Hallowell rehearsal

Last night, we finally had a chance to get to a Hallowell rehearsal. They have been going on for sometime, but we haven't been able to go because they were on Thursday nights and we had our Swarthmore short story class on Thursday night. But now that's over so last night we went to the rehearsal. It was really wonderful to be there with that group. They are a little different from our usual rehearsals before the pandemic. They are held in a larger space - the Westminister-West church (where we hold River Singers rehearsals) and with smaller groups. There are over 40 people in Hallowell, and that is considered too many to have in one space at the same time. We are also all wearing masks while we sing. That is not ideal, but we are sort of getting used to it. It has been quite a while since we have sung some of our repertoire, and it felt just a little unfamiliar. Mary Cay Brass, our Director, said we needed to get our nose out of our books and look up more. We got back into the flow again pretty quickly. It was very satisfying. Only time will tell whether we can continue these rehearsals, given the Omicron variant and the sharp rise in Covid cases in Vermont. You do have to be fully vaccinated to come to these rehearsals. But vaccination is no longer a guarantee that you will not get Covid.

Scenes from our rehearsal. I was sitting next to two of my former physicians. (Middle photo). Dr. Burt Tepfer was my cardiologist, and beyond him, Dr. Walter Slowinski, who was my PCP for a time. Both retired. I miss them.