2019 Project 365 – Week Thirty-nine

As I’m writing this it seems as though my Atlanta Braves are limping into the playoffs. My expectations for how far they’ll go have diminished in the past week. But no matter what they do (& maybe they’ll surprise me!), they’ve had a great year.

Sunday, September 22^nd                                              

It’s been a while since I had dinner for breakfast – bbq, baked beans, & okra. It’s not pretty, but it was YUMMY.

Dr. M is getting a new musical instrument for his birthday (stay tuned!), so to get himself ready he pulled out his dulcimers again.

Monday, September 23^rd              

As I said on FB, I went to the grocery store during lunch and this is going to be the weirdest sandwich ever! Also, I feel like “swisspers” is a little twee for the name of a cotton ball brand, don’t you?

Tuesday, September 24^th                                                

The Bug Parking Badly, blah blah blah. Fortunately these spaces are huge – there was already a car beside me when I parked & I didn’t impede anyone’s ability to get into or out of their car. That’s my story & I’m sticking to it!

Wednesday, September 25^th                                                         

Surprise! Dr M’s (very) early birthday, anniversary, & Christmas gift. I blame this on Ken Burns. It has been fun listening to Dr. M teach himself a new instrument!

Thursday, September 26^th                                                            

No picture

Friday, September 27^th                                                           

Heather’s mum has finally decided to bloom. It’s had buds for about a month now – it seems to take forever for them to bust out.

Saturday, September 28^th            

My father-in-law’s cat & my hair had the same idea today: just relax & go with the flow.

I went to hear The Right Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori speak about climate change. She was the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States (the first woman to hold that position) for about 9 years while I lived in Ohio. I didn’t realize that her background is in oceanography – she has a doctorate in that field, so she is able to address climate change from a spiritual perspective & a scientific one. It was a great talk. She asked if we were treating our earth like the Promised Land. And I was introduced to the concept of solastalgia (a form of mental or existential distress caused by environmental change. In many cases this is in reference to global climate change, but more localized events such as volcanic eruptions, drought or destructive mining techniques can cause solastalgia as well.). My favorite quote was this one, in answer to what you say to people who don’t believe in climate science: “Climate science is not a political issue – it’s a reality issue. I don’t associate politics with reality. We can put our heads in the sand, but we’re still going to roast our rear ends.”

I’m not sure I can top that quote. There’s a blizzard in Montana, and in the 90s here, and there’s a category 5 hurricane brewing in the eastern Atlantic. Have a great week? 

P.S. I loved the statement the church made to parents of children (God put the wiggle in children – ha!).

Now Playing at the Bug Household...

The French Revolution, Christmas, & the Good Old Days

As I was heading to bed last night I had a question for Dr. M:

The Bug: Why did Robespierre get the guillotine? Short answer! (Knowing who she was speaking to & wishing to get to bed before 11:00).

Dr. M: Because.

The Bug: Too short!

Dr. M: [maniacal laughter]

Historians are weird. [Note: the short answer is that he started putting the Revolution over the needs of the people of France. For whom he had helped start the revolution.]

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This morning on my way to work I had just finished rocking out to the Indigo Girls (as we white middle aged women do), when Silent Night came barreling out of my speakers. Wait, what? Apparently I got a little confused when I was loading the MP3 player. Made me laugh – which was a good thing on a rainy Monday morning.

After Silent Night a Kevin Welch song came on and that made me think of Kieran Kane and that reminded me of this song:

I got a little crush on Kieran when I first saw the video (on MTV or CMT back when they did videos?) and I remember trying to find his CD every time we went to the record store. I never did find it. What a different world that was! We had to just really enjoy the heck out of whatever we were listening to because we couldn’t just go to Amazon & download the single, or go to Youtube & watch the video over & over. I’m sure there’s some “Good Old Days” moral in there somewhere, but frankly I’m more of an instant gratification type of a person.

I think I’m going to go click “play” on that video again. Isn’t he dreamy?

Thankful Thursday

My Facebook statuses for the past week...

November 8: Today I'm thankful that I have a three day weekend. I'll be spending most of it on church stuff (Diocesan Convention tomorrow & Saturday & church on Sunday), but at least I'll be in a different venue from work :)

November 9: Today I'm thankful to be in a giant room full of Episcopalians!

November 10: Today I'm thankful that there are Episcopalians in the world - my brand of crazy fits right in...

November 11: Today I'm thankful for the opportunity to be an introvert after being around so many people this weekend!

November 12: Today I'm thankful that Dr. M purchased his own birthday dinner & cake - it was great sweetie! (His birthday is tomorrow, but he needs to spend the evening doing school work, so we celebrated tonight)

November 13: Today I'm thankful for the presence of Dr. M in my life. Sometimes I'm amazed at my good fortune in finding him - and in actually recognizing that I needed to keep him! Happy birthday dear heart ♥.

November 14: Today I'm thankful for music in my life.

(Um, yes, I was practicing our choir anthem while driving to work this morning.)

