WFH: DAY 107. 9.00 am: The air pressure had changed. A gentle breeze kept that air moving. With it came a torpor — a sluggishness — that had to be resisted. Some days start of the wrong foot, even before you catch-up with them. On such a day as this, nothing may work, or else nothing may work well enough. (Which is even worse.)

I attended to constructing the third ‘bang’. Noises can be complex: comprising many parts, very deliberately conceived and executed, layered, and woven together. 11.17 am: The studio Velux was open, so I could hear in the distance the sound of the train — carried on the breeze — arrive at the station. It was consoling.

For the next hour, I struggled with ways of recording sounds (at high-quality) directly from the PC. Audacity (which is open-source software) can do this effortlessly, once the appropriate loop-back route is discovered:

1.30 pm: The day had brightened. I switched from my suite of compositions to a project that has been placed far in the background of my thoughts (for various reasons). It may never see the light of day. Which was liberating; I had no expectations and, as such, felt willing and able to push the work off the cliff-edge (should the need arise). 2.30 pm: I returned to the morning’s composition, and others that had been modified during the past week. There’s always the prospect that on rehearing a piece, it’ll appear to be without virtue. Never review your work when you’re either tired or melancholy or elated. A sober mind and balanced perception are required.

3.30 pm: The late afternoon was set aside for a review of writing and a further foray into the Book of Exodus. 4.30 pm: ‘Force Quit!’