Pauses that refresh. (College Faculty Forum).

I am writing on a hot and lazy summer day, but as you read, the leaves will have begun to turn, the days have become noticeably shorter, and we will have been back at work for a month or more.

Arrangements for lessons and classes are in place at last; some of us will be contemplating mid-term grade reports! No doubt there has been excitement about beginning a new term: helping returning students build their repertoire, performance skills and pedagogical know-how, and planning for the development and progress of new students. However, along with our feelings of expectation and renewal, from time to time we may muse wistfully about the time and space of summer, when we pursued challenges and projects for our own personal and musical refreshment. Are there lessons we learned from the summer that can give us energy and help us to feel restored and nourished?

I asked colleagues from the CFF Advisory Committee to share their summer experiences. Two major themes emerged: The first was the satisfaction of delving into nonmusical areas, allowing our "other self" to come forth. The second was decidedly more musical--finding refreshment in new kinds of teaching, reading books about our professions, attending conferences that offer new perspectives and immersing ourselves in different ways of practicing.

Some of us voraciously read novels, worked on learning a new language or exercised more regularly. Others traveled, walked barefoot and spent unencumbered time visiting grandchildren.

Jean Stackhouse mentioned "the absence of the workplace sounds and clutter, planting, picking and arranging the flowers, cooking and savoring the vegetables, intentionally spending time with folks who are not my age, whose lives are spent in professions/vocations other than music." Judy Baker, NCTM, found musical refreshment in giving a pedagogy workshop for piano teachers. "The best thing we did was a hands-on portion, three pianos in one room, watching and working with each other," she said. Singer Melanie Kay Dement, NCTM, enjoyed reading many new books on vocal science and pedagogy. "This is an exciting time for singers and teachers of singing, as we learn more and more about the intricacies of this natural instrument," she reported. "One summer event I never miss is the Voice Foundation's Symposium on the Care of the Professional Voice in Philadelphia, which offers an amazing amount of information in all areas of ...