Tiffy was busy yesterday and couldn't talk, so last night Travalon talked me into seeing a Western swing band at the Red Rooster, a blues venue that used to be the Knuckle Down Saloon. Now it has food, which is quite tasty. I don't like country music, but apparently I like Western swing. The band was called the Best Westerns, and the leader, who played the stand-up bass, said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the Best Westerns sound like!" and then they started playing. They played a lot of stuff by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, which made us very happy. The slide guitarist was so good, and so were the guitarist, the fiddler, and the drummer, and of course that very charismatic bass player. Sorry, no photos - I can't seem to upload them to the blog tonight. I have a couple of videos too, but my blog has long since decided it hates posting videos, so I have to make them into YouTube videos and then post a link. So look for that.
Today Travalon and I got going and went to visit his mother, who seems to be doing well. Then we went to the funeral service for the former chancellor, at First Congo. We were asked to wear red, but the only thing I have nice enough for a funeral in red is a deep red velvet jacket. I was surprised how many women there had blazers in bright cardinal red. I was also surprised that the church was fairly full but not packed, and hardly anyone was sitting up in the balcony like we did. I didn't see anyone I recognized there. We sang a number of hymns because apparently (and this was news to me) the former chancellor was musical, and she enjoyed singing and playing the organ. Huh. I had no idea. She had been in the administration of three presidents, and someone told a story about how in high school a teacher said she would make an excellent secretary... and then she became Secretary of Commerce under Obama. So the teacher was right.
Afterwards there was a reception at Union South, and I saw all sorts of bigwigs who I swear were not at the service. As you might expect, they had quite a spread, and I was going to stick to cheese and fruit so as not to break my Lenten vow, but they said German chocolate cake was her favorite, so I caved and had a piece, along with some Bec-Key Lime Pie ice cream. (I had already bought something I don't need without thinking at the thrift shop at Travalon's mother's place - another rosary and a picture frame from Key West.) Guess I'll pretend that today was Sunday and tomorrow is Saturday, and I'll be good then.
After that, Travalon and I went to the health club and swam in the warm pool. Hopefully that worked off a few of those calories... We also watched the movie Encanto tonight, which is a story about a magical family with one member who isn't magical, but is pretty clearly an allegory for typical family dysfunction with the Perfect Child, the Strong One, and the Black Sheep, and how they all suffer from expectations. In the movie, the magic is disappearing, and they all blame the member who has no magic, but in the end the grandma realizes she has caused the problems, and the magic returns. This is true: if the older generation blaming everything on the black sheep of the family realizes the problem is caused by them, not the child, then the issues in the family can actually be fixed. But so many families would rather blame an innocent child than actually look at their own behavior. Also true, like in the movie, the bad behavior of the older generation is often traced back to some trauma. The movie was set in Colombia, and the colors were bright and the music was lively. I recommend this movie.
Famous Hat
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