The problems that took the Rifftides computer out of action a few days ago were resolved when I replaced it with a newer model. Then, attempts to post new items derailed in an onslaught of password problems involving the publishing platform. That has been fixed, too——I think. Perhaps any computer owner will understand my lingering skepticism.
So: onward.
Had it been possible to post yesterday, I would have wished you a happy Halloween and shown you the official 2015 Rifftides Jack O’lantern. Here it is, a day late, nestled in a bed of fallen maple leaves on the porch.
We had 67 trick-or-treaters last night, including a repulsive monster dripping blood and an enchanting princess who touched us on the shoulder with her wand.
News Item: the pianist Jessica Williams has recovered from the surgery that impeded her career for a time. She is preparing for a new phase. The word is that she is likely to begin 
rehearsing a group incorporating strings. From her website, a photo taken by her husband during a shopping expedition accompanies her declaration that she has “improved posture and almost no trace of scoliosis or spinal deformity after my three-segment lumbar back surgery.†That would seem to suggest that her left hand may be as formidable as ever. See and hear, as an example, what she did with it did a few years ago in a performance of “Nice Work If You Can Get It.â€