Good service

I led the choir in Dummerston this morning. We sang Star in the East, a wonderful shape-note hymn, and the choir sang it well! There were four basses, one tenor, two altos and one soprano. I was expecting three sopranos, but two didn't make it, So Mary Westbrook switched from alto to soprano. We made it a bit easier for the sopranos and sang one verse in unison on tenor melody line, one verse with sopranos an ovtave lower, and only the third and final verse in their normal range with some pretty high notes. They appreciated that. John and Cynthia were there, which was great. But the congregation was small - several regulars came down with COVID this week. The church may have been a spreader last week, because after the tree-lighting ceremony, people sort of packed into the downstairs for cocoa, and they were not wearing masks. A lot of the people there were the ones who got COVID during the week. John is feeling better, though he looked pale today. It takes a while to fully recover, Ellen helped me clean out the flue at the house after church - we had let the fire burn out in the stove and that is a perfect time to clean out the flue - and there were very few ashes and not much creosote at all - that is a good sign. We allow the fire burn very hot every day (what we call the "noon" burn, because the indicator on the thermometer on the flue gets to the "12-0-clock" position, which is about 450 degrees) and use creosote remover powder, and I think that is helping. Also, I think our wood is well-seasoned and clean this year, and that helps a lot too. I don't think we'll need to have the chimney cleaned this year. That will save almost $300! Ellen has now gone to Amherst to meet Julie and go to the movies to see She Said which is about the Harvey Weinstein affair. She was originally going to stay and take Brendon to the Nutcracker Ballet this evening, but it is going to snow this evening, and she feels she just can no longer drive at night under adverse conditions. Plus we don't have on our snow tires yet. It will be disappointing to him, but it can't be helped. Maybe Dusty snd Dorothy can be recruited to do it. Katie Tolles has COVID, or has had it, and feels she can't go to the ballet, or shouldn't. COVID is still having its impact on our lives! Yesterday we went to the Bergh's in the afternoon and watched the UNC/Georgia Tech basketball game. The Tarheels lost their last four games: after being #1 nationally in the pre-season rankings (because they were in last year's national Championship game and four of their five starters have returned this year), they lost four and dropped out of the top 25 altogether. But they beat Georgia Tech fairly handily. If they could play consistently well, they would have a shot at being in the Final 16 anyway this year. We had supper with the Bergh's - Ellen brought the meal - and we had a good time. Eliza's brother, Sam, was there too - he lives in Brooklyn - and I always enjoy seeing and talking with him. Now I'm going to work on my Bible Study session.

The "noon" burn