Music In the Time of a Pandemic

 The Lake Area Community Band traditionally comes to Grace Village each September to perform a concert. This year the band set up outside. Some residents sat in the dining room where they could hear through the open windows. Fortunately, the weather cooperated. My husband and I and others brought folding chairs to put on the grass a safe distance from the musicians.

This band is a wonderful opportunity for people who played as students and young adults to pick up their instruments once again and contribute to the community.

Grace Village choir had its first rehearsal today since mid-March. We all started off with masks, but the back row (tenors and basses) took them off. It would be their germs that project forward onto the two front rows (altos and sopranos). I guess their only risk would be from those spaced out along their own row. A few people wore masks all the time, some part of the time, some took short breaks by pulling the mask down under their chins.

 It is not easy to sing wearing a mask which causes limited airflow. This may be why some church attendees don't wear masks or take them off while singing. I cannot see the people at my church on the livestream except those on the platform; they take their masks off before singing and playing. My church sings 6 or 7 songs during a service. It is one of the reasons I do not attend in person. 

If you think the risk is low at churches, read this sad tale of an older Hoosier couple who isolated except for medical appointments and attending church. Unfortunately, they both contracted COVID-19, and the man who also had COPD died. Turns out members of their church had presymtomatic cases and did become ill several days before the couple did.

On a positive note: after reading on the internet suggestions for fixing my ipad problem of Safari freezing, I was able to change some settings, etc. I can now search the internet and play games again on my ipad. I sat in my comfy chair in the living room doing just that.

Second Thoughts

While my DiGiorno pizza is baking, I went out and started cutting off most of the branches of the lambsquarters. I learned it will wilt when the frost comes so won't provide a perch for the birds. The main reason to cut it back (and down later this fall) is that I read a single bush can produce 50,000 seeds. Yikes! The propagation is only thru the seeds. 

I did leave the main stalk and a few smaller sections of flowers. I am curious to see what the seeds look like and if the birds really do eat them. But the lambsquarters is going down.

An interesting tidbit totally unrelated. The Grace Village choir has been invited to sing a number at the Schuler wedding on November 15th. This is my backdoor neighbor who is marrying a lady who works at the lobby desk in Independent Living. They both lost spouses to Alzheimer's. The choir did sing at a funeral a few years ago, but a wedding is a first.