eden Energy Medicine (EEM) Certification Program in Arizona, I was thrilled. My sister has been a follower of Donna Eden and practitioner of this form of healing for many years and is a well-respected healer and busy instructor. That my nephew is both interested and committed to learning and practicing something that is positive and beneficial to both his own well being and that of others is a great relief to me. I am also very proud of him. He graduated with 100 other students (mostly women) at the Wigwam Motel, Spa and golf resort. It has never ceased to amaze me that there are over 420 golf courses in the desert of Arizona. No matter that it’s a very dry place, it’s easier to turn it green than to make the sun shine.

"In Our Name"

5:37 PM Herbst Theatre. San Francisco



There have not been too many times over the past few years when the sun has set during a concert or performance. It's interesting that two of them have occurred during pieces about war. This is an excerpt from "In Our Name", Annea Lockwood's haunting and powerful setting of poems by prisoners from Guantanimo. Thomas Buckner, Theodore Mook and Annea Lockwood performed the piece at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The excerpt on the video is from the following poem by Judah Al Dossari, entitled “Death Poem”:

Take my blood
Take my death shroud and
The remnants of my body.
Take photographs of my corpse at the grave, lonely

Send them to the world,
To the judges and
To the people of conscience,
Send them to the principled men and the fair-minded

And let them bear the guilty burden, before the world,
Of this innocent soul.
Let them bear the burden, before their children and before history,
Of this wasted, sinless soul,
Of this soul which has suffered at the hand of the “protectors of peace.”

Sitting there listening brought to mind the performance of Benjamin Brittan’s “War Requiem”on August 2, 2008. The sun set during the early part of the piece where they were playing the chimes in the orchestra.

Malcolm's Grave

5:28PM San Francisco



Malcolm was most comfortable if he could be “nearby”. Within a few feet but not too close. This being the case, he figured in a lot of the sunrises and sunsets we watched from home during the first year of this project.

He was a fierce little cat and had few friends. And though we were few, we were completely devoted. Most people who knew him, however, were afraid of him because he attacked swiftly and without warning or noticeable provocation.

Malcolm died the week before Halloween last year and will be remembered by all who knew him and is deeply missed by those of us who loved him.

PS Those drums in the distance are part of this Chinese New Year of the Water Dragon celebrations

Tasty Bells Sunset Snack

5:18PM Oakland, CA



Soon after beginning the dailybell2008 project, my Godson Kazimir was born, and we have spent as many Fridays together as possible since then. He now has a baby sister who is just about the same age as Kazimir was when he first started to join us for the bell ringing. (In his case, it was a more oral than aural experience).

Now as his sister carries on the oral bell tradition, Kazimir has become more interested in the videotaping than the bell ringing while Krys and I comfortably observe the passing of the day together. (FYI: That's the new and improved mosh pit in the background).

Berkeley Garden Sunset

5:13PM


This place may look familiar from among the last round of daily videos in 2008. Time has not passed unnoticed however. The prayer flags have come and gone and come again. The garden is more wild and varied. The tree is taller, as is Jenny's nephew who is now in the middle of Kindergarten. Welcome back!

First Weekly Post of 2012

Sunrise/Sunset
January 7, 2012




I began this project in 2008 at the beginning of a Leap Year. Since we are here again at another Leap Year, I wanted to do something special to commemorate the anniversary as well as the occasion of our realignment of Earth time with Universal time. It’s amazing how short a period it takes for us to become out of whack, requiring an additional entire day to adjust our tidy and slightly lagging timekeeping methods with the actual planetary movement.

Anyway, I continue to observe and invite others to join the sunrise and sunset each day. I still like ringing the bells and carry a few in my purse and lug a big one around in the back of my car. It’s become a part of my life and a few children I know who have grown up with the tradition think nothing of it when the sunsets to come over and ring the bell in my car or to grab a bell in the house and ring along.

Believe it or not, some people have actually said they missed the updates and little bits of documentation they received as part of the first year. So to both commemorate the beginning of year 5 and to share glimpses of my observances, I am going to document one of the sunrises or sunsets each week this year and post them to the blog. If you have any media or comments you would like to post, please post what you can directly and send whatever you can’t to me, and I will do it for you.

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012!

MIDNIGHT- January 1, 2012
Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year from Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA. This is the beginning of another leap year! It's also the beginning of the 5th year of daily sunrise and sunset observances that begin with dailybell2008. Please join us in spreading and sharing the awareness of these 2 brief moments that connects 100% of us everyday.

Happy New Year!

Ringing in 2011 (and the start of the 4th year of the dailybell project)

Final Sunset 2010

May each of the sunrises and sunsets in this New Year find you in a good place!