Prognostication

On Fridays Pearl does this thing where she uses the songs on her iPod to predict what the weekend will be like. Since I'm between audio books and actually listened to music this morning on my way to work I decided to try the same thing. Yes, I'm totally stealing this idea from Pearl. So, what did my trusty ancient old Palm Pilot have to say this morning?


"Bluer State" by John Gorka (Writing in the Margins)
"New Kid in Town" by Trisha Yearwood (Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles)
"Arms Length" by John Gorka (Writing in the Margins)
"Polly Gone Home" by Allison Krass & Robert Plant (Raising Sand)
"Miss Chatelaine" by K.D. Land (Ingenue)
"Perfect Love" by Marc Cohn (Marc Cohn)
"Cocaine" by a bunch of guys (Pickin' on Clapton)
"Lyin' Eyes" by Diamond Rio (Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles)
"Get Right with God" by Lucinda Williams (Essence)
"He Waits For Me" by Eliza Gilkyson (Beautiful World)

It looks like someone is going to have a really crazy weekend which will require some repentance on Sunday. Frankly, I hope it's not me - I need some rest!
 
I've been looking forward to baseball season FOREVER (as you may or may not have noticed). But it's dawning on me that unless something changes, the Braves won't be all that this year. I mean, I'm still singing, "...and the home of the Braves..." in my car in the mornings, but there's more of a question mark at the end now ("...and the home of the Braves?"). On the other hand, my adopted team, the Reds, seem poised to have a most excellent year. They just signed that surly cutie Joey Votto to a long term deal (he even has his own cereal now!) & they still have that ebullient cutie Brandon Phillips. So there should be some baseball enjoyment this year.
 
To totally flip this post on its head, I'd like to mention that it's Easter weekend. I've already been to a Maundy Thursday service (foot washing!) and tonight is Good Friday. Both of these services are somber as we consider the events of the last days of Jesus' life. And I find it so ironic to be focused on this, the greatest advocate of the poor and sick in human history (where do you think Mother Theresa learned her stuff?) during a time when the poor and sick are being swept away by what some people consider righteousness. Can we really celebrate resurrection on Easter morning while "the least of these" are still dismissed as inconveniences? What Would Jesus Do? Really - what would Jesus do?

Day Two of Operation Lent, and Other Random Randomness

I promise I’m not going to give a daily accounting of how I’m doing on my Lenten observance – because that just smacks of doing good works for glory & such (although I’m not sure my works will be all that good, come to think of it). But it amuses me to write about my progress so far.

·         Yeah, so I haven’t been successful at getting up at 6:00 the last two mornings. I set my alarm & then I just hit snooze. Same as it ever was. However I am getting to bed by 10:00 which is the most important part of the equation.

·         So far so good on the no sweets. I got my sack ‘o Girl Scout Cookies & didn’t even open it (I know even I’m shocked by that). And I added sliced almonds to my dish of chopped apple & banana & my goodness I thought I was already breaking the rules – so yummy!

·         By far the easiest of the three practices is the rosary – both because I was already doing it about 50% of the time, and because it’s a nice peaceful way to end the day. No issues there.

·         I’m singing one solo verse (a cappella for heaven’s sake!) on Sunday morning & I’m a wee bit freaked about it. Especially because it’s the opening music – the choir is going to process down the aisle to my hopefully not flat dulcet tones. Gah!

·         I last washed my hair on Tuesday. Today I pulled it back with a barrette to minimize disgust. And I’m wondering if I can go another day. This is one thing that doesn’t suck about getting older – I’ll bet another few years & I’ll be down to washing my hair once a week.

·         Knowing that the Braves’ pitchers & catchers reported on Monday is like back when we lived in Fairfield & we were driving back from NC & saw the “Cincinnati 75 miles” sign on the interstate. Home is so close we can taste it but there’s still another 2 hours to go. Sigh. [Note: I’m still singing, “…and the home of the Braves!”every morning. I wonder if that makes me unpatriotic?]

OK, that’s enough of that. Carry on!

I’ll be Home for Christmas…

The other day in the car I was listening to "I'll be Home for Christmas." The version was so slow & the person singing it sounded so unhappy that it sounded like a dirge to me. I started adding commentary – "I'll be home for Christmas… whether I want to or not…" And, "you can plan on me… if you must…" and "where's Madeline Kahn when you need her?" I could totally hear her German chanteuse in Blazing Saddles singing, "Please have snow… but I'm tired, so tired…" Maybe you had to be there. 

This is not how I feel about heading home for Christmas – I like those people, in general.

Now that it's scant hours before Christmas I think I might be ready. It's likely that I'll be unpleasantly surprised. I've been keeping track of everything in my head & it's entirely possible that I'm missing a person or three. For those of you expecting something who may receive nothing – our annual poem is your gift! Along with 83 of your closest friends. And all the people in blogland. You just have to share. OK? 

Next year I'm going to be so organized. Really. Why, I've already put the calendar idea on my task list. It's right there on October 15^th.

