A New Adventure

Sally and I have been (willingly) co-opted into a singing group called the Sugar Hill Ensemble. The goal is to play in places such as rest homes and bring some happiness into some people's lives.

The originator of the ensemble is Scott Davis, a retired lawyer here in Spokane. Scott does the cello, Sally does the vocals, and we have a pianist (currently unavailable due to injury) and a guitar (currently unavailable due to travel). I narrate.

Scott is a self-taught cellist and has been urging me to give the cello a try. I already read music, so I am ahead of the game there. This has piqued my curiosity and I think I may go for it.

There is a popular pianist name Jon Schmidt who has been making the rounds, including Spokane a week or so ago. He is actually part of a duo, the other half of which is Steven Sharp Nelson, an absolutely wonderful cellist. Because some friends had gone to the Jon Schmidt concert, and raved about it, I looked him up and found Steven. Now I am totally engaged in the idea of learning to play the cello, not because I aspire to be him, but because his playing has touched my heart and my soul.

Here is an example of Steven's (and Jon's) playing, that should illustrate what I am talking about. Be forewarned, watching that video may lead you to search out others.

I blogged a long time ago about the violin that I got for Mildred one year because she had always wanted to play one. Well, I also have always wanted to play the violin. I love that sound I think more than any other in the orchestra. The cello has a lower range of sounds and now that I have been looking into it I find that it can be just as heart-touching as the violin. Well, almost.

That's my new adventure.

Can You Believe, Father's Day = Spokane?

Lost in the passage of time is the fact that Father's Day was invented by Sonora Dodd in 1910, in Spokane, Washington.

The Spokane City Fathers want the country to take note of this and are kicking off a year-long celebration of this observation and this fact.

Cecile Charles' Gallery of Thum in Spokane commissioned noted local watercolor artist Emma Randolph to paint Sonora's portrait. A reception in Sonora's honor (and Emma's 87th birthday) will be held the first Friday of June, 2010 in the Gallery of Thum.

Visit Cecile's website for details and to see Sonora's portrait. Additional articles with Emma's painting are available at Cafe Press.

APHC

A Prairie Home Companion is coming to Spokane!

I guess most people don't think of this as a momentous occasion, but I've been listening to it (on National Public Radio) for decades, and even just listening to the opening lines warms my heart.

For those of you who are interested, and don't know what A Prairie Home Companion is, google it :) but the Reader's Digest version is that it is the brainchild of Garrison Keillor, who is one of the great storytellers of our time. His show is based on the formula of "old time" radio that was popular before television, and has lots of folk music and skits.

Even more sweet is that my son David and his family (wife and 1.5 kids) will be here that weekend. David is also a PHC fan and is going with me.

(It's June 12, 2010, if anyone wants to join us).

One other act coming to town that I don't think we're going to get to, unfortunately, is Celtic Woman, and you really have to see them to understand. They each have music talent pouring out of every pore, and together they are absolutely dynamite. They are coming May 20, 2010.

Christmas, 2008

Christmas is really hard these days. I am torn between spending it with my children and spending it with my wife. I wish I didn't have to make that choice, but there it is.

For reasons that I won't go into right now (no, I'm not dying), I have chosen this year to spend Christmas and New Year's with my children. I am happily going to be able to do that in two stops; Mary and Mark will be in Houston the week before Christmas and Deborah will be there for the whole holiday.

So a week from tomorrow, the 15th, I will be flying to Houston. Mary and Mark will already be there and Deborah comes in the next day. I'll get to know Ian, finally.

The day after Christmas I will fly to Salt Lake City. I would like to be able to spend Deborah's birthday on the 27th with her, but I just couldn't make the flights and my budget work out.

I am planning on staying with Paul and Melina, as long as I don't have too severe a reaction to their cat. I don't know what Plan B is on that front.

Paul and Melina have something planned for New Year's Eve, so that night everyone else is having a party, probably at Rachel and Tim's. I will spend other time with the girls too, I just don't have it figured out yet.

Then I go home on the 2nd, Friday.

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone, though I also feel bad about not being with Sally and Emma on their first Christmas without Walt. But as Art Williams used to say, "All you can do is all you can do".

One other thing came up which almost scuttled the trip. I just found out (minutes from pressing the "Buy this plane ticket" button) that I am being moved to a different project at work, and that I might have to stick around to get trained on it. Luckily, that got ironed out.

I wish could come bearing Christmas gifts for everyone, but not this time. I am working on a sorta hand-made gift for the kids, one per kid, but I'm afraid it won't be finished in time.

Two Vacations

I had this idea a while ago for two really fun vacations. Now mind you, I have no idea what the respective moms and dads would think of this, but here it is anyway.

I would like to take all of our grandsons for a combined trip to Disneyland: Sam, Brenden, Wyatt, Cameron, Ian, Aiden and Deakin. Fly them all in, rent a van and stuff them all in our hotel room.

Then take all of our granddaughters and do the same: Arminda, Lara, Sarah, Breanna.

Wouldn't that be fun? I think so.