honeymooners mice at dawn?

I had to wonder, right?

There I was, at Dawn and Chris' place, 

ready for a bit of AA and AAA, 

when I saw it:

the tiny little door under the front porch.

Was that new?

Had it always been there?

Surely not...

right?

Perhaps...

or maybe the cartoon on "The Bugs Bunny 

Show" was aired today on purpose, 

to make sure I'd truly notice that tiny little door

that was just the right size...

for the "Ralph" and "Morton" mice

as they came home late from 

being Beavers!

"There are no accidents", said Oogway.

These two riffs on "The Honeymooners" men just may have been on to let me know that my volunteer shift with the Halloween Queen and King was exactly what I was mean to do!

Right place, right time!

(smile!)

Don't be misled by the deceptively-empty half of the dining room table.

After all, every operating room has to have plenty of space for the doctors to carry out their surgeries, and the same was needed for us three.

The tres cirujanas would be Dawn, myself, and Lisa, who was gallantly joining us on her day off.

See that box up front?

It contains the tiny screwdrivers, sharp picks, and needle-nose pliers, as well as the batteries required to bring most of the ghouls back to life for another month's festivities.

Here's the pileup of patients in need.

Rather, these are the ones that showed up first.

There were bins and bins of others!

Also, these were just part of Dawn's collection

of indoor ghouls and goblins.

Their destined to reside on every surface, to alarm

and to entertain guests on party day!

The porch creepy crawlies and hangers-on that 

belong to King Halloween had not yet been brought inside from the tent.

Their turn would come during the four-hour shift!

Some few would persist in staying dead, despite our efforts to revive them.

Ah, after a decade and more, I guess they have taken "Rest In Peace" to heart!

(smile!)

7 brides for 7 brothers, kinda sorta

"That's a pretty old movie. Where did you see that?"

It's only 4 years older than me! By the way, that's the same age difference between Trump and Biden. That came up in a conversation with Danny Beam on fb. I don't think he realized the Blond Man was 78 years old, the same age Biden was when he was elected in 2020. I know there is a minimum age for Presidents, but there should be a maximum age, too.

"Listen, I'm not getting into a political rant..."

No, me, neither, sorry. That "4 year" thing got me.

"So... back to the movie, then?"

Sure thing! And, no, I haven't seen "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" since I watched it with Mama on a Saturday afternoon when I was in high school. Still, that musical is what came to mind tonight while I was attending "The Pirates Of Penzance".

"Say what? The movie had nothing to do with ships and islands and modern Major Generals."

True, all true, nor did the show have aught to do with farm life and mountains. However, there were several single men involved and several unwed daughters and by the end, all were fairly well matched up!

"Strange, I don't recall that being in the story when you saw it several years ago."

That's because you are confused. This was my very first time ever seeing "The Pirates Of Penzance". You've heard some of the songs before, and you've heard of how Reverend Billy and Cheri met at auditions for that musical while both were seeking careers on Broadway several decades ago. However, I have never seen the play, so neither have you. I think you have it confused with "H.M.S. Pinafore", which is also by Gilbert and Sullivan.

"Snap. Yes, you're correct, and that was longer ago than I had thought. At least I had remembered it was performed by the Asbury Memorial Theatre troupe."

That is correct. Tonight's performance was the penultimate show from the SVF12, with me again serving as a volunteer with Kim, Penny, and Lonnie. This was, by far, the largest audience yet, more than 200! And here's the biggest difference: children were there!!! Hooray!!! The majority of the events have a lot of white - or dyed - hair sitting in the seats.

"That's not good. What made the difference?"

The show was performed at the Yamacraw Performing Arts Center. That's part of Garrison Middle School, so that helped greatly. Having students actually in the play, as well as more children helping behind the scenes, was a great encouragement for a younger audience, too. Remember how big the audience had been for "The Little Prince"? Same venue, same involvement level with children. Chad Sonka, the director, had a lot to do with that.

"Good for him! And good for the Savannah VOICE Festival, too. They need to try to include something to bring in that crucial younger audience. hard to have a festival if your audience is all aging out of attending."

For real. So, shall I tell you about the story behind this comic opera?

"Yes, please!"