Winter Solstice 2010

Seed Swap and Bell Ringing at the Dearborn Garden
What a lovely garden. Congratulations and good luck as we now move into the light

A little chilly but homemade food, drinks and good company warmed up the evening. Thanks to Liz Keim, Sam Sharkey and the Exploratorium and to Bill Basquin, Johunna Grayson, Greta Snider and the members and friends of the Dearborn Community Garden.

Happy Solstice Everyone!!!! And thanks for the seeds.

Winter Solstice Seed Swap and Bell Ring

SAVE YOUR SEEDS!

Sunset is at 4:54PM

The annual Solstice Seed Swap and Sunset Bell Ringing is just around the corner. dailybell will be joining artists and urban gardeners Bill Basquin, Johunna Grayson, Greta Snider.
When: 3:00 - 7:00 pm. Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Where: Dearborn Garden, at the corner of Dearborn and Bird Streets, very near to the Women's Building; SF, CA.
What: Bring seeds or plants to share. Bells.
Who: you and others who love to garden, compost, and protect the genetic commons through seed saving and sharing.
Who else: young people are welcome; dogs are NOT
Please label your seeds with as much information as you can provide:
• Location and date of collection.
• Species and variety. Color of bloom (when applicable).
• Adaptability to particular microclimates (which one are you in?).
• Cultivation preferences of the plant (does it like to have cool feet and a warm top?) if you know them.
Supported by Liz Keim and The Exploratorium.

Ring Round The World

OK. Let's do it.

On September 23, 2010, the date of the Harvest Moon, we will create a Ring Round the World by following the sunrise or sunset as it travels around the globe for 24 hours and by ringing bells at that moment. We could begin tracking the sunrise as it rises over the International Date Line and follow it from there.

As the 3rd year of the dailybell gets underway, I thought this would be a good time to plant some seeds for what could happen. The idea of tracking the sunrise and sunset as it travels around the globe, even for just one day, is such a joyous notion.

I am not quite sure how this works yet, but I've started a google group and you can go there and join.

Happy 2010!

At the beginning of 2009, I decided to keep the large cast iron bell in the back of my hatchback. I figured I would most likely be with my car at the end of the day and that it would be really nice to have the big bell handy. Since I was already at home for many of the sunsets, I rang the bell regularly in my neighborhood. Over the course of the year, some of my neighbors have joined me consistently. The fact that most of them are under 10 years old and need to be accompanied across the street by an adult should be mentioned.

I look forward to embarking on year 3 and have yet to decide how I would like to participate in it’s evolution. The daily practice is great and I would also like to instigate and document more events this time around. It would be great to have more people join the project and to know about their various activities.

The big picture?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a ring around the world- a constant trail of bells following the sun as it crosses the horizon across the globe? Oh…!
Reality check
This is a picture one of my young and loyal bell ringers slipped under my door the other day. I was so excited because I thought he had drawn himself striking these two little round school bells that he often likes to play. When I thanked him for the drawing and told him how much I liked it, especially the part with him playing the bells, he told me they weren’t bells. They were the spots of light he was casting with his new flashlight that I gave him for Christmas. AAH bells, flashlights- what’s the difference…

Winter Solstice

Following the Light

Sunrise and sunset times from 11/29/09 - 1/11/10 in San Francisco, CA

It's all still a bit mysterious to me. Even though the sun continues to rise later and later until the middle of January AND the sun has already begun to set later a week before the Solstice, December 21st still has the least amount of daylight in the year.

Any ideas? It's interesting to compare this chart to the Summer Solstice chart from last year. As you would expect, the lines are reversed.

Greetings!

HOORAY!! It only gets lighter from here. Today is the 72oth sunrise and 721st sunset since beginning this practice on New Year's Eve 2007.

Happy Holidays to everyone!
love,
Brenda

4th of July Weekend In the Light Cone

July 3 - 5, 2009 Anacortes, WA
Lasercave Presents: In the Light Cone at the Department of Safety
This was a magical, communal event- indoors and out- installations, performances, BBQs, fire kite launching at night—all in a very quiet, beautiful town surrounded by water and mountains. It felt very clean and as if time was looking the other way as it passed by this little piece of heaven.
The curatorial premise behind In The Light Cone was simple: makers from throughout the country made dynamic, site-specific work based around the notion of two viewing times, during the day, when natural and artificial light commingled in a traditional gallery setting and at night, when piece-specific and -generated lights and shapes transformed the space into a wholly new environment.
Sunset at the Department of Safety
7/3 and 7/4/09 PM
The sun sets late way up in the Northwest, so I arrived in plenty of time on the first evening of the festivities at the Department of Safety in Anacortes, Wash. While the evening bell ringings on the 3rd and 4th of July were energetic and well attended, the 5AM sunrises were solo affairs.
Where is Everybody?
7/4 AM
Quiet Solo Bells (listen)
The first morning, I was the only person at the Department of Safety. I saw people moving indoors, but the streets were deserted. I found out later that everyone was camping on someone’s lawn in another part of town.
7/5/AM Shhhh... So on my way out of town on Sunday morning July 5th, I drove over to where everyone was sleeping on the ground. I tiptoed quietly among the tents and sleeping bags on the ground and quietly rang the smallest bells over each person as they slept. It felt somewhat sacred and I was moved to be in the presence of so many trusting and vulnerable people. It was a mutual blessing and I thank you all for a wonderful weekend.

