Amazing Grace

Tonight’s concert at MasterWorks had an unusual element. Anne Martindale Williams was to play Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104. It was announced that she had injured herself, not seriously, but enough that she would not be able to perform. 2 or 3 days ago, Alan Harrell, one of the faculty, was asked if he would fill in. He agreed and did an excellent job. I am sure his efforts were undergirded by much prayer by himself and others in the MasterWorks program. He did use a score for some of it which is certainly understandable.

The program notes mentioned that this was a technically difficult piece of music. It has intricate fingering and fast movement up and down the strings. In gratitude for not being disappointed by a canceled performance, the audience and orchestra gave several rounds of applause. On the third time back to the stage, Mr. Harrell announced he would play Amazing Grace through once, then invited the orchestra to join in and the audience to sing. This was not planned ahead, but I believe spontaneous prompting by the Holy Spirit. As the instruments and voices blended together, you could sense God’s presence among us. Yes, amazing grace for Alan Harrell to use his gift of music to glorify God. It was a touching moment to the end of an excellent concert.

Shrinking Bouquet

The bouquet I received June 11th for my anniversary has been down-sized. These are the still-viable flowers put into a slightly smaller vase. The alstroemeria blooms are starting to loose petals now; tomorrow I will put the pink carnation and those purple flowers in a bud vase probably. They may last a few more days. Do you do this to your bouquets as well? Picking out the not-yet-finished blooms and putting them into smaller and smaller vases? It is hard to let the beauty disappear.

 I went to a garage sale Friday and bought 3 music CDs and one book for myself. We attended the MasterWorks Festival  concert Friday evening. I love to hear Rachel Barton Pine play her violin.

I have been in a good mood this week in spite of its downers. We had some disruption in the library because a kitchen worker was using it as a childcare place for her young boys. Boys will be boys and these left a big mess, especially large chunks of food ground into the carpet. They also picked at the plastic covering on the bar on the computer desk which keeps the keyboard from sliding off; managed to destroy half of the covering, leaving the bits of vinyl on the floor. The proper people were notified and there will be no more boys left unsupervised for 5-6 hours in the library.

 The other downer has been the rain. People in northern Indiana, including farmers, are sick of the almost daily rainstorms. Ponding and pooling of water in fields and gardens means crops and gardens are not doing well. The thunderstorms also wake me up; I was kind of drowsy in church this morning after not sleeping very well last night. How is your first day of summer?

 We already have several events to which we have been invited the first week of July. Two of our neighbors are turning 80 and have community receptions/parties. My husband’s sister has invited us for a cookout on July 4th, and then wants to attend the MasterWorks concert, followed by the Winona Lake fireworks. A friend has invited us for a BBQ July 5th. We are fast sliding into summer mode around here. We had some decent Florida sweetcorn, raspberries, strawberries, and a delicious Honey Rock cantaloupe this past week.

 

 

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was full of fun activities and pretty things. Friday morning it was pleasant enough to drive to the you-pick place to get some blueberries. My husband and one of our neighbors came along; my husband always picks faster than me so I am glad for his willingness. 

When we had our carpets cleaned a few weeks ago we ate a few meals at our dining table crammed into the sunroom to let the carpet dry. It was so pleasant. We use the sunroom so little that the idea occurred to me that putting a small patio table in there might increase our time spent there. I prayed that we would find a table on sale or one at a consignment shop. Friday afternoon I visited a new consignment shop. Yes, there sat a glass-topped patio table for $20.  

                                          

Sunday morning we breakfasted at our new table with the patio door opened listening to the birds. 

Saturday morning we picked up my sister-in-law and headed for St. Joseph, MI. She had told us about an art fair there. The booths were situated on a tree-shaded bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It did warm up some later in the day, but there was a nice breeze. The art fair had a great variety of artisans and wares. I love pottery. I bought a bowl with ridged swirls worked into the clay.

It only takes about 2 hours from our house to St. Joseph. We will have to return another time to spend time on Silver Beach and explore the downtown a bit more. There are also quite a few wineries in that region. 

We got home in plenty of time to attend the evening MasterWorks Festival concert. This was the wrap-up weekend. I was so impressed with guest violinist Rachel Barton Pine. It is only today while searching the internet that I realize the reason for her limping gait. She has a prosthetic leg after a terrible calamity. Her newest CD is a group of lullabies inspired by her daughter Sylvia. During an encore Rachel told us about her 1742 violin which in the 19th century was played by Brahms as he helped an acquaintance select a violin. She then played the Brahms Lullaby. 

My beggar’s bowl overflowed this weekend.

From My Front Porch

The last few days have been cooler, nice enough to sit on the porch again. I try to water my plants each day if the soil feels dry. Despite the recent heat, even the pansies seem to be doing OK. The unit next door is vacant, but even those plants are putting on a colorful display for me to view.
            
Yesterday morning my husband and I drove the country roads to Teel's restaurant in Mentone. If you visit there, keep in mind that the bacon that comes with your breakfast is a huge pile. I ate 4 pieces from my husband’s order, he ate at least 6 pieces, and we still have about that much left over that we will eat in BLT sandwiches today. We learned from our first visit, only one person needs to order bacon.
This morning I went to two farmers’ markets in search of some early tomatoes for today’s sandwiches: the one at the fairgrounds that has a few holdouts unwilling to relocate, and the new one downtown. No luck with tomatoes so had to stop at the grocery store. While crossing the road from the downtown farmers’ market, a car full of ladies asked me if this was Winona Lake. Somehow they had missed the turnoff and proceeded to Warsaw where they were forced to make a decision as Center Street is closed for the market sellers. I instructed them how to get to The Village at Winona, but today is less than ideal as a big triathlon is in progress this morning.
Last night we attended the symphony concert of the Masterworks Festival which is also held in Winona Lake. Excellent as usual. We plan to go tonight to another concert if my husband isn’t wiped out from helping with the triathlon.
Winona Lake is a great place to live and to visit.