Let's start with the modern Major General, shall we? He's an aged fellow, played quite nicely by Torlef Borsting, and he has a plethora of daughters not yet married off. What to do, what to do? Enter the Pirate King (Logan C. Kenison) with problem of his own. Frederic (Joshua Berg), an indentured servant and the hardest worker on his ship, newly turned 21, with his freedom kicking in at midnight. Oh, no! An attempt to trick him into staying - saying that since he was born on February 29 and thus has not yet had 21 'birthdays' - failed. Oh, but the lad had met and fallen in love with Mabel (Abigail Brodnick), one of the MJ's daughters! Surely he could not expect her to wait for him to serve out his indenture until that 21st 'birthday'!

"Hahahaha! Hoisted by math!!!"

Ah, not yet! You see, the military man has discovered that these pirates are all actually noblemen who, bored with their lives, took on the sea. Noblemen? And all single? Perfect for marrying off his daughters! And that would end their life at sea, too, so there would be no need for a lad to do all the heavy lifting anymore. Happiness for all!

"Hahahaha! Such fun!!!"

Truly it was. I'm so glad my final volunteer gig was with this delightful show! I even got to see Jim LoBue and Sue Gorecki there, too, as well as familiar faces from this season. Many thanks to the SVF12 for allowing me to partake!

i wore this for you

"Oh, thank you! I do so love this springtime dress."

Not the dress, silly rabbit. Look closer. I'm talking about the group of chemical symbols spelling out my name. "I wore this for you" is what I said to Sherrill Milnes tonight, pointing out my name. He's been calling me "oo-sure", which seems to be the pronunciation of the word "usher" in other languages.

"Hahahaha! That's a hoot!"

That seems to be the general consensus. Penny told me that's how "usher" would be pronounced in Hebrew. Lonnie, who has a degree in microbiology, thought it very clever to use the chemical symbols. Kim, a former nurse, told me that the chemical symbols are no longer used on labels at the hospitals. The names of the chemicals, including drugs, are spelled out.

"Actually, that doesn't seem odd. Hospitals have to be concerned with malpractice suits, so spelling names in full would be the safer thing to do. How did the Maestro react to your name display?"

He seemed a bit thrown by what F-Au-S-Ti-Na meant, so I'm guessing he's not versed in chemistry. But, when I pronounced my name, he responded "That's a very old name." So, then, of course, I told him about Faustina the Elder and her husband, Antoninus Pius, and the temple in the Forum. He smiled at that, then went on to the sanctuary.

"Well, that's cool! And what was going on tonight? And were you at Asbury Memorial?"

"Back To Broadway" was the event, which would be my penultimate volunteer gig for SVF12. And, yes, this was at my church, and was the final event at this venue.

"I do hope lots of familiar faces were there! After all, Asbury is the home of 'God On Broadway', so folks should have turned out in droves!"

There were some. Helen Downing was there, also Tom Lewis and some of those in the theatre-going group he's put together.

"That's good. Hey, there's something oddly familiar about this photograph..."

Right? I didn't notice the similarity when I took this shot right before the show started. But it looks a lot like that painting the ex has, doesn't it? "Sparkling Night", by Misha Lenn, is its name. I have the magnet of that painting. We'd bought the artwork on that Mediterranean cruise we took in 2002. Smitty had let us have the 8-day trip, a promo offering from Johnson Wholesale Floors, since our 10-year anniversary would fall during it. Plus, I told him I'd take the cruise instead of a raise that year. I knew he'd go for that.

"I remember that. You and Jeff went to the Isle of Capri on October 24th to celebrate the day. Then you went searching for a leather purse when the ferry landed back in Naples. What a memorable vacation that was!"

Most definitely. That's when Jeff noticed my name carved above the pillars of a temple when we were tromping around in the Forum. Wow.

"Wow. That's still such a 'wow' moment, all these years later. So, how was the show?"

The show? Oh, yes, back to the present! So, there were only six singers. Torlef Borsting, who isn't in that stage photo I took, was the only one I didn't know. The three women, from left to right, were Emily Yocum Black (checking her makeup), Kyaunnee Richardson (adjusting her hair), and Leah Huber (perched on the stool). James Wright III and Carlton Moe are the two fellows eying the women raptly. (smile!)

"Yes, very nice! Not exactly like the seriolithograph by Lenn, but definitely in the same flavor."