The show was curated and organized by Jonah Adels, Jade Ajani, Adam Baz, Polly Bresnick, Tim Donovan, Maggie Jones, Jesse Malmed and Raven Munsell.

Other participants included: Mark Essen, Carlyn Elin Wutkee, Ben Segal, Benjamin Schultz-Figueroa, Sidney B. Russell, Bethany Miller, Rebecca Leopold, Tim Donovan + Jonah Adels, Adam Baz, Jade Ajani, Tim Karpinski, Allison Cekala and Timothy Karpinski.
The video program was curated by Jesse Malmed and featured works by: Jonah Adels, Tyrone Davies, Molly Bradbury, Chris Rice, Aurora Halal, Josephine Shokrian, Jade Ajani, Duncan Malashock, Jesse Malmed, Adam Davies, Brandon Rosenbluth and Jesse McLean.

Summer Solstice 2009

Chapel of the Chimes


Listen






Video








with Francesca and Rose at sunset. photo and audio recording: Thea Farhadian
Thank you, Thea!

Happy Solstice!!!
Thank you Sarah and all the volunteers. This year was super smooth!

We rang bells during the sunset at the Annual Chapel of the Chimes Garden of Memory event. Anyone there care to add any comments or photos from the event? Everyone who was celebrating the summer Solstice elsewhere care to say a few words or share some images or sounds from wherever you happened to be?

FAREWELL, FOR NOW

Sunset. December 31, 2008 Leaving the Pamida grocery store in Bozeman, MT
Happy New Year!
I had no idea how many exceptionally generous and wonderful people I knew. I was and am overwhelmed and humbled by your support, creativity and generosity.

Regarding the Solstice- Thank you all for your kind and immediate offers of assistance and for the many fabulous solstice recordings you sent in on such short notice. That was beyond luck. The Solstice Sunwatch recordings are so incredible, and they would have never happened under ordinary circumstances. If I had to point to a single moment from this past year in terms of gauging the success of the dailybell2008 project, that was the moment. Thank you all; truly, from a part of myself I hadn’t known existed.

I have decided to continue to observe the sunrises and sunsets as a daily practice-- I really like it. I haven't figured out yet where to take the project but have some ideas.

In the meantime, let's continue to track the sun...

December Odds and Ends

Working with free103point9 this month, we received more than 60 audio recordings from all over the world in response to our invitation to observe and record sunrises and sunsets this month. Those recordings replaced the usual documentation this month, and I posted those pieces to two different entries. Sunwatchers Audio Archive is a daily record of what came in from where and whom for the entire month. The EMERGENCY AUDIO RESPONDERS entry is a collection of all the emergency audio responders that came through with recordings for the Solstice. I continued to observe and ring bells at each sunrise and sunset and occasionally collected some media or thoughts of my own. However, for the most part, I invite you to enjoy hearing from others for a change. I know I did!
FYI We rang bells in front of the house (including the big bell in the back of the car) for 19 out of 25 consecutive days. That’s a record.

What follows is the odd collection of media from the entire month. To read the aborted daily journal, click here. I discontinued the journal and finished off the month with the Solstice Saga and miscellaneous media. The stories are more buried this month.

12/30 PM Encore, sort of...


12/28 PM Final Procession


12/13 AM Sunrise by the Williamsburg Bridge


12/12 AM Connie and Elizabeth ringing bells and singing by the bridge at 7:05AM (audio)

12/6 PM Somewhere over Missouri?


12/1 AM and 12/3 AM San Francisco day to day.

December Sunwatchers Audio Archive

In response to the invitation, people are sending in recordings from all over the world- they trickle in as the path of the sunrise of sunset moves around the globe. I gather each day's recordings and send them to free103point9 where they are broadcast at noon (EST) the following day. To listen to the daily offerings - live each noon- "tune into" the online radio show at free103point9.

To hear the ones you missed, they are archived here on the dates they were recorded, not broadcast. Just click on the time of day to listen.

