A different sort of Sunday morning

Today has started unlike most Sundays. First of all, I made my breakfast last night because I knew that time would be in short supply this morning. So I had a smooothie all set to go in the frig this morning, plus a glass with cereal in it. The reason for this is that Ellen went to Guilford this morning, and she was picking up Calvin at 8:10a.m., because she was also picking up Nancy Tierra, after Calvin. Meanwhile, I have to be in Dummerston for a Music Committee meeting this morning. We were going in two different directions. So she had to bring me to the Dummerston church early - 8:00a.m. - so that she could pick up Calvin at 8:10 a.m. That meant being ready to go by 7:50 at the latest! And I was. So I've been here at the church since 8:00, eating my breakfast and using WiFi. Here is the view from my chair:

Amazingly, I have not been alone. There was a Deacon's Dinner here at the church last evening - we actually picked up two dinners as a take-out ourselves. There were something like 60 people here for dinner. This is put on by the church for the community, free of charge. And the key person who does most of the work on it is James Brown. James has been here since 6 a.m. this morning, cleaning up. Amazing! A lot of things used for the dinner are borrowed from the Grange across the street - things like roasters and big pans. Those all had to go back to the Grange. And a lot of tidying up, putting away, cleaning, had to be done here at the church - feeding 60 plus people is no small task. There are some really hard workers in this church, and James is one of them. So he has been busyh since 6a.m., so that all would be in apple pie order for church coffee hour which is held in this same space after church this morning. And after coffee hour will be Music Committee. And then Ellen will pick me up on her way home from Guilford. My work on WiFi has been downloading The Voice bible - the Gospel of John. I think that is what we will be using in the Readers' Theater presentation on Ash Wednesday - we decide this Wednesday - and so I need to have the text of that translation on my computer so I can edit it and make it a script. I have only limited data use when I am home and using my iPhone as a personal hot spot so that I can access the internet with my computer. And I am almost out of data and I have almost two weeks to go before the new cycle begins. So it is a big help to come to the church and use Wifi here. I now have the entire Gospel of John in "The Voice" translation on my computer. A good job done. Now I'm going up to church.

A bold experiment!

Our Bible study class at Guilford is going to attempt a bold experiment. We will do a readers theater presentation of the gospel of John on Ash Wednesday evening. But it will not be an ordinary reading. We're going to switch the genders of several of the characters in the gospel. So Jesus will become Yeshua, a woman. Yeshua will confront a Samaritan man at the well and raise Martha from the dead while Lazarus looks on. Etc. Why? Mainly to nudge people into thinking about how gender identity affects how we think and feel about things. The idea evolved especially out of discussions on post-modernist interpretation of the Bible and a study of the role of women in the Gospel of John. it is also the case that almost all the readers are women. So why not have them be women characters? it should be interesting, and we are ending with a discussion period, so people can express how it affected them.

I am evidently not the first person to have the idea of a female Jesus.

Lots of snow!

We've gotten dumped on! Over a foot for sure! That was yesterday. And that was on top of a few inches a few days ago, but that few inches was still clinging to branches. Sure enough, we lost our power yesterday afternoon. It was out about 3 1/2 hours. It came on just as I was digging out candles. We have our wood stove and propane fireplace, so we don't suffer.

Snow scenes. That's about as high as it gets on the deck railing.

Remembering my brother

My brother, Stewart, died ten years ago today. Ellen and I were in St. Paul, MN when we got the news that he had fallen and was on life support. He had experienced cardiac arrest and it had been quite a while before EMT's started his heart again. So his brain had been oxygen-starved too long. We had just been with him several days, and knew he was very fragile, but this news was a shock nonetheless. We immediately turned around and came back to Elgin. The family were all gathered at his bedside and we joined them there. We sang for him. He seemed very peaceful, as though he were just asleep and could wake up any moment. But the doctor made clear that he would never regain consciousness. His heart was beating, but his brain was dead. So as a group we reluctantly decided to have him taken off life support. That was hard, but we knew it was right. I don't remember how long he breathed on his own, but not long. He slipped away, surrounded by love and many tears. Stewart was a wonderful brother. I loved being with him, and although most of my life - after he went into the army at age 17 in 1944 and I was 11 years old - we did not live very close geographically, we were close emotionally, talked on the phone a lot, wrote letters, and managed to make trips to be together fairly often. That was true over a period of almost 70 years! I still miss Stewart. There are still many times I want to talk with him, ask him something only he would know, tell him something only he would understand. I love you, brother!