Exactly. As for the show, there were several songs that I loved. James did such a tender version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" that it brought me to tears. "Sing For Your Supper", done by Kyaunnee, Emily, and Leah, in three cutely choreographed numbers, was great fun! But it was "Think Of Me", the one song on tonight's program from "The Phantom Of The Opera", that was the absolute highlight! Kyaunnee sang the part of 'Christine' beautifully... but the unexpected - and surprise to all - cameo performed by Carlton truly stole the entire night!

"I'm sure! I know you have a soft spot for that tenor, don't you?"

 Most def I do! I wonder if he'll be in tomorrow night's musical? I hope so!

7 scenes from a church

I was sure this 5 PM matinee was to be held at Waters and Henry, so I had lollygagged around at home, thinking I had plenty of time...

nope!!!

"Sanctuary", my third volunteer shift for SVF12, was all the way downtown!!!

Christ Church Episcopal was in the first block of Bull Street!

 

Fortunately, our call time was 90 minutes before the operatic scenes began.

Even more fortunately, I snagged parking just south of the Lucas Theatre.

Most fortunately of all, the rain didn't start until I was safely there.

In fact, I'd placed the black armbands on ten of the pews - and done so before Kim had completed putting purple ones on six pews - before the rain began.

Penny and Lonnie Breslow arrived after that.

So... I wasn't so late after all!

(smile!)

Billed as "sacred themed scenes from opera, musical theatre, and song", the program had been curated by Jorge Parodi, the VOICE festival's Artistic Director.

These were clearly pieces that were close to his heart...

and there was one that even brought me to tears.

Remember "Suor Angelica", the Puccini one-act that I'd loved so much I saw it twice?

That was back in 2015, so I'd not remembered quite how the "Final Scene" listed in today's program had played out.

Then, all of a sudden, while enjoying the performance by Anna Farysej, I watched, transfixed, as she drank the poison so she could die and join her dead child in heaven... with her realizing too late that suicides cannot go to heaven so she would not be reunited with him after all... and tears came to my eyes.

Too recently, and for the fourth time, have I had another suicide of someone I loved.

What has become of their souls?

I hope it is as Aaron Freeman has described the transition.

I hope.

What other pieces were performed here at Christ Church Episcopal?

Three of the staged scenes were from operas: from Act 4 of "Faust", Marguerite's plea for forgiveness after her affair; from Act 2 of "Tosca", Floria's plea with Baron Scarpia (showcasing Chad Sonka's bass) for the life of her lover, but to no avail; and from the one-act "Cavalleria Rusticana", Santuzzo's plea with her lover's mother to convince her son to give up the other woman.

Two songs from the musical, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", were performed.

Maria Zouves sang "God Help The Outcasts", the one with Esmeralda pleading with God to show his mercy to others less fortunate, rather than to herself.

An alternate side is shown in "Hellfire", with Trollo (sung by John Tibbetts) pleading with God to help him sort out his lust for Esmeralda from his moral convictions.

Very serious stuff.

So, that just leaves the scene from a song: "Kyrie", from "Messe Solennelle".

This time, the choir of the Christ Church performed the entire piece, rather than acting in accompaniment with the opera singers.

Wow.

What fabulous acoustics that church has!!!

How marvelous that I was sitting far to the side, so I could snap that photo of them, ringing the balcony, and letting their voices soar above us!

Wow.

And by the time the program was done, the rain was as well, with the air cleanly washed and somewhat cooler than it had been.

How fortunate to have been there!

i thank You, God.

not all is an aria

That's a direct quote from Fabrizio Melano today.

But first, let me set the stage, shall I?

I was there at Asbury Memorial as a volunteer again, as was Kim Owens.

This time, many of the rooms were occupied as rehearsal areas, including Holliday Hall, which had been used last night as the welcome center.

Hence, I'd gone straight in there when I arrived... not realizing that Sherrill Milnes was holding an unofficial Masters In Voice class with several students.

As I'd already intruded, I thought it might cause more commotion if I abruptly left, so I sat down quietly and quickly and observed.

I've always enjoyed and learned from those classes!

I only caught the last part for one student, but I was there for all with Bojan Medic, which was good, as he introduced me to a song I now love: "The Vagabond".

"All I seek is the heaven above and the road below me."

Ralph Vaughan Williams' tune of travel should be on every traveler's lips!

As intriguing as the song itself were the insights from the 89-year-old Maestro, not only for the singer, but also the keyboard accompanist. 

What is meant by staccato? What is meant by allegro?

Even more important: what did those words mean to the composer of that song?