Dr. M and I have really appreciated all the Christmas cards we've received this year. Lots of them are beautiful, but my friend Jenny wins the prize this year with this lovely homemade card. Thanks J!

I probably won't be back here until next week, so to all of you who read these words – Merry Christmas! I hope you have the holiday you want.

A Date with the Symphony

I went to the symphony for the first time last Thursday night. Or if not the first time, then the first time that I can remember. Although I used to listen to Rachmaninoff while doing my homework in high school (sometimes I switched it up with our Captain & Tennille 8 track tape), I've never been a huge classical music fan. I like music I can sing to. And, as my mom always said, it's scary – all quiet & lulls you into a drowse & then suddenly "boom!" there go the horns or the drums. It's a lot of work to listen to a classical piece of music, in my opinion.

I went with some ladies from church – they needed a chauffeur & had a free ticket for me. It was the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, with a guest violinist, Vadim Gluzman. Here's a list of what they played:

BEETHOVEN Fidelio Overture
SIBELIUS Violin Concerto (with Mr. Gluzman – a total teddy bear cutie, if you want my honest opinion)
DEBUSSY La mer
BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture #3

And here are my thoughts on the experience:

• We sang the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning! I thought that was great fun – although had I known in advance I might have limbered my voice up a little more.
• I loved the first piece, the Beethoven. That's what I think a symphony should sound like! Although I couldn't get Dudley Moore as the conductor in Foul Play out of my head. So I was probably smiling inappropriately. Or maybe people thought I was really a fan.
• The Sibelius with the guest "fiddler" reminded me of a series of an interminable number of some arpeggios. Up and down the scale, all random, with "interesting" syncopation. Really, he was playing the heck out of that violin & he was a joy to watch – so into the music & looking like he might burst with it before he finished. But. I couldn't really find the tune, you know? And apparently that matters to me. So I mostly just watched him & the rest of the orchestra, which was actually quite fascinating.
• The Debussy, I was astounded to find, reminded me of the warm-up the orchestra did between each number (I had no idea that instruments needed to be tuned every 20 minutes). At the end there was some very satisfactory percussion & double bass playing (I want to play an instrument bigger than me!), but most of the time I was people watching rather than enjoying the music. I was astounded because for some reason I assumed I would like Debussy.
• And then we were back to Beethoven & I was so excited because I thought I would like it. Not so much. However, there was a small section that reminded me of the song from Oklahoma that Will and Ado Annie sing – "With me, it's all or nuthin!" So I left the symphony with that running through my head, which was great fun.

So, did I have a good time? Absolutely. Would I go again? You betcha! Just people watching was fabulous – especially the brass section (they didn't have too much to do with this performance, other than a few blasts to wake up the crowd, or is that not what the composer intended?). I loved watching the faces & body language of the musicians. And I got to sing the Star Spangled Banner and that's not something you get to do every day. So, score!

Gifts

Tomorrow our choir is singing for a funeral. I didn't know the lady who died, but I know how hard this moment is for her family. I'm singing one of the verses by myself (I hesitate to call it a solo because it's just a few lines in the middle of a song). We were going to sing this particular song for the first time the second Sunday of June. Plenty of time to practice. But now it's tomorrow.

For some reason, 13 hours before the event, I feel less nervous than if we were singing it for Sunday morning. I think it's because the Sunday service is a time to showcase my "talent" – show them what I have (it's not really that much). But singing a song this family requested during their time of grief – it's a gift. I might not be perfect, but who cares? I'm a small cog in this day. I'll be singing as if I'm talking to those grown children about how we don't need to be afraid. I can do that.

You need not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day. Though thousands fall about you, near you it shall not come. And he will raise you up on eagle's wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of his hand.

On another note, I'm not afraid of singing (yet – ask me again at 9:55 tomorrow), but I am afraid of the age-old custom of bringing food to a funeral. The food coordinator said, "Bring a salad – maybe a jell-o salad." I said, "I do not cook. No problem!" But then I remembered my Mom's lime jell-o salad from about a thousand church and family dinners. Apparently it was really Greatnanny's recipe. Here it is in the Brookford Baptist Church cookbook:

I've made it. It's in the refrigerator congealing "setting up." It's one of my very favorite things that my Mom always made. Another gift, but not from me. Thanks Mom.

Make a Joyful Noise

I always sang melody. Because it's all about me and not about the music, not about the choir. Now in my middle years the melody has drifted away somewhere – out of reach of my grasping fingers. I'm trying to sing alto, fumbling for that counter note - the one that's not there in my head.

My first choir practice I try to hear that note under the insistence that is melody. I'm listening, catching it some of the time. And then, I was a teenager sitting on that second row in the choir at Brookford Baptist Church. In my ear I could hear Mrs. Holsclaw (who always wanted us to make a big deal of the "s" sound at the ends of words). And there was my grandmother – as natural an alto as you ever heard. She gave that gift to my aunt Emily, who shares it with my Dad at the nursing home on Sundays. I heard them all right there and for a while the noise I made was actually music. I found that note and the sound was so sweet that it almost made me cry.

Mamaw & Emily