Balalaika Concert

I hope my readers got to get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. I started the weekend inside on Friday evening, attending a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, or (as the person next to me noted) two-thirds of it. It was at the Lutheran church where I used to sing.

Saturday Travalon and I met Rich for coffee, then we rode the Holiday Trolley up and down State Street, and then we went to the Historical Society gift shop, where we found a really cool book on state capitols (as in the buildings). We went to a free concert put on by the local balalaika orchestra – yes, there is one in town, and the three basses reside in a meeting room in my department, when they are not being played in public. We drove out to Sauk, where we took a long hike and saw one mature eagle and two young ones, and then we met some people for dinner at Graft, a small plate restaurant. The food was so good! Handy Woman was there, and she had just gotten back from a work trip to London, so she and Travalon talked about what she had seen. He had given her lots of suggestions, having been there himself several times.

Sunday Travalon and I watched the first quarter of the Packers game, but when it didn’t look like they could beat the Bears, we taped the rest and went for a hike at Token Creek Conservancy. We listened on the radio as we drove back out to Sauk, where we used the new binoculars Travalon found at an antiques store to watch a faraway eagle soaring over the hills across from the dam. Then we went to a bowling alley overlooking the river for pizza. There were a surprising number of Bears fans there, and one loud, vulgar Patriots fan. (I don’t mean that she was vulgar for being a Patriots fan, although that isn’t far from my opinion of the situation, but that every other word out of her mouth was the F-bomb.) Of course the Packers lost, so I don’t know what to say about that. Jones got injured early, and they had lots of missed opportunities. I ended the evening by going to band practice, where we played Christmas songs, many of which have a shocking number of chord changes. The rest of the band is playing at the airport, but I can’t make it. I have adoration at the same time. Not that anyone frazzled after a long flight would want to hear me fumble for the right chords on their favorite Christmas song…

Famous Hat