Those are questions which cannot be answered, as Williams died in 1958.

So, that allows some leeway, as no one can say that the pianist's interpretation of the speed or emphasis of the "staccato" parts is not what the composer meant.

Words are always open to interpretation.

(smile!)

About that time, Emily fetched me and Kim and we set up for today's event.

That was also a Masters In Voice class, but with Fabrizio Melano and his sister, Laura Melano Flanagan, with the point being to help the singers find the psychological identity of the character whose song they are performing.

Very cool!!!

He is a noted stage director; she is a psychotherapist in New York City.

I had a brief, but informative, chat with her at last night's reception, at which she gave me some insight into what today's class will entail.

Very cool!!!

Here, they are interacting with Alayna Sevilla, who had just performed "Vissi d'arte", sung by the character, Tosca, who was 22 years old and questioning God about her lover being imprisoned when she has always been such a good girl.

Even Sherrill Milnes had risen to the occasion and offered words to her!

(Note: she was the only one for which he did so.)

Anyway, when Fabrizio was talking with Alayno, that's when he spoke those words.

"Not all is an aria."

He and Laura both explained that the song was a meditation, not meant for demonstrating one's vocal power but one's contemplative nature.

(smile!)

Alayna had been the second to perform.

Naysa Marrero Pruzaesky was the first, and she sang a piece "Qui la voce", from an opera - "I Puritani" - I'd never heard of.

She was advised that the character was suicidal and manic, necessitating a much more somber tone and body language.

What I liked most was that gorgeous, dark green, velvet gown she wore.

Very, very nice!

The third piece was the most fun for me, as "Quel guardo il cavaliere", from "Don Pasquale", required the singer to laugh several times.

When Jacqueline Germer was asked what the character was laughing about, she answered that the laughs were intended at the ladies she was around.

That was apparently incorrect.

Fabrizio told her he had always hated that song, as the character seemed to be such a braggart with no merit to warrant that behavior.

However, he now understood the character was actually laughing at her own foibles, and that had changed his mind about the piece.

It certainly changed Jacqueline's, too, and her approach.

Most excellent!

Laura Elena Fernandez was the fourth, and final, and she had a piece I somewhat knew: "Donde lieta usci", from "La Boheme".

She received insights into the character, Mimi, whose song that was, as well as context for the words in the song: Mimi was singing farewell to her lover, as she knew she was dying and that his frivolous artistic self would not do well at her demise.

Very serious, but also touching, words.

Notice anything odd about the audience today?

The vast majority were other students.

I saw no recognized singers from the past, and fewer than ten regular patrons.

Perhaps they, like me, were hoping for tidbits to help with their own singing...

even for songs in our cars or showers.

(smile!)

fireworks with songs for SVF12!

With all the notes being lifted into the stratosphere, that certainly seemed to be true!

The 12th Annual Savannah Voice Festival (SVF12) held its kickoff concert tonight...

and I was there!!!

That's because I am serving as usher (EW-sure, as Sherrill Milnes pronounces the word) again this year - hooray!

With this first of several events being held at Asbury Memorial Church, it was quite helpful for them to have me there to answer questions about locations of various rooms, or to give directions to the two stairwells, or anything else of that nature.

Sure, they could ask Randy Cannady, too, as he was the church's representative, but I was right there and ready to help!

Emily Gallagher was riding herd on the volunteers, as she had last year.

Not that there were many of us who needed a herder.

Just me, old pro Kim Owens, and the Penny & Lonnie team from the days at the Lucas.

Very nice!

(smile!)

So, what was the title of tonight's concert?

"Aria"

Just the one four-letter word, the word that most people associate with opera: aria.

Twenty singers were there to perform twenty arias, from nineteen different operas, written by fourteen different composers.

Of the three from Giacomo Puccini, I was only familiar with the song from "Madama Butterfly", thanks to last year's production.

Last year also helped me know the song from "Don Giovanni", but I knew the two songs from "Le Nozze Di Figaro" courtesy of the SVF spent in ZOOM.

Actually, SVF-8 is truly the reason I know Wolfgang Mozart's conniving Don so well.

(smile!)

The only other song I knew was one that i could have actually sung along with: "The Impossible Dream", from the last play the Asbury Memorial Theatre troupe ever did.

That means there were fifteen songs from fifteen operas that I did not know.

I doubt I was the only one who didn't know several of those pieces.

