"I'm just a girl....

...(well really an old lady) who can't say no."  The refrain of that song from "Oklahoma" kept running through my mind as I left a brief meeting with our church's new chiildren and youth director this afternoon.  After discussing ideas for middle school Sunday school I seem to have volunteered to do some teaching.  I will admit I used to enjoy teaching 7th and 8th grade Sunday school but that has been some years ago. Decades, actually.  Ah well, it's only for four Sundays this spring.  At least for now.

Cemetery visit

One of the things we did when my brother and sister-in-law were visiting last week was to visit the small town cemetery where most of our family on our father's side are buried.  This may sound like a sad thing to do but it really wasn't.  It was more like a semtimental visit with much loved family members.  I lived most of my pre-college life in the small town where my father, and his father before him, grew up so there are lots of familiar names in the Lutheran Cemetery there.  I said hello to aunts and uncles, cousins and friends, my grandfather who died when I was 13, and my grandmother whom I never knew.  I did a little math and figured out that she died at 59 (in 1932) when my father was 16.  He was evidently born when she was 43.  She was six years older than my grandfather and didn't marry until she was in her 30s.  My father was the youngest of three.  
The most interestimg tombstone in the place, to me, is the one marking the final resting place of my mother, step-mother and father who are all buried together.  My mother died in her 50s and was given a traditional casket and vault burial.  After my father remarried, he and my step-mom decided that they would be cremated.  My step-mom died before my father and he decided her ashes would be buried with my mom (and where he would be interred eventually).  Interestingly, when their urns were buried it was simply a matter, each time, of using a post hole digger to make a hole above the vault and dropping the urn down in.  Much better, I think, than two more big concrete vaults.  Anyway, it makes for an in teresting tomb stone. In case you're wondering, my step-mom made it very clear, before she died, that she wanted to be buried with our dad and not her first husband who was, evidently something of a tyrant.  According to her, he conveniently dropped dead of a heart attack just as she had decided to divorce him.
Life amd death take interesting twists. 

Please pass the pizza.

This evening we had an event at church called "Pizza, Pipes and Piano."  I almost didn't go.  It had been a long day and I was tired, but a friend saw me as I was leaving my tutoring session, reminded me of the event, and urged me to come.  Well, I must admit the prospect of pizza really was the deciding factor.  It was good but the music was better.  Our organist played several short snippets on the organ demonstrating many of the stops.  She enjoys putting our big old pipe organ (4500 pipes) through its paces and we heard flute, strings, oboe, trumpet, tuba and even krummhorn sounds.  Sorry, I can't really describe a krummhorn but it was interesting.  
She  finished off the organ part of the program with Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in d minor. Throughout the program the narrator told us where we might have heard some of the classics before.  Such shows as Bugs Bunny cartoons and Sponge Bob Square Pants evidently use lots of classical music.  
After the organ demo, Chelsea (our organist) finished off the evening with five short piano pieces, again with information about where we might have heard these pieces in popular movies and TV shows.  My favorites were "The Blue Danube Waltz" and the "Can Can." Sorry, I don't remember the official title of that last one.
All in all, a fun evening. 

and it blew and it blew and it blew.....

Some observations about a very windy day:
First of all, and I know you are really wondering about this, the white plastic bag is still in the tree.  It was being whipped around pretty fiercely about 5:00 this afternoon but it was still hanging on.  I learned at a recent talk about recycling that plastice bags, the grocery bag type, must be recycled separately.  I begin to understand why.  They are, aparently, almost indestructible (except of course when they split while full of groceries).
Second observation:  a very windy day is better than dieting for making you feel light on your feet.  I was outside twice on this very blustery day and actually got blown two steps side ways once and felt like I was in a wind tunnel the second time.
Third:  This could be a dangerous day for small dogs. (Cats are smart enough to stay inside.)  I was riding down in the elevator this morning with a man carrying a Chihuahua and we agreed that he (the dog) could pretty easily become a kite.  Interestingly, later in the morning, a friend at church mentioned a windy city that recently had a small dog warning.  Who knew?

We shall agree to disagree.

A friend and I attended the Fort Wayne Philharmonic concert this evening.  The music was beautiful, as always. There were three pieces:  "The Banks of Green Willow" by George Butterworth (not to be confused with Mrs. Butterworth); "Concherto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 22" by Samuel Barber; and "Symphony No. 5 in D major" by Vaughan Williams.  
The first piece was short, very lyrical and pretty and I enjoyed it very much.
The guest Cello soloist who played during the second piece was excellent, but I wasn't too fond of the piece.
The third piece was definitely my favorite. It had some very nice oboe and clarinet solo bits and some fascinating violin work.
When I told my friend, after the concert, that the third piece was my favorite he looked at me in disbelief and expressed his opinion that the second piece was much better and that he didn't like the last piece very much at all. 
Well, even though he's more knowledgeable than I am about classical music, I think I'm right this time.
If you care to form your own opinion, the concert will be broadcast on WBNI-94.1 FM on Thursday, March 7, at 7:00 pm.

The theme was 'under the sea.'

I saw a lovely exhibit this evening of sculptures by Sayaka Ganz.  She's the artist who uses recycled materials, mostly plastics, to create fanciful creatures.  This evening's exhibit, at Art Link, was a delightful "underwater" scene featuring a whale, jelly fish, small fish, and a "coral reef" arch all made of an incredible collection of plastic bowls, spatulas, knives, forks, lids, bottle caps and much more.  I really do admire her work.  The whale was so beautiful, with flowing lines and a feeling of motion, that it was very easy to forget what it was made of.  
However I must admit that, as I wandered through the suspended seaweed and fanciful critters, I felt very much like I was in a high school gym decorated for the prom.  But that was fun too.

All is well

Well, they made it home finally.  After delays in Fort Wayne and Minneapolis my sister-in-law and brother made it to Spokane by 12:30am this morning, their time, (3:30am here) in time to find a foot of new snow on the ground.  That was twelve hours later than they were originally scheduled to get there, but nobody is complaining.  Considering the weather between here and there yesterday things could have been much worse. 
I don't know about you but I would rather wait in an airport while wings are de-iced and safe routes are planned than to be plunged blindly into a snow storm.  I know, I know, pilots fly by instruments but still...