Raspberry Reward

One of my exercises that I have been doing since my surgery is raspberries - a trip back to childhood. It has become such a commonplace part of my existence that I found myself doing them walking on my way to the grocery store and even walking down the paint aisle at my local Home Depot. It is probably not a good thing for a silver haired man alone to be walking about in public doing raspberries. This could incite countless cutiosities. BUT, today I had another session with the speech therapist and it suddenly became clear to me that my carefully measured vocal recuperation is paying off. From now until September 15, when I see the doctor again, I can do what is called half time speech. That means if I talk for 10 minutes, then I have to rest for 10 minutes. No counting one or two or three minutes out of ten as I have been doing for three weeks now. This next phase is much more natural. AND best of all, my speech sounds more like the same person everyone has known, lo these many years. I have also learned that I can speak mcuh more easily and be heard and understood than I used to. I think teaching and singing opera made me believe I had to use superhuman vocal production that is actually quite unnecessary, especially for a person such as I, who is well-trained in vocal technique. Singing is still weeks away, but the speech part has turned the corner. Celebramos!!!