The manner in which the performances occurred left no time to even consider what might have been going on or what the singer was going on about.

As each singer completed their aria, they would take their bow and proceed to stage left as the next singer walked on from stage right.

Efficient, yes; helpful for the audience, not particularly.

I may make this suggestion to Maria Zouves for next year: have a longer pause between the performances, with the singer providing a short introduction to allow the song to have some context before launching into the piece.

I understand that this would have added to the length of the program (which still ran about 75 minutes), but a brief intermission would have handled that nicely.

There still would have been plenty of time for the reception that followed.

(smile!)

I very much enjoyed the chicken salad on the sourdough bread (which one of the singers said was made by Maria herself!).

However, my favorite on the table were the mariposas, of which I had two.

Those crunchy cookies with the croissant texture and slight sweet taste were exactly what I've been missing lately.

(smile!)

Now to put away my blue geo dress!

I will most likely wear it again on Sunday when I return to AsbMemCh for another SVF concert!

(smile!)

farewell to a friend's wife

I'd bounced onto fb to wish happy birthday to two friends, Michelle Davidson and John Denion, both 62 years old today, both born the same year Ronnie was, who would have matched them at that age come Saturday, had death not taken him first.

Then I saw the post from Joe Buttner: his dear Lois died on July 1st.

I have not seen either of him since the wedding reception of another friend.

I know Lois has been ill for the last decade.

She had stayed in New Jersey after Joe moved here for work at Gulfstream.

Joe and I were regular volunteers around Savannah for years, serving together at the Lucas, at the Trustees, at the Savannah Music Festivals.

He is the owner of the "Singing In The Rain" poster I won, too.

Now, he is alone, and may well move to be with one of their grown sons.

I've been to Kiva and found a way to honor her memory.

My prayers for solace for you, Joe.

vbs, day 5: revenge of Angel 2!

I have been looking forward to tonight for two days.

I like to read the script the day of the show to get into character, but on Tuesday, when I returned home, I read the scripts for Day 4 and Day 5, just to get ahead a little.

That's when I realized that I would be Angel 2 again for this last day of Bible Story Telling!

Technically, I was just 'Angel', as I was flying solo...

get that little heavenly pun?...

but I was the very same character I played on Day 1.

Ah, revenge!

Revenge on the Story Teller for saying we angels had no message to share!

Revenge on the Story Teller for making us continuously walk up and down stairs!

Revenge on the Story Teller for Wanda!!!

Oops, scratch that, wrong story, I had Michael Palin in my head.

My apologies.

There's no fish - angel or otherwise - in today's tale.

If there had been any fish in a story, it would have been for yesterday's tale.

(smile!)

Now, where was I?

Oh, yes - revenge on the Day 1 Story Teller!

Fortunately, that role tonight was again played by Gail, as it had been then.

So, here it is, the start of the story tonight, and I'm first at bat.

(Yes, wrong sport, but you get my drift... which could also fit yesterday's lake trip.)

She reads my entrance...

I speak my message to Philip, giving him travel directions:"At noon, take the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza."

Then I turn to the Story Teller, aiming my next three lines at her.

"See there? Just like that. A messenger is supposed to have lines!"

Then I'm supposed to exit the stage, but logistics didn't allow that, so I stepped out of the way of the other characters.

Hahahaha!

I intended to dress just as I had for Day 1, using the same robe, the same boa "halo", the same pair of wings attached the same way, in the hope that it would jog the memory of the at least some of the older kids so they would be in on the joke.

I think a couple of them got it, maybe.

If I had worn my glasses, that might have helped them recognize my character from Day 1, but I didn't bring them.

After all, I only had the four lines at the top of the play, so I wouldn't be reading the script.

Ah, well... at least we all had fun with it!

That assessment would include the rest of the cast, too.

Philip was played by Danny B, of course.

Barbara G and Jan were two horses pulling a chariot on which an Ethiopian rode, returning to his home country.

But, wait, who is that guy???

Why, it's Hai!

He was a little stiff around me at first, but loosened up by the second round of our little play.

That was good.

(smile!)

By the third round of our play, we were all playing a bit fast and loose with our lines, having some fun for our final time on stage.

After the last of the 'campers' at Camp Firelight had exited, we all started the task of dismantling the boards where we had trod, transforming the 'desert road to Gaza' back into an empty room on the second floor of the office spaces of Asbury Memorial Church.

