Hibernating

This makes my 142^nd post in a little over two years. I am surprised to have gotten this far with it. Along the way I have met wome wonderful citizens of the blogosphere (see links at right). You know some things about me that F2F friends do not. Some of you have gone through terrors and the best I could do was to pray for you. I still do, you know.

If we regard the blogosphere as a virtual reality where people (or their avatars) encounter and interact with one another, then I have to say that I will be hibernating from that realm for a while. The non-virtual realities in my life are demanding attention. I think it is better to just say, "See you later, maybe in January" than to post sporadically and under a feeling of compulsion. When the hibernation is over and I am reawakening to the springtime of the blogosphere (virtual, of course) I will start dropping in on old friends and leaving comments behind.

To tie up loose ends, the play Community was enjoyable: great sets, engaging plot, wonderful orchestra, and snappy dancing. Yes, it was a musical (Sondheim). Most of the students playing the characters were actors rather than musicians, so everyone had to have a microphone (you know, one of those really thin ones that loop over one ear); the singing wasn't that great, but the acting was good. All in all, it was worth the drive and the price of admission.

The dusty little town in which I live participates in a community concert program with a number of other small West Texas towns. We always get season tickets, and this year, the first performance was scheduled for Saturday night. Cat had gone to Austin to have fun with her "girl cousins" and I worked all day on a Habitat for Humanity house. I seriously considered heading for bed after dinner, but then I figured I would go see the concert. I could always leave at the intermission if it was boring or I was too exhausted to stay awake.

The group performing was named Time for Three: two violins (Zach DePue and Nick Kendall) and one double bass (Ranaan Meyer). Man, am I ever glad that I went! They were phenomenal! It has been a long time since I have seen such intensity, such elegance, such virtuosity combined with wit and humor that delighted the audience. If you ever get a chance to see these three guys in concert, by all means, go. They do classical, bluegrass, gypsy, jazz, improvising along the way. You won't regret it.

Well, I will see you later, maybe in January. For now, I am going into my den.

Moving down the road

We have had this Saturn for almost ten years. We bought it new in Hawaii. And today it rolled to 122,333 miles: one one, two twos, and three threes. That averages 33 and a half miles a day. How's your car doing?
I have to confess--I stole something. From the church office. I went by today to drop off some photos and there was a tray on a desk with a few pumpkin squares left on it. And I just took one and ate it. I hope they weren't saving those last four for some needy family. Or that they were the ones that fell on the floor.
Well, we are going into Big Flat City tonight to see a thespian presentation. It's called Company and I have no idea what it's about. It's the big state university's presentation, so I hope it is not full of foul language and risque behaviors. They kind of like that daring stuff at the big state university theatre department. Hope your weekend goes nicely.

And now for something else

The other day my wife got something out of this drawer and then gave me a big hug. See, I made the little partitions for this drawer. You have your scissors-and-other-tools section and the square cell for sticky note pads. The rubber band ball is starting to get almost too big for its spot. There must be twenty-five or thirty pens on the right side. This drawer is in the kitchen and has been the "junk" drawer for the last six years. It used to have an oval basket in it to hold the small junk, but that was not organized enough. So I took my measurements and drew out a plan and built a partitioned box to fit the drawer. And my wife thinks that is terribly clever. Am I blessed or what? Any time I goof up, I can just walk over and open that drawer and she will give me the "Well, OK" look. It's a lifesaver.

No one home but the birds

While in NM, my boss took several of us over to a chapel named Sanctuario de Chimayo. It is supposed to be the "Lourdes" of the Southwest, with people from all over visiting in hopes of physical healing for their ailments. There is a room filled with walking canes, orthopedic devices, testimonials, etc., left by the healed. I looked in the window, and it's all there. But no people were there on Tuesday evening. Only the pigeons were hanging out. Maybe it's better that way since we would have been curious onlookers intruding in the rituals of the ardent believers.

Great place for a meeting

Yeah, it has been a while since I updtaed this thing. The weekend was really busy as I got ready to leave town. Sunday through Wednesday I was gone to a meeting (actually a series of meetings). The acaademic and administrative leaders of our univeristy campuses (about twenty-five in all) all came together in Glorieta NM (not far from Santa Fe). The weather was wonderful. Maybe this photo doesn't do a whole lot for those of you who live up north, but for those of us who live in West Texas, this kind of stuff is magical. The trees were beginning to turn, the ducks were squawking for snacks, and there was a chill in the air. Very refreshing. And the meetings went very well also. There have been times in the past that the atmosphere was acrid with antagonism, but the Glorieta meeting was really productive and harmonious. Maybe it was the Mexican food.