Today I worked on campus and walked with Seabird in the morning, but nobody else could walk at noon so I went to an organ concert at the Lutheran Cathedral of the Midwest. The Former Professor Formerly Known as Lute Player's husband played, and I felt nostalgic there, thinking how when I first started singing with the Lutherans, I had my whole life ahead of me. It was an exciting time, but honestly I am much happier now. Whoever said the best days of your life are in your youth was nuts.
In the afternoon Hardingfele and I took a walk to the ice cream shop on campus. Today they were open, but the guy working there wouldn't sell me a child's size cone because I'm not a child. I ended up spending almost $7 on what was allegedly their smallest serving of ice cream, but it was so enormous that I had to split it with Hardingfele, and it was still way too much.
In the evening I met Celtic Lass and the rest of the Shamrock Club board to get the East Side Club ready for our ceili. It was decorated so beautifully.
Here is the sunset we could see out the windows.
People started arriving, and I would lead them to Celtic Lass, who would tell them where everything was. Then someone said I needed to get on the dance floor with someone who didn't have a partner. Even Travalon danced one dance! Here we are afterwards, all danced out. (I danced several dances myself.)
There were less people this year, but still a very good crowd, and everyone had so much fun. Famie and the Flute Player were there, and the woman who used to play bass in my band, and a woman who knows how to dance the Highland Fling, and several couples who really knew what they were doing, and William the Leprechaun, among many others. The dance was a fundraiser for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and one of their people, who was appropriately named Ireland, gave me a couple of free T-shirts. I really loved seeing how the dances fit with the Irish tunes I love so much. The Currach played, and I knew the caller too. If Celtic Lass moves out of town like she's been saying she might, I wonder if the rest of us can keep this tradition up? She has so much energy and does so much work organizing it.
As I was leaving, I could hear a train horn nearby. I didn't expect to see it, but while driving over the crossing on Walter Avenue, I could see it coming from the west, so I pulled over and watched it. It was just two engines, and I didn't bother making a video, but it was still exciting to see a train. Travalon had left a bit before me, but to my surprise he got home at the same time. He had seen the same train crossing Fair Oaks, so he went to Webb Avenue hoping to see it, but it didn't go that way.
It was so beautiful today. Here are a couple of photos I took while walking around with Seabird.
And here are a couple of photos our neighbor sent us of a sunset on the West Coast.
I can see why he likes to go visit out there all the time. Of course, he's originally from there, and his grandkids live there, so it's not just the sunsets.
No comments:
Post a Comment