I lined up all the shirts I had worn, as well as the one for tomorrow.

 

Day 1 - red - the kickstarter reward for the SeeSAW Muralcle on Habersham

 

Day 2 - orange - the memento of the 12th Annual Gray's Reef Ocean Film Festival

 

Day 3 - yellow - the Savannah Bananas shirt from when they still played baseball

 

Day 4 - green - the Savannah Sand Gnats SAL Champion shirt of 2014

 

Day 5 - blue - the kickstarter reward for getting Oskar and Klaus' second book onto ISS

 

Day 6 - purple - one of my favorites from my 25 years of teaching

 

I'll wear that last one tomorrow as I watch the 'campers' sing and dance.

I'm really looking forward to that!

What a fitting end to this stint as a volunteer!

(smile!)

vbs, day 4: i'm Disciple 3

What a change from Tuesday's tale!

This time, we were presenting an adult Jesus, 

with Danny Beam cast in the role.

Judy Wilburn joined Barbara G and me as the three stooges - 

I mean, disciples.

That's Judy in the brown over-garment.

Why did I say "three stooges"?

Because we were there for comic relief!

Disciple 1 (Judy) even told a joke!!!

"Why did the Disciples cross the lake?"

To which the other two Disciples, rather resignedly, 

chimed in, "To get to the other side."

We did a lot of that speaking in unison stuff.

We were accompanying Jesus in a boat 

across the Sea of Galilee, letting him catch a nap.

Then a fierce storm rattled our cages!

Hahahaha!

None of the kids bought our "We're terrified!" line.

None of them believed our "We're being tossed by the waves!"

And certainly not a single one believed us when we shouted "The boat is filling with water!"

Hahahaha!

The Pre-K and Kindergartners kept their derision to themselves, but not so for the older kids.

The 4th and 5th graders almost unanimously denied us when we said we were terrified.

At least only a couple of the 1st to 3rd graders said, "No, you're not" when we gave them that line.

Honestly, I played it lightly, as did Judy.

We knew we weren't getting a "Fool Us!" trophy for this show!

(smile!)

And who's that sitting by the campfire, serving as Story Teller?

Jan!

Our erstwhile stage manager!

I'm so glad Gail took a break and gave that role to her!

(smile!)

Just one more night... then it'll be the kids' turn to entertain us!

Bwah ha ha!!

vbs, day 3: i'm a rabbi?

Yes, dearie, I certainly was.

Don't I look the part, with my hair tied - yes, I said "tied" - in long "curls" to either side of my face?

That worked pretty well, too, with the knots staying in place for the hour and 10 minutes needed.

That's 20 minutes of Bible Story Telling for each of three groups, with a five minute break for us between their visits.

Fortunately, I had dinner to grant me energy.

I needed that, as I had seven lines to deliver!!!

Even better, dinner was exactly what I had hoped for:

hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard, plus potato chips.

The rest of that on the plate was just gravy, so to speak.

That's what I told the kitchen helpers, too.

"Thanks, y'all, for reading my mind! I sure did want a hotdog for dinner, and here it was!"

(The photo only shows about half that crew.)

They sure appreciated my gratitude!

(smile!)

So, why did the story call for a rabbi in the house?

Joseph (Danny B) and Mary (Barbara G) had come to Jerusalem for a few days with their 12-year-old son, Jesus (Danny's nephew, Caleb Deffley), and managed to lose him.

Neither of the two other travelers (Alex and Linda) had seen him that day, though they did vouch for him being a good boy.

Nice, right?

And where was the tween when they found him?

In the synagogue, at the foot of the rabbi, listening to the story of Naomi and Ruth and Boaz, who was Naomi's son and Ruth's husband.

So, I guess it was Boaz that I played last night!

Wait, that's not right.

Boaz was Ruth's second husband, after Mahlon - that was me - died and Ruth accompanied Naomi to Bethlehem.

Yeah, I had to stop and look that up.

Neither of Naomi's sons, Mahlon and Chilion, nor her husband, were given names last night.

Just window dressing, that's what Danny and I were for 'Naomi'! (smile!)

I had to say farewell to Alex and Linda after our three shows were done tonight.

That's Alex heading out in the photo, going to the dressing room.

Both she and Linda have other engagements the rest of the week.

Nice to have gotten to know them a bit!

vbs, day 2: i'm Naomi's son!