Stewart and me in our parents' home in Onawa, Iowa, in 1952. *****************LATER: Monday evening, Ellen and I listened to recordings I made back in 2007 of me talking to Stewart about his life, so we got to hear his voice. We also watched a video of his memorial service at First Congregational Church, Elgin, March 23, 2013. That was very nice to see again. His barbershop chorus sang two numbers, and his grandson, Damon, paid tribute to his grandfather "living his philosophy."

An Unusual Sing

This afternoon, a group from Hallowell did a very unusual "bedside sing" - not for a dying person, but for a dying pharmacy. The Hotel Pharmacy, which has been an important feature of Brattleboro for probably 80 years or more, is going out of business tomorrow. It is the last locally-owned, independent pharmacy in this region. Its closure leaves us with just Rite Aid and Walgreen's in Brattleboro. That is sad. It was originally located right on the central intersection of Brattleboro - Main Street and High Street - a part of the Brooks House Hotel. When the Brooks House closed decades ago, it moved to Elliot Street (but keeping its name), and when the Methodist Church across the street on Elliot Street closed its doors, the Hotel Pharmacy acquired that building and moved into the sanctuary area, making for an unusual venue for a pharmacy. The balcony in the back, with its large rose window, was retained when rhe pharmacy took over, and it was there that we gathered today, looking down on the pharmacy aisles and a few patrons and staff who were sitting and standing to listen to us. The inspiration for this sing came from Robin Davis, and there were about eleven of us able to gather today, led by Fred Breunig. A remarkable number of pieces from our repertoire fit the occasion very well, and the acoustics were very good, singimg from the balcony, and it was clear from the response that our singing touched people. We may be the only Hospice-related choral group anywhere to have sung for a dying Pharmacy!

TJhe Original Hotel Pharmacy in the Brooks House Hotel on Main Street, Brattleboro, Vermont

The Hotel Pharmacy in the former Methodist Church building on Elliot Street- where it is today, and has been for three decades or more.

The balcony with rose window - where we sang from today.

Sign in the window announcing the closing of the Hotel Pharmacy

Part of our group posing for a picture today.

Fred Breunig leading the group in the balcony.

Singing in the balcony *********************************** Yesterday, we went to the Guilford Church and it was a super-wonderful service featuring Peter Amidon giving the story of how he became a folk musician, and there was not a dry eye anywhere. His son, Stefan, led the choir. Saturday was John Wilcox's funeral at the Dummerston Church - all went well. The choir sang Over the Rainbow and Be Still My Soul to the tune FINLANDIA by Jean Sibelius. There was a good congregation at the funeral, and my John was there; he came back to our house and we had a good visit in the afternoon. *************** Peter Amidon and I are having breakfast together at Chelsea Diner tomorrow. We'll be talking about the event I want to put on to mark the 25th Anniversary of Shirley's death on May 24th this year. A story-telling and music event. And of course, I'm preparing for Bible Study on Wednesday: topic, "Women in the Gospel of John." Life continues to be full, full, full!