11/30 PM Brenda Hutchinson reads poem by Jenneth Webster SF, CA 4:51PM
12/1 AM Norman Tuck "Hy's Bell" San Francisco, CA 7:07AM
12/1 PM Al Margolis at home Chester, NY 4:30PM
12/2 AM Stephan Moore Radiator Brooklyn, NY 7:01AM
12/2 PM Julia(2) and Sonia Vilafranca del Penedes, Barcelona 6:05PM
12/2 PM Erik Deluca What I was Doing Miami, FL 5:45PM
12/3 AM Alyce Santoro 6000 ft Davis Mountains, West Texas 7:30AM
12/4 AM Stephen Vitiello Thursday Morning Richmond, VA 7:09AM
12/5 PM Chris DeLaurenti for Brenda at 4:18 PM on Dec 5 Seattle, WA 4:18PM
12/5 PM Vince Rubino with Dianne Baasch, Heejung Kim, Maureen Kim, Stan Crocker, Alex You, Juhae Park and Cheong Keoul Songdo Incheon, Korea 5:15PM
12/7 AM Jenny Holland "Morning Practice" Albany, CA 7:12AM
12/7 PM Laura Vitale "Rainy Corner" Brooklyn, NY 4:28PM
12/7 PM Pauline Oliveros and Ione Living Room Kingston, NY 4:24PM
12/8 AM Tom Bickley and Nancy Beckman Blessing Berkeley, CA 7:13AM
12/8 PM Ginger Miles "Fire Escape" New York, NY 4:28PM
12/10 PM Jon Brumit kernel-shit-storm and farce-basil-miami-beech Miami, FL 5:30 PM
12/11 PM Sebastian (Beau Casey and Margot Bevington, parents) 7:14AM
12/11 AM and PM Lyn Goeringer Providence, RI 7:04AM/4:16PM
12/11PM Janice Misurell- Mitchell “Border Crossings" Chicago, IL 4:18PM
12/12AM Connie Kieltyka and Elizabeth Robinson "J-Train Sunrise" Brooklyn, NY 7:05AM
12/12PM Charles Veasey Stillwater, NY 4:20PM
12/14PM Kathy Kennedy "Montreal Bells" Montreal, Quebec 6:00PM
12/14PM Sharon Cheslow "On This Day Dec. 14th" Los Angeles, CA 4:45PM
12/15PM Maria Mykolenko "nysunsetdec15" NY, NY 4:28PM
12/15PM Lu Olkowski "BNC_Daily Bell_Dec 16 2008" Brooklyn, NY 4:29PM
12/16PM Judy Dunaway "For Dec 17" Boston, MA 4:13PM
12/17PM Maggi Payne "Berkeley BART" Berkeley, CA 4:51PM
12/18AM Brenda Hutchinson "Broadway Window" Brooklyn, NY 7:14AM
12/18PM Barbara Held and Nil Tous "diagong" Barcelona, Spain 5:24PM
12/19AM Yvonne Buchanan Central New York 7:15AM
12/20PM Roxanne Amico and Heather Kuhn Buffalo, NY 4:44PM
12/21 AM&PM SOLSTICE (See SOLSTICE AUDIO ARCHIVE)
12/22AM Caterina De Re "Snow Seattle Prayer" 7:45AM
12/23AM Erin Espeland and Paul Kaufman Sydney, Montana 7:44AM
12/24PM Raylene Campbell Montreal, Quebec 4:13PM
12/25AM Monique Buzzarté City Island, NY 7:19AM
12/26AM Georgina Lewis Making Breakfast Boston, MA 7:12AM
12/27AM Pilar Subirà Barcelona, Spain 7:17AM
12/27AM Jaime Robles Berkeley, CA 7:23AM
12/27PM Norman Tuck Ocean Beach San Francisco, CA 4:58PM
12/28PM Jenny Holland, Bonnie Holland, Jon Patmore, Finn Holland, Cecelia Holland, Mia Narell, Isaac Narell, Zoe Leavens, Tom Miller, Linda Wang, Michael Jones, Chris Tripoli, Carol Kemper, Brenda Hutchinson, Lucy Holland. "Backyard Band" Berkeley, CA 4:59PM
12/30AM Vicoria Estok "Sunrise" Roosevelt, New Jersey 7:20AM
12/31AM Maria Mykolenko "New Year's Bells" Southeastern Michigan 5:31PM
Laura Spero Sunrise in Kaskikot, Nepal on 12/24AM for the New Year

December Journal

Working with free103point9 this month, we received more than 60 audio recordings from all over the world in response to our invitation to observe and record sunrises and sunsets this month. Those recordings replaced the usual documentation this month, and I posted those pieces to two different entries. Sunwatchers Audio Archive is a daily record of what came in from where and whom for the entire month. The EMERGENCY AUDIO RESPONDERS entry is a collection of all the emergency audio responders that came through with recordings for the Solstice. I continued to observe and ring bells at each sunrise and sunset and occasionally collected some media or thoughts of my own. However, for the most part, I invite you to enjoy hearing from others for a change. I know I did!