I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail, making sure to part the top in boy-style.

Know what I mean?

I don't know that any of the "campers" believed I was a guy, though.

Every since I put my hair in that style this morning, the words of one of the other Cryptologic Technicians, Maintenance, kept telling me, "No one would ever look at your face and think that you're a man."

My hair was super-short at the time and I'd asked if I looked "butch".

Nice to know my features are too girly for that!

(smile!)

I didn't have a costume or even lines tonight, so Gail had told me I didn't have to come.

Miss a night of VBS at Asbury Memorial?

That meant I would miss dinner with the "campers", and tonight it was barbeque!

(smile!)

Danny came, too, though he didn't have lines, either.

We both died early in the story, just there to serve as Naomi's son and husband until the good part of the story got going.

That happened fairly early on, with Naomi (played by Alex Swanger) being comforted after their deaths.

Her two daughters-in-law, Orpah (played by Linda) and Ruth (played by Judy Wilburn), both widowed like her, told her that she was their family and they would stay with her.

That tied in with tonight's lesson on family composition being a flexible thing that even allowed people who weren't related by blood to form a "family".

That makes perfect sense: almost all parents are people who are not blood-kin, right?

I wonder what they would think if I brought that up?

(smile!)

vbs, day 1: i'm Angel 2!

See?

 

Christina said, "You make a beautiful angel."

I responded, "Thanks! I had help."

 

How very true!

Jan, the wardrobe mistress and stage manager for the "Bible Story Telling" this year, was a big help with that sparkly boa cum "halo".

 

She and Barbara Gooby, aka "Angel 1", also helped get that heavy cloak to cooperate with the wings.

 

Barbara, by the way, was the only one of us angels to actually have a halo.

Linda, aka "Angel 3", also had a boa "halo".

The photo doesn't show it, but hers lit up!

One of the benefits of arriving early is definitely getting first dibs on the props!

 

That's okay, I wanted to have dinner downstairs with all the "campers" at VBS Camp Firelight at Asbury Memorial Church.

Spaghetti was the entree, but I chose two of the side salads instead and a fabulous, seedy, roll.

 

And who is that dressed as a camp counselor?

That's Gail Thomas, narrator and organizer this year.

 

Danny Beam was there, too, as "Jacob", but he managed to elude the camera.

Funny guy!

I bet Amy Jenkins got him with hers!

She's one of the official photographers, as she was last year, and mostly captures the kids.

 

There are thirty-two this week, broken into three groups by grade, with the oldest ones destined for 4th grade in the fall.

All three groups saw our skit this year!

That was really nice!

 

This sign will be up every night:

"Whenever I'm afraid, I put my trust in You".

 

That's the Camp Call Out.

 

This is going to be fun!

I'm so glad I volunteered!!!

tripadvisor catch-up day!

I had not realized that I haven't visited my page at that site since August.

Say what?

Time to help out some fellow travelers and diners!

I'm listed as a Reviews Superstar, for having written more than 100 (my total is now 171).

I'm listed as a Photos Superstar, for having added more than 100 (my total is now 241).

I'm listed as a Views Authority, for having more than 10,000 people who have read my reviews (my total is now 142,046).

What a nice perk for volunteering my opinions: to have them read by others!

So, today, I added ten restaurant reviews.

(smile!)

Sam Snead's, visited in March with ACS

Kayak Kafe Midtown, visited in April with Yvonne

Cancun, visited in April with Dawn

Jalapenos of Pooler, visited in April with Barbara

Applebee's, visited this week with Barbara and Carolyn

Toast! All Day, visited in January with Sandy

Pakwan, visited in April with Christina

B&D Burgers, visited this month with Armstrong Pirates

E-TANG, visited this month with the J-Dawg

Jason's Deli, visited this month with the J-Dawg

Such good memories!

(smile!)

i'm a who do what??

First, kindly understand that I don't particularly like history.

It was truly one of my least favorite subjects in school, at all levels.

Second, kindly note that I don't tend to take on positions of authority within a group.

Sure, I did volunteer myself at SERMACS in 2019, and that turned out to be fun and, surprisingly, a good success.

All of that said, guess what I did tonight?

I volunteered myself as the new Historian for Post 36 of the American Legion.

Doug had sent around a list of positions that needed to be filled and that was the one that had appealed to me.

Perhaps it spoke to the writer in my head...

yes, that's probably the case.