Northampton High School Music Festival

Thursday evening, we went to an event at the Northampton High School that was a bit like an event we went to at the University of Massachusetts at the end of last October. It featured four groups: the NHS Jazz Band, the NHS A Cappella Chorus, the Northamptones (a smaller a cappella group that Tamar is in) and the NHS Concert Band. It was a fun event - all the groups are pretty good, and Tamar had a solo in her group. We sat with Jerry, Julie and Max, but since we were all masked and spread out along the row, there was not a lot of interaction. We had just seen Julie and Max when they came up to our house on Tuesday (I don't think I reported on that visit here in this blog), so we had pretty much caught up on Max's news then. So this time, it was about Tamar. The Northamptones is a group that Tamar has wanted to be in for some time, but she only got in this year- her senior year. She is enjoying it, but I have the feeling that she has missed out on an earlier era when they were led by a different director that she liked a lot. But it is still special. She could have been in the NHS a capella chorus also (some of the other students are in both), and could even have been in Jazz Band too, I guess (I thought I heard Tamar say that one of the male Northamptones was in all three) but she decided against that also. Probably a wise decision. i The Northamptones sang three pieces in their set. Tamar had a solo in the first piece: Music for a Sushi Restaurant by Harry Styles. This was not music I was familiar with. Here are the lyrics: ' MUSIC FOR A SUSHI RESTAURANT Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba Green eyes, fried rice I could cook an egg on you Late night, game time Coffee on the stove, yeah You're sweet ice cream But you could use a Flake or two Blue bubblegum twisted 'round your tongue I don't want you to get lost I don't want you to go broke I want you It's 'cause I love you, babe In every kind of way Just a little taste Know I love you, babe Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba (You know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba Excuse me, green tea Music for a sushi restaurant From ice on rice Scuba-duba-do-boo-boo Music for a sushi restaurant Music for a sushi restaurant Music for whatever you want Scuba-duba-do-boo-boo I'm not going to get lost I'm not going to go broke Staying cool (Know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba (You know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba If the stars were edible And our hearts were never full Could we live with just a taste? Just a taste It's 'cause I love you, babe In every kind of way Just a little taste Know I love you, babe Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba (You know I love you, babe) Ba, ba-ba Ba-ba, ba-ba Harry Styles, who wrote the song, is under 30 and is something of a phenom, I would gather: "Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series The X Factor. Following his elimination, he was brought back to join the boy band One Direction, which went on to become one of the best-selling boy groups of all time before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Styles released his self-titled debut solo album through Columbia Records in 2017. It debuted at number one in the UK and the US and was one of the world's top-ten best-selling albums of the year, while its lead single, "Sign of the Times", topped the UK Singles Chart. Styles' second album, Fine Line (2019), debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with the biggest ever first-week sales by an English male artist, and was the most recent album to be included in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2020. Its fourth single, "Watermelon Sugar", topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Featuring the chart-topping single "As It Was", Styles' third album, Harry's House (2022), was widely acclaimed and broke several records. Styles has received various accolades, including two Brit Awards, a Grammy Award, an Ivor Novello Award, and three American Music Awards. His film roles include Dunkirk (2017), Don't Worry Darling, and My Policeman (both 2022). Aside from music and acting, Styles is known for his flamboyant fashion. He is the first man to appear solo on the cover of Vogue." He is a phenom in another way too: He is the wealthiest musician in Britain under 30, with an estimated worth of $100 million.******************** Tamar sang well; she was a bit drowned out some of the time by the other singers even though she had a mic, but she came through strong on the words "Know I love you, babe." This song is on YouTube if you are interested (but not sung there by the Northamptones - maybe that will come later). The other two pieces were The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson, and White Room by Cream. Being an old fuddy-duddy, I wish these a capella groups, which are auditioned and have the best singers in them, would sing motets by Josquin and Gesualdo, which require perfect pitch in very close harmonies. The pieces the Northamptones sang did not seem particularly demanding, but they were crowd-pleasers, and definitely fun to hear.