FYI We rang bells in front of the house (including the big bell in the back of the car) for 19 out of 25 consecutive days. That’s a record.

What follows is the odd collection of media from the entire month. I discontinued the journal and finished off the month with the Solstice Saga and miscellaneous media.

12/1 Sunset. Henry came through again. His sister, Gracie joined him and they both raced down the stairs and ran across the street to ring the big bell. We have to keep an eye on Henry- he just runs right out into the street.

12/2 Sunrise and sunset pieces arrived throughout the day here as the earth moved out of and back into the rays of the sun.

12/3 Another photo at sunrise from my backyard in San Francisco. Same view. Foggier day. This evening we arrived home a few minutes after the sun had set but rang the big bell anyway, just in case anyone wanted to come over and join us. Nobody did, but Mr. Paul from across the street came out and stood in his driveway although I think that was a coincidence. 

12/4 We continue to make an effort to ring the big bell at home as many evenings as possible.

12/5 Getting ready to leave for New York tomorrow. I waited until the last minute to stop working to catch the sunset. It was a minimal observance. Just Norman and I out front ringing the big bell. I like the routine of it. It’s no big deal around here and I like that about it.

12/6 The plane was not very crowded and I had a row to myself. No watch. No cell phone and no animated map in the seatback in front of me. So I had to rely on what I could see out the window and the man who happened to walk down the aisle when I was beginning to wonder what time it was somewhere in the world. It was 6:45 PM in New York and the sun was almost finished. I figured it must be about 4:45 where we were and that would have put us over someplace like Missouri. That’s my best guess. I took a little movie out of the plane window because I liked the moving shadow on the wing of the plane. As soon as I had put the camera back into it’s case and under the seat, I looked back out the window and the wing of the plane was gray. Finished.

12/7 It’s cold here. Too cold to go out first thing in the morning. I almost missed the sunrise because I couldn’t remember where I put the bells after I unpacked last night. After scrambling and stumbling around for a minute, I found two bells lying on the couch. I opened the back door and watched a train roar by, completely overpowering my feeble and stubborn little bells.

12/8 Another morning of placid half asleep clinking towards an empty train rattling by overhead. This evening, I rang a few small bells as I ascended the stairs to the 4^th floor on my way to visit my neighbor and her new baby. Mom was waiting to make sure the baby was finished her business before changing her, so the three of us hung out by the changing table. She's a beautiful baby girl, lots of hair and very calm. As I was leaving I rang the little bells for her and she got very still and opened her eyes and smiled. I rang each one by itself to see which was her favorite. She liked the bell with the highest pitch- the tinkliest. So now it’s hers. Maybe her first bell? 

12/9 Bells for the subway in the morning.  Those trains are right on time.

This evening I was in Delhi, NY planning for the Fun Faire which will be at the South Kortright School next April. We were all talking, drinking tea and eating cake when the sun went down, and we missed it by a few minutes. It’s amazing how quickly it gets dark this far north once the sun actually crosses the horizon. The sky was already a deep blue when we noticed and passed the bag of bells around the table. Then we resumed our meeting. The Fun Faire will be held on Friday, 4/3/09. It’s to be a school wide event and hopefully will include all kinds of exhibits, demos and performances. I will present a variety of work to grades 7 – 12 at an assembly tomorrow for inspiration and to give the kids some ideas (and permission) for things they might like to do. Doing what matters and sharing what you do—that’s the theme.

12/10 It’s so fucking cold here – I didn’t want to go outside this morning. So I sat by the window and rang very quietly so I wouldn’t wake Martha or her dog, Simon. Although I forgot that Simon is almost deaf. This evening at sundown, I was driving out in the middle of nowhere here trying to find a place to eat. Anything. I had a piece of toast for breakfast and some gummibears for lunch before my presentation. And that was it.

12/11 The snow on the ground looked very pretty this morning. Also pretty cold. The sun never appeared all day. In fact, it began to sleet and slush. I was on the road in the teeny Toyota Yaris all day. Once I drove over the Catskills, torrential rains replaced the sleet. I almost made it to Connie and Bob’s before the sun set. But not quite. So I rang in the car as I drove deeper and deeper into the grey.

