Then I went to the Lutheran church for their Ascension potluck and service. (Generally our church does nothing for Ascension, since it is moved to the following Sunday, but apparently this year they had a high Tridentine Mass, and by the time I learned about it, I'd already promised to attend the Lutherans' celebration.) One woman brought lasagne made with spinach pasta, so that it looked like it was full of green peppers. People who hate green peppers didn't try any, and those of us who love them thought the peppers really added to the flavor. There's the power of suggestion for you! Their service was beautiful and simple, moving from the outside courtyard to the narthex to the west transept, and the closing hymn was the gorgeous tune "Bryn Calfaria." (They tell me this is the Episcopalian in my blood, that I am obsessed with hymn tune names. Catholics and Lutherans usually just refer to them by the lyrics, as in "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" versus "Picardy.")
True story about hymn tunes: four years ago I was on a HUGE kick about this, totally obsessed, and I looked up a bunch of my favorite hymns to find out their tune names. Then I wrote a story for my OTHER choir director using these names for the characters and places in the story. The hymns that had tune names that were long, unwieldy German phrases I simply incorporated into the story in their English translations, such as "If you but trust in God to guide you." This story is called "Polyhymnia," as in "many songs," and it's all over the place now because people kept giving copies to other people, but I do diss a well-known Catholic songwriter (who is actually now UCC) so hopefully I don't get sued for libel! (Then again, the songwriter in question does have an entire website dedicated to how much people can't stand him, so I am the least of his problems.)
Have a fabulous holiday weekend! I am hoping to get to the farmer's market for the first time this year. Yes, how lame is that? I haven't been yet. It's either been lousy weather or I've been in Missouri for a wedding. My office mate is taking today and Tuesday off, so I thought it would be quiet and boring here at work, but I got pulled into an argument between two other parties over conference rooms. Good times. Fortunately I was able to engineer a peaceful solution. (Famous Hat to the rescue again!) In case you have not had a chance to get to a farmer's market yet, or worse, they don't have one where you are, I am posting a photo Palm Tree Fan took of some tulips she bought recently at the farmer's market so you can feel like you are there right now, drinking coffee and eating a scone and admiring produce and flowers.
Famous Hat
1 comment:
Neat about the hummingbird, try to put a feeder on the balcony and maybe you can get more of them. I just HAVE to read that story, can you email it to me?
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