Tamar at the mic, singing her solo

The Northamptones********************************************* Just FYI, here are lyrics for The Chain The sky looks pissed The wind talks back My bones are shifting in my skin And you my love are gone My room feels wrong The bed won't fit I cannot seem to operate And you my love are gone So glide away on soapy heels And promise not to promise anymore And if you come around again Then I will take, Then I will take the chain from off the door I'll never say that I'll never love But I don't say a lot of things And you my love are gone So glide away on soapy heels And promise not to promise anymore And if you come around again Then I will take, the chain from off the door And for White Room In the white room with black curtains near the station Black roof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings Silver horses ran down moonbeams in your dark eyes Dawn light smiles on you leaving, my contentment I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves You said no strings could secure you at the station Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows I walked into such a sad time at the station As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning I'll wait in the queue when the trains come back Lie with you where the shadows run from themselves At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd Consolation for the old wound now forgotten Yellow tigers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes She's just dressing, goodbye windows, tired starlings I'll sleep in this place with the lonely crowd Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves These are not happy songs. I'll try to refrain from psychoanalysing them! The other groups were good - the NHS Jazz Band and the NHS Concert Band were under the direction of Paul Kinsman; the vocal groups were led by Susan Dillard, but she stayed off stage. The Jazz Band played four pieces, the A Cappella Chorus sang five pieces, the Concert Band played four pieces and there was a finale wih everyone - bands and singers ("Give Me Love," by George Harrison). It was all done very well - again, nothing super-demanding (e.g., no Sousa Marches)- but maybe that is intentional, because you come out sounding really good. The trip down and back weather-wise could have been much worse - there had been a lot of precipitation all day, with temps hovering at 32 degrees, but it stayed above 32 the entire trip, and was just wet, not slippery. That was very fortunate!

The NHS Concert Band

The NHS Jazz Band

The NHS A Cappella Chorus

Susan Dillard, who has degrees in music and the arts from U Mass and Oklahoma City.

Paul Kinsman, making a video with the "Home Ec" department at NHS. He seems to be from Canada.

Lazy

This morning I'm being very lazy. I was going to meet Peter Amidon for breakfast at Chelsea Diner at 9am, but it is snowing and we decided to postpone to next week. Yesterday was a full day with the Bible Study group, and we have the heat in the bedroom and it's very cozy, and Ellen is reading in bed, so I stayed in bed and did the three word games: Wordle, Quordle and Spelling Bee. That's very relaxing. If the snow turns to rain, which is forecast, we may go to Northampton late afternoon to a Northamptone concert Tamar is in. I have a bunch of cards to get in the mail. Right now, I should eat something. One new thing: I have a new toy - A fitness watch. I got it real cheap: $40. It takes blood pressure, temperature. blood oxygen level, heart rate, keeps track of how many steps you take and how well you sleep! I'm still figuring it out.

The fitness watch.

Ellen just took care of my need for food! Lucky me! ******************
This was a good week in one important way - Paul got test results back from an MRI- no cancer. An earlier CAT scan had shown ambiguous growths. They are benign. That is a great relief. Now if he can resolve some work-related worries, his life will be better. The past few months have been difficult. We have a funeral at Dummerston Church on Saturday. John Wilcox was a lovely man who was Treasurer for years and used to sing in the choir. For several years now he has had many health crises and has been in and out of the hospital many times. A group of us sang for him before Christmas. But his body finally gave out. The choir will be singing two pieces: "Over the Rainbow" and "Be Still My Soul," which is set to the tune FINLANDIA, a favorite of John's. In fact, he left instructions that he wanted three orchestral pieces played before the service: "Finlandia," by Jean Sibelius; a movement from Beethoven's 7th Symphony; and Barber's "Adagio for Strings." His son sent three links for these pieces on Spotify. No one in the church seemed to know what to do with them. So I downloaded Spotify and got them on my laptop. Tomorrow, I'm meeting Shawn at 10am at the church to practice playing them through the sound system.

John with our singing group

A portrait of John.*********************
By complete serendipity, Calvin Farwell, who is in the group above, ended up being in the same church as John Wilcox, singing in the choir together. They were both students at St. Paul's School in Concord, NH back in the 1950's - John was the proctor in Calvin's dorm his freshman year.

An unexpected act of kindness !