12/12 Connie and Liz stayed in Brooklyn with me overnight and we all got up to ring the bells this morning. It was too cold for me and too noisy to stay outside, so Liz and Connie greeted the day and the subway passengers. Connie also sang - very calmly in the face of all that noise. She and Liz recorded their greeting and we sent it to free103point9 for tomorrow’s daily broadcast.

12/13 It was brisk here today, even in the sunshine. So I just wandered out into the shelter of the back of the building at sunset to see what I could see and to say goodbye to the day. The trains rattled by on the bridge as usual and there was a steady stream of cars passing in both directions. There’s no way to see the sun from there, but it is possible to see some reflections in the windows of a very tall loft building on the other side of the bridge. A somewhat more subtle but prettier indicator is the pink reflection coming off the dome of the bank down the street. I watched the pink fade and checked in with the window across the way and just stood there ringing the bell each time it faded away. Eventually the color faded too.

12/14 My father sings in his Church choir and they performed their Christmas Cantata three times today. The first two times were in their local Churches in Lambertville  (Old Rocks) and Stockton (Stockton Church), NJ. I attended the third performance that was at the assisted living part of the Hunterdon Medical Center. When we first entered the recreation room where the choir was scheduled to sing, my dad looked around and said, “It looks like a good crowd” and there were indeed quite a number of people already assembled. But it wasn’t your ordinary audience. Everyone was seated in wheelchairs and the closer to the time the performance was set to begin, the more people quietly wheeled themselves into the room. The 16-member choir sang really well together- nobody stood out and the blend was perfect. The amount of love and good will in the room was overwhelming at times and I was aware of monitoring my face so it wouldn’t look like it was about to cry. It was that beautiful and humbling. After the concert, Charlotte wanted to go back to her room and lie down so we wandered back there and a little while later, we watched the sun go down from her window.

12/15 Today was the first day of the Sounds Elemental workshop for radio producers co sponsored by AIR and Harvestworks. This is the second one this year, the first was in August. Each workshop has a “theme” – this one is “fire” and the last one was “water”. The themes are handy points of focus. However, the workshops are not “about” either fire or water but are intended to provide immersive and hands on experience with sound. This is the long way of saying what was happening at sunset this evening. Since we were in the middle of the workshop and everyone was intently concentration on their pieces in headphone isolation, I didn’t want to disturb anyone by telling them that the sun was setting. However there were a few people standing around the office and we went out into the hall and stood by a window overlooking the inner courtyard of the building with absolutely no access to the sky. There we stood and rang down the sun on faith alone.

12/16 We turned the corner today- at least as far as the sunset is concerned. The sun continues to rise a minute later each day, but the sunset has finally reversed itself. The sun went down one minute later today than yesterday. Oh happy day. Someone asked if there was someplace we could go to watch the sun go down. “Perhaps the roof?” they suggested. I said maybe from a helicopter. But even that wouldn’t have worked this evening. It had begun to snow. Sparkly. Silently into the slightly lingering daylight.

12/17 I have enjoyed having to interrupt my participation in the workshop to witness the sundown every night this week at Harvestworks. The staff and interns have joined me and even some of the women in the workshop who happen to be taking a bathroom break or making a cell call at that time are suddenly available, too. The biggest window is right by the bathrooms in a short hallway where there are no other doors or offices. So this is where we go to ring the bells. You can hardly see the sky—just a small square of grayish blue- 7 stories above us mirroring the courtyard below. We are holding at 4:29 for three days in a row now—slowly, slowly stretching the end of the day.

12/18 One other person joined me out by the window in the hall across from the bathroom this evening to note the sunset.

12/19 Peeking out the window this morning just so I wouldn’t feel like a total cheater, I dinged the bells thrice and fell right back to sleep. This evening however, there was a natural pause in the class just a few minutes before sunset. We had just finished listening and commenting on somebody’s radio piece when I notice the time. I mentioned that the sun was setting and invited everyone to ring bells with me and we did. It was so nice.

YouTube descriptions:

Sunset. December 28, 2008. Final installment for dailybell2008: We all brought noisemakers to ring down the sun in this final video of the year. Happy New Year everyone! Members of the band in nor particular order are: Zoey Leavons, emcee; Finn Holland, recorder; Jenny Holland, flute; Isaac Narell, flute; Michael Brown, drum: Tom Miller, cowbell. Assorted percussion: Bonnie Holland, Cecilia Holland, Brenda Hutchinson, Carol Kemper, Mia Narell, Jon Patmore- (video, too), Chris Tripoli and Linda Wang.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the project this year. Anyone stumbling on this for the first time, check out the whole year of daily sunrise and sunset observances at-

http://dailybell2008.blogspot.com

12/30 Sunset. Encore! This isn’t really much of an encore, more of an after thought. However,  it is actually the last in the series for the year. Norman and I were on our way to a family reunion in Montana when we stopped for the sunrise in the parking lot of this casino. We were near Pocatello, ID and this was just before we resumed out trip and got stopped for speeding.