He'll send me a description of the post, as it won't be official until next month.

Meanwhile, the Two Firsts Club is coming along!

Look at those lovely, blue, high top chairs for the bar!

We're hoping to have a liquor license in time for Veterans Day.

That's a worthy goal!

(smile!)

a familiar face from SMF26 in 2015

I don't usually research the groups or musicians before my volunteer gigs.

I'd rather form my own opinions by experiencing their music for myself, right?

All I knew going in to the event at the Trustees Theatre was the concert was titled "Island Prayers", so I expected something along the lines of gospel.

That was not correct.

When I saw the name "Turtle Island Quartet", I assumed that these were local fellows who had named themselves for the nearby hammock of land.

As it turned out, they didn't realize that Georgia had a real Turtle Island.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't have known about that place either if not for the Muralcle on Habersham project that I supported on kickstarter years ago.

So, I was incorrect on that score, as well.

However, I'm glad I was there, for what turned out to be upscale bluegrass.

I'm glad that when I saw the volunteer slot open up a few days earlier, that I'd grabbed it.

It had been one of the events I wanted to usher from the beginning of this year's Savannah Music Festival, albeit based on faulty reasoning.

However, the concert had been reserved for the Student Ambassador volunteers.

Fortunately, some of them had to cancel, so... good luck for me!

This was my only bluegrass event this year, and I do like that music, thanks to Pete Derby, one of guys at Okinawa with me.

(smile!)

So, why were they named "Turtle Island"?

It all had to do with a creation myth that David Balakrishnan had taken a fancy to, naming his quartet in 1985 for that life-giving sea creature.

He's a violinist, as well as the only constant in this quartet, by the way.

The others are all fairly new, having joined in 2012 (Benjamin von Gutzeit, on viola), 2018 (Gabe Terracciano, violin), and 2021 (Naseem Alatrash, cello).

 

But, wait a minute... 

what's that middle name?

Gabe Terracciano... sounds familiar.

That's him, violin bow raised.

My goodness, he even looked familiar!

And didn't David just say something about Gabe having been here as part of a workshop, once upon a time?

So I promised myself I'd look him up on my blogsites, on the off chance that I'd written of him...

and I had!

The year was 2015, my first year as an SMF volunteer, and Gabe had been one of the 14 students in the Acoustic Music Seminar headed by bluegrass mandolin guy, Mike Marshall.

The students were all part of the Stringband Spectacular, showing off their original compositions and having one last chance to play with their classmates.

Gabe had been 22 then, and just 25 when he joined the Turtle island Quartet.

How wonderful to have that link with him on my tenth year as volunteer!

Now, I've found a video of him playing a Steely Dan song I love, "Home At Last"...

and he's singing it, too!

I'm going to listen to that again!

(smile!)

you're a girl for one man only

That song was written by harpist Dorothy Ashby for a play she and her husband authored and staged in 1967.

Dorothy was 35 years old then.

Today, I listened raptly as Brandee Younger played the song on Harold, a borrowed harp, at the Metal Building at Trustees Garden.

Brandee was born in 1983, like my first niece, and will be 41 in July.

I liked her sense of style and femininity, as marked by that flowery dress and silver ankle boots.

However, that stylishness made it feel odd that Brandee believed that she had to apologize for the song's title as something "from another time when sensibilities were different."

Why did she think that apology was needed?

The Younger harpist - get the pun? - then proceeded to play several songs composed by Ashby, as well as a tune from Stevie Wonder, called "If It's Magic", on which Ashby was the harp player (as well as sole instrumentalist besides Wonder!).

Very nice!

Brandee Younger also played several songs written by Alice Coltrane, the harpist married to jazz legend John Coltrane for the last two years of his life.

Alice Coltrane was a contemporary of Mama's, born in 1937 just a few months before her, but wrote much of her music in her 20's and 30's.

How's that for coincidences?

Links to two of my people, in one place.

Right place, right time.

i thank You, God.

My favorite of this jazz-scented SMF noon30, though, was an original piece by Younger.

She composed it in two parts, one for just the harp, the other for harp, bass, and drums.

Nothing against Rashaan Carter or Allan Maynard, but "Unrest I', with just the flowing, urgent, pandemic-inspired notes from the harp, was sensational.

I was even swaying along with it...

not quite dancing, but in motion.

Yes, I think I'll take a listen to it again now.