Drift

Welcome to the latest installment of the Fog Chaser newsletter.

🎵 This month’s piece is in G-sharp minor.¹

This song is essentially part two of last month’s piece, Turnings —they’re two sides of the same coin.² Other than some light editing and a couple of added layers, the piano part here is just an improvisation — no adherence to a metronome or score, it’s just me turning these notes around and around.

It got me thinking of the various meanings of the word “turnings” — revolutions and rotations, sure. But also “a place where a road branches off another,” or “the action of using a lathe.”

No matter which definition you choose, I like the idea of turnings resulting in change, whether physical or emotional. Taking a different road, carving a new path, brushing up against life’s sharp edges.

And what remains? A shoreline. A canyon, an island. A sculpture, a bell. Something lighter, something beautiful. Like a stone drifting in the sea for eons, smoothed by time and salt and churn. What’s left after all our turnings is, ideally, what matters to us most.

Well, anyway, that’s where this song comes from. Part of it is what was left on the cutting room floor after last month’s piece was finished. If you listen to it following Turnings, I think you’ll hear the continuity between the two. The prayer wheel, the bell, and my vocals from that first piece all make an appearance as well.

📷 This month’s photos were taken with a DSLR on a remote beach on the Washington coast.³

I invite you to sit with this month’s song, photos, and poem and make them a small part of your day, whether that’s your morning ritual, afternoon break, or your evening wind-down.

As always, if you feel like it, let me know what you think in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.

Thank you for being here.

---

Fluent

by John O’Donohue⁴

I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding.

---

Listening to

• Acting Your Age by Mimicking Birds (Listen)

  • 🎧 I put all the songs shared in the newsletter into this Spotify playlist

Reading

• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Bookshop)⁵

• Big Magic by

  Elizabeth Gilbert
  (Bookshop) (Thank you,
  Kelsey Wharton
  !)

Sharing

• What is beauty?

• I got the chance to write the intro music for my friend

  Kayti Christian
  ’s new podcast Fried Eggs, which she co-hosts with
  Amy Salke
  . For anyone who has experienced or is experiencing the challenges, fears, and confusing world of in vitro fertilization, you will appreciate what they’re doing here.

• Stay tuned for the next issue of The Score for paid subscribers, coming soon.
  

• Fog Chaser merch enjoying a summer '24 sale, now 24% off with code SUMMER24:

• Last year at this time:

  • August 2023:

    Meditation 024 | Cathedral Hush

1. Drift in G-sharp minor / Written, performed, and produced by Fog Chaser

2. This piece is in the relative minor key of Turnings, which means they share the same notes, giving them a similar feel and tonal palette.

3. Drift / DSLR (ISO: 400 / Focal length: 55mm / ƒ/16 / Exposure time: 1/500s)
In Relief / DSLR (ISO: 400 / Focal length: 28mm / ƒ/20 / Exposure time: 1/500s)

4. Taken from Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems (2017 / Grayson)

5. The Fog Chaser Bookshop is hosted on Bookshop.org, where over 80% of gross profits are distributed to independent bookstores. As an affiliate, I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.