EMERGENCY AUDIO RESPONDERS

Since there are so many entries for this one day AND it is the Solstice, I am posting all Solstice recordings on this entry. Just click on the time of day to listen.
SOLSTICE SUNWATCH ARCHIVE
Many, many thanks to all of you who sent in recordings on the solstice in response to my distress call. I am very grateful. This was so perfect and wonderful and appropriate. It was worth limping around Newark, NJ indefinitely waiting for a ride home. Thank you again!

DEC21 NOON Barbara Held Andora Mountains, Spain NOON
DEC21PM Thea Farhadian. Sesenheimer Str. 1. Berlin, Germany 3:54PM
DEC21PM Bun Ching Lam. Paris, France 4:54PM
DEC21PM Raylene Campbell. Montreal, Quebec 4:11PM
DEC21PM Georgina Lewis Boston, MA 4:15PM
DEC21PM Lyn Goeringer Providence, RI 4:18PM
DEC21PM Monique Buzzarté City Island, New York 4:23PM
DEC21PM Al Margolis. Chester, NY 4:31PM
DEC21PM Betsey Biggs. 14th Street. New York City 4:31PM
DEC21PM Jenneth Webster. Brooklyn, NY 4:31PM
DEC21PM Alyce Santoro. Truth or Consequences, NM 5:51PM
DEC21PM Vince Rubino On an Airplane somewhere above Eastern Washington time?
DEC21PM Caterina De Re. Seattle, WA 4:04PM
DEC21PM Chris DeLaurentis Seattle, WA 4:21PM
DEC21PM Krys Bobrowski and Chien Wong. KAZ Berkeley, CA 4:54PM
DEC21PM Beau Casey "Soulstice" Berkeley, CA 4:53PM
DEC21PM Paul Stepahin. The Exploratorium- Seed Swap and Bell Ringing. San Francisco, CA 4:53PM
DEC22AM Wendy Suiter. Mt Keira. New South Wales, Australia 5:44AM

WINTER SOLSTICE SAGA

67 hours door to door from New York to San Francisco
TaDa! That must be some kind of record. Although I know there were 1000’s, maybe 10’s of thousands of people who slept in the airports these past few days leading up to Christmas. My sister and I would have been two more of them. Fortunately for her, when Lisa learned her flight was cancelled she went back and stayed with my father and rerouted herself through Philadelphia. She had to wait two days but she hung out with my Dad and watched TV and got stuff out of the refrigerator when she wanted a snack.
For more details of the saga, click here. To jump to the end, read on:
It really turned out to be a very wonderful thing. A huge blessing. The absolute finality of not being able to leave New York on time. The falling down and hurting myself. The main things I was concerned about missing were the Seed Swap and Solstice Bell Ringing and my audio contribution to the December Sunwatch project. The Exploratorium event went on without me. The Seed Swap was fun and successful. And the bell took on a life of it’s own. Norman brought the Honda and the big bell over to the museum and rang it outside in the parking lot in the pouring rain. Inside the museum, the Explainers rang the two big bells that they usually ring only at the end of the day. (One of those bells is the one I drove around the country in 2006). People who were gathered in the theater rang bells and shook their keys before wandering out to join Norman in the parking lot. Thank you everyone who made this happen and especially Norman and Liz. I was sorry that I couldn’t be there but unbelievably happy just imagining it happening. What happened next was unexpected and honestly has changed my life in ways I don’t really understand, but I am forever grateful and appreciative.

When I had arrived at the hotel, it was 5:00 in the morning on the 21st. I knew that I wouldn’t make it back for the Exploratorium event and I knew that I would be unable to record my sunrise or sunset observance. And I was very tired. I should have just gone to bed, but instead, I sent up a flare. I sent an email to everyone that I had originally invited to participate in the daily recordings. I should have been more selective, but I wasn’t thinking clearly, and my computer was running out of battery power. What I wanted to convey was that I wouldn’t be able to record on the solstice and wondered if anyone would be willing to do so in my place. I should have simply made the request and left it at that, but I explained my situation and it seemed more dire than it actually was. Because my phone had already died, I was unaware of how many people called and left messages for assistance and it wasn’t until I woke up and checked my email that I realized how many people so generously and quickly responded to my cry for emergency audio. I had no idea how many exceptionally generous and wonderful people I know. I was and am overwhelmed and humbled.

