Last Sunday night I did go to a music service at the Episcopal church — at the north of B Street. Turns out it was much more than I realized and is the first of a Taizé for our town – an ecumenical service with scriptures, silence (meditation), music, prayers, communion, and more music mixed into the entire service. There are several denominations involved: (alphabetically, Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and me, the one lone Baptist). We had a pianist, two violins, and a guitar to play the background instrumentals for people to sing along on 5 song-like chants.
That night I missed seeing flyers for a lost Brittany puppy, that turns out was “our” Rhu. Little Rhu went out of his yard/garage door, on the south end of B Street and, luckily, was picked up by the police almost immediately and taken to the pound for two nights. Making contact with the pound care-givers over the weekend wasn’t happening, so it wasn’t until Monday morning his owners found him and he is back home with the family. The reason I mentioned the location of the church on B Street is that there were flyers for the lost puppy at places I was before getting to the church. I was at the grocery and on all the roads where flyers were posted all around B and other streets. Had I seen one of the posters I might be back in the ICU.
Monday was a slow day. I managed to get an order from my doctor to the hospital so I could have the PICC line removed. I spent the rest of the day and the day before, getting the lyrics to songs we will sing and perform later this week. More music.
Finally, Tuesday morning we succeeded and went to town for the removal of the PICC line. I was so tired from dreaming all night and not sleeping well, that I rested / napped in the afternoon. Then I went in to play more music at the Royal Vista Nursing home (with The Connections—a different religious group who sings to the audience and also sings along with them on old church anthems they know from their younger days. It is simply amazing to watch even the Alzheimer patients sing along. It’s really rather remarkable and enjoyable to view.
The rest of the week has been fun but mostly normal fare. Wednesday I was still sick with a cold and stayed close to home until we went to Ellensburg for the Geology lecture on Tsunamis in WA & OR coasts from offshore underwater large (> 9) magnitude earthquakes. Thursday, was play day for music at the Dry Creek facility and we practiced for our playing Friday night in a fundraising benefit dinner for the Cascade Land Conservancy, to get money to pay for protection, preservation, and enhancement within the 22-mile stretch of the Yakima River Canyon for a Scenic By-way. This is along Hwy 821 from Ellensburg to Yakima, WA and is very picturesque, with all sorts of vegetation and cactus and river scenes, basalt cliffs, and this is a classic “catch & release” stream as well. Fly fisherman come in from around the world. Sightings of Big Horn Sheep, elk deer, Ospreys, and other wildlife are possible.
Friday and Saturday mornings, we went to several yard sales. One was a rummage sale at a church and for $3 we got a bag with neat stuff in it: vest, jeans for John, sweaters, blouses, skirt, making the items cost less than 50 cents each. They are all new-like condition. Before stopping there, we went to a “guy’s” sale in the rural area and I found a CD of 24 songs of the blues, by Jimmie Rodgers. We sing at least two of his songs in our music group – 1929, “Waitin’ for a Train”, and “T for Texas” so I was thrilled and picked up some other blues and guitar CDs and vocalists I didn’t know–but for a quarter each, it seemed like a fantastic deal. I’m still happy with my newly found music. Saturday morning we found some more good deals, again, blouses, shirts, and jackets for a quarter, with two at fifty cents, which are in excellent condition and probably originally were very expensive. John found the fancy jackets that were marked $1, but I bargained and got them for less. He has a good eye for such things, so it’s nice having him along but he hates asking for a price reduction when the stuff is almost free anyway.
Now I still need to spend time cleaning out closets to have a place to put this stuff. And, I also need to sort out the large sized things I have not yet given away and get them to my friends or another appropriate destination. At the sales, I found a couple of items that I can gift to some friends, who are collectors. John found some straw placemats that he plans to use as window shades. Clever guy. The lady of the house was willing to give the 4 to us for a buck. One of the neatest things about sales in a relatively small town, is you see people you know and can visit. One wants to say “Small World” but it is just a small town. This happens every time we go out and about, including to the grocery store, the bank, or whatever. The hospital is a bit different in that I now know half the folks that work there.
Well, the week started with music and will end with music tomorrow, but we are going to try to get this on the blog on Saturday night.
We’ll be back next week.
Nancy