Revving up

This blog is primarily a "trip" blog - mostly because on a trip we usually have more access to the Internet than we do at home. But we are beginning to get ready for another big trip, so we should be seeing some activity here in a few weeks. Meanwhile, we are involved in a recording project, among other things.  Paul Dedell, the husband of the director of the Brattleboro Concert Choir, wrote a cantata four years ago called Songs of Divine Chemistry, which was performed at that time. The texts combine the work of Sufi and Christian mystic poets with the writings of contemporary neuro-psychologists. Paul has gotten financial support to produce a CD, and we are part of the group that will be doing that - aiming at an all-day recording session on February 15th and a concert performance the next day.

Our trip will include the True/False film Festival in Columbia, MO, Katie performing in an opera, The Crucible by Robert Ward, a visit to Pittsburgh State University, KS, where Shirley was a "Danny Grad" (a campus religious counselor sponsored by the Danforth Foundation) in 1954, and a visit to the Ransome Center Library in Austin, TX which houses the Knopf Publishing Co. archives - to do research on Ellen's father's manuscript that he was contracted to publish with Knopf. And, of course, our usual stops in Bartlett, IL with the "Elgin gang" - my brother's family - and  at least ten days in Wyoming with Paul, Jenny and Max. After Wyoming, we'll return to attend a performance of the Missouri University Singers - of which Katie is a member - at the Kauffmann Performing Arts Center in Kansas City. So it will be a full, rich, trip. And who knows what surprises may be in store.

Shirley and me in Pittsburg, KS, March 1955

Kauffmann Center in Kansas City