Thank you all for your kind and immediate offers of assistance and for the many fabulous solstice recordings you sent in on such short notice. That was beyond luck. These Solstice Sunwatch recordings are more and better than anything I could have possibly done and they would have never happened under ordinary circumstances. If I had to point to a single moment from this past year in terms of gauging the success of the dailybell2008 project, this was the moment. Thank you all; truly, from a part of myself I hadn’t known existed.

Happy Holidays. And “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings”…

Approaching the Solstice

December 13, 2008
Sunset 4:29 PM Brooklyn, NY


It was brisk here today, even in the sunshine. So I just wandered out into the shelter of the back of the building at sunset to see what I could see and to say goodbye to the day. The trains rattled by on the bridge as usual and there was a steady stream of cars passing in both directions. There’s no way to see the sun from there, but it is possible to see some reflections in the windows of a very tall loft building on the other side of the bridge. A somewhat more subtle but prettier indicator is the pink reflection coming off the dome of the bank down the street. I watched the pink fade and checked in with the window across the way and just stood there ringing the bell each time it faded away. Eventually the color faded too.

OM to the train

December 12, 2008
Sunrise 7:10 AM. Brooklyn, NY.

Connie and Liz stayed in Brooklyn with me overnight and we all got up to ring the bells this morning. It was too cold for me and too noisy to stay outside, so Liz and Connie greeted the day and the subway passengers. Connie also sang - very calmly in the face of all that noise. She and Liz recorded their greeting and we sent it to free103point9 for tomorrow’s daily broadcast.

More or less fog

December 1 & 3, 2008 
Sunrises 7:06 & 7:08 AM. San Francisco, CA

More photos at sunrise from my backyard in San Francisco. Same view. More or less fog.

This evening (12/3), we arrived home a few minutes after the sun had set but rang the big bell anyway, just in case anyone wanted to come over and join us. Nobody did, but Mr. Paul from across the street came out and stood in his driveway although I think that was a coincidence.

Who's Who- Sunwatching on the Radio

I have extended an invitation from Free103point9 to broadcast 1-3 minutes of audio each day for the month of December. This invitation grew out of my collaboration with Lines of Sight #6 produced for Radio Web MACBA in Barcelona by Barbara Held and Pilar Subirá. I made the initial invitation to 30 people from all over the globe.
It's a very exciting line up and you can listen to a new piece each day at noon (EST) on free103point9. I will also archive each piece here on the blog.

December 2008 BROADCAST dates (due dates are one day earlier):
1- Jenneth Webster/Brenda Hutchinson
2- Al Margolis
3- Stephan Moore,
Sònia López and her daughter, Julia
Erik Deluca
4- Alyce Santoro
5- Stephen Vitiello
6- Chris DeLaurenti
7- Vince Rubino with Dianne Baasch, Heejung Kim, Maureen Kim, Stan Crocker, Alex You, Juhae Park and Cheong Keoul
8- Jenny Holland
9- Tom Bickley and Nancy Beckman
Laura Vitale
10- Ginger Miles
Pauline Oliveros and Ione
11- Jon Brumit
12- Lyn Goeringer
Sebastian (Margot Bevington and Beau Casey's baby boy)
13- Connie Kieltyka and Elizabeth Robinson
Charles Veasey
Janice Misurell- Mitchell
14- Norman Tuck
15- Kathy Kennedy
Sharon Cheslow
16- Lu Olkowski
Maria Mykolenko
17- Judy Dunaway
18- Brenda Hutchinson
Maggie Payne
19- Barbara Held and Nil Tous
20- Yvonne Buchanan
21- Roxanne Amico
22- Barbara Held
Thea Farhadian
Bun Ching Lam
Raylene Campbell
Lyn Goeringer
Georgina Lewis
Al Margolis
Monique Buzzarté
Betsey Biggs
Jenneth Webster
Alyce Santoro
Vince Rubino
Caterina De Re
Chris DeLaurenti
Krys Bobrowski & Chien Wang & Kaz
Paul Stepahin @ The Exploratorium
Wendy Suiter
Liz Keim
23- Caterina De Re
24- Erin Espeland
25- Raylene Campbell
26- Monique Buzzarté
27- Georgina Lewis
28- Pilar Subirà
Norman Tuck
29- Jenny's House Jenny Holland, Bonnie Holland, Jon Patmore, Finn Holland, Cecelia Holland, Mia Narell, Isaac Narell, Zoe Leavens, Tom Miller, Linda Wang, Michael Jones, Chris Tripoli, Carol Kemper, Brenda Hutchinson, Lucy Holland.
30- Jaime Robles
31- Victoria Estok
1/1/09- Laura Spero
Maria Mykolenko