I got up fairly promptly this morning and took the flat tire to Pete's Tire, which is where four snow ties were installed just 16 days ago - discouraging to have that new a tire go flat. It turned out there was a hole in the sidewall - tire caput! You can't repair a sidewall anymore. I assumed I would be buying a tire - hoping and expecting that it was new enough that it could be replaced with a new tire without upsetting the all-wheel-drive balance. But then something unexpected - "The manager said he would buy you a new tire out of his own pocket." Amazing! How often does he do that? I sent my profuse thanks to him. Maybe Ellen can bake something. And sure enough - a few minutes later, the guy brought my keys and said, "You're all set!" Didn't cost a cent. Wow!

********** Three cheers for Pete's Tire Barn! ***********


>LATER: On Monday, Ellen baked a big platter of cookies and I took them to Pete's Tire as a thank you. The guy at the desk said, "You didn't need to do that!" But he was pleased.

Thankful!

Ellen's son, Paul, got good news today - a report of "benign." Thank you, God! That takes a huge concern off the table. But still on the table is a long-standing problem that being a contractor is an unrelenting cause of anxiety, and his current project has been the worst yet in that respect. Something has to change, but it isn't clear what that something is. Peace of mind is hard to come by in the independant contractor role. But that is my wish for him.

Sending you Light, dear ones!********************* " The Bible Study session on "The Jews" in the Gospel of John went ok - my presentation could have been smoother, but I got a lot of information out there. The consensus seems to be to continue the discussion next week. Today, I was researching how that issue plays out in the St. John Passion of J. S. Bach, a work I have performed multiple times as a chorus member in the Blanche Moyse Chorale for over 30 years. A surprising amount has been written on this issue, much of it in recent years. A key work is by Michael Marissen, who was on the music faculty at Swarthmore. It is all very interesting and very timely as well. Yesterday, we went to Grandma Miller for Morninglory Muffins. We also had chocolate eclairs, which are baked only on Thursdays. Always a real treat! On the way home we stopped at Dutton's for a few groceries.

Dutton's window****************** Ellen just had an adventure! She went to the Putney Post Office, and on the way back she hit something in the road that caused the right front tire to immediately go flat! She pulled into a nearby Sunoco station and called me. I saw no alternative but to call AAA. It was dark and Ellen has never used that jack. Rod's Mobile, a AAA provider, was less than a mile away. But it took 3 hours for someone to get there, and it wasn't Rod! So much for AAA Platinum service, which is what we have. She just got home. I was getting worried!

Major issues

Christmas at our place with John and Cynthia. ********************** A lot is happening. Ellen's son, Paul, is going through a hard time, a combination of unbelievable pressure at work and major health issues. So Ellen has daily phone conversations with him. I am preparing a Bible study on "The Jews" in the Gospel of John, a notoriously fraught subject, but also a very important one. That is keeping me on my toes for sure. Meanwhile, there was the New Year's Eve concert. There was a BIG conflict that evening: Our longstanding favorite concert with the Amidon family and Keith and Becky - can't miss that - but also Tamar singing a solo with the a cappella group "The Northamptones," at the Academy of Music in Northampton. Can't miss that either! So Ellen went south to Tamar and John picked me up to go to the Amidons. BUT, Ellen ran into pea-soup fog in Massachusetts and had to turn around! So she missed Tamar but got back in time for the Amidons. We had some fog but nothing like MA had. Yesterday, a lovely, unseasonably warm day, we went to Shutesbury and watched a broadcast of the "Midwinter Revels" with K,S, and B. A great show based on Ellis Island, circa 1920's, featuring Ashkanazik Jewish, Irish and Mexican music. And last week we had TWO Christmases with John and Cynthia - we talked so much we never got around to presents at the first one! Plus, I got a COVID booster shot, had a dental appointment for cleaning and a trip to Keene to see the pulmonologist. So - not gathering much moss!

Christmas at J&C's. ************************************* Below: Becky, Mary Alice, Peter, Zara, Keith, Stefan and Desmond at the Amidon concert: