Possibly T-M-I but that's okay

On Thursday as we were on our way to McConnell's Mills, (see pic of the hiking trail there) we saw a guy taring a nearby driveway. We stopped and asked him how much he charged. The price seemed reasonable and he said he could do our place next if we wanted. We said yes. And now we have a nicely sealed and tarred driveway. It really needed it so, I'm glad we had it done and I didn't have to do it.

Yesterday, Dee went to see her mom in the morning and I went golfing at Treesdale - 9 holes. It was a beautiful morning for golf, and no one was there, so I was able to go at my own pace. Actually did well, for me. I had two pars and a couple of bogeys as well as the usual 7s. But it was a relaxing and invigorating morning. Dee said her mom had shown some decline since she saw her a couple of days ago. I guess she's not eating much and has lost weight since moving to St. Johns. Dee talked with the nurses and they're trying to talk her into eating more and monitoring her food intake. It's as though she's just tired of living after 93 years.

In the afternoon we took our patio umbrella back to the store. It was showing cracks in the pole and we'd only had it less than a month. Since they didn't have any more, we're currently poleless. But this being the summer season, I'm sure we'll find one on sale.

We spent the afternoon on the deck reading, and bird watching and of course wlaking Bonz around the court. Dee is reading her mystery books and I'm continuing to learn more from the the Idiot's Guide to Music Theory book. Currently I'm learning to recognize intervals or to create intervals between two notes. This'll become helpful for those songs when the note is sounded for the key we're in, and my part starts on a different note.

The system identifies the intervals that start some very familiar songs to associate with the interval you need. For instance if my first note is 4 notes higher than the key note sounded, I can find my note easily by thinking of the first two notes of the song "Amazing Grace" A- Maay" The second note is 4 notes higher than the first note, so that's my starting pitch for what ever song we're singing where my first note is 4 notes higher than the pitch sounded. The mnemonic device for interval pitches are all songs you readily recognize. The first two notes of Twinkle twinkle little star is a 5th interval between the first two notes, etc. I'm sure this is TMI for some of you, but I'm finding it down right fascinating.

While we're on the subject, here's another tidbit I didn't know before. To find out what key a song is in, you look at the key signature. And if it's in sharps, just raise the last sharp one note in your mind, and that's the key; For instance, if the key signature has an F# and a C# then the key is D. With flats you count back to the next to last flat in the signature and that's the key. For instance if there are three flats Bb, Eb, and Ab. Then the key is Eb. Cool. I often wondered what the key was of songs we sang in church, and now I have a way of identifying it.

We finished the evening watching some TV and working more on that puzzle.

McConnell's Mill and waterfall

Yesterday we decided to take a mini vacation and go sight seeing at McConnell's Mills State Park. Dee had been there many times as a child, but I'd never seen it before so we decided to travel north to check it out. Along the way we stopped for lunch at the Country Kitchen in Portersville. We'd been there many years ago with Dee's parents. It still looke the same and the food was worth the drive. Then we drove on to the Mill and Falls. The waterfalls and the covered bridge were idyllic. The long walk down the switchback steps to the mill from above whas invigorating. The sound of the constant rush of water was soothing. The weather was just right to check it all out. Here are a couple of pictures we took.

Then we drove up to the outlets at Grove City. That was nice and leisurely. Dee found a purse she liked and I got a couple of nice dress shirts for Sundays. The were on sale at 40% off. It was relaxing to stroll in and out of the stores. And since I'd never been to Grove City before we drove into town and around the College Campus there. Nice place. As we headed home, we stopped in Slippery Rock to and visited the North Country Brewrey to wet our whistles. It was a rustic old place with lots of history. Here's a pic from it. We got home just in time to avoid the short rainfall that dampened everything. Interestingly it was still raining on our deck, but I could see the sun shining on the houses and trees behind our house. I thought there might be a rainbow somewhere. When I looked up, this is what I saw. What a day !

A Quiet Day

Here is another picture from my trip to the Barbershop Harmony Camp. This is an award winning Chorus from Ohio called "Alliance". They were awesome with choreography and harmony combined.

Yesterday we had a relatively quiet day. I went to Rotary a heard a guest speaker tell about the Hospice program in Butler County. Dee went to Contours and then did some grocery shopping. After it rained a little and then dried up. When it warmed up in the afternoon and we sat on the deck and did some reading. We also did some minor landscaping by planting a rhododendron bush in the back lawn and firmed up the lamp post at the front of the house. Small jobs that had been waiting to be done. Of course I took Bonz for his walk around the court. I'm pleased he's walking beside me more and more. Not quite a loose leash yet, but he's getting there.

In the evening we worked on the puzzle the Thomases gave us and I read some of the new book on Music Theory and worked on my sermon for FBC Monroeville this Sunday some. We watched the movie "The Mighty Quinn" with Danzel Washington and called it a night. As I said, a quiet day.

Friends Stop By

Yesterday the weather was perfect except for a cool breeze, nonetheless, we were able to get out and walk Bonz around the court. Dee was to meet Kathy G. and her mother from Butler for a late lunch. They also went to see Dee's mom at St. Johns. Dee said her mom had just come from the beauty parlor and looked nice. She was happy to see Kathy and her mom from Butler. I also got to talk with my mom for awhile on the phone. She asked me again how long to make the sleeves on the shirts she is altering and whether you meansure that from the top of the sleeve or under the arm. I tell her I don't know the answer to that, but just measure the shirt I gave her as a sample of the way I want it. And that the sleeves should be 32 inches. She keeps putting it off and then I think she forgets what I told her or can't remember where the note is she wrote about it.

Since Dee was going out with friends, I decided to go to the movies. I saw the "Prince Caspian" movie from The Chronicles of Narnia. Since I'd just read the book, it was interesting to see how it was portrayed. There were lots of things in the movie not in the book, but I enjoyed the movie nonetheless. The special effects are always dazzling in those Narnia movies. And, I like the story line. There is usually something I can use in it for a sermon illustration.

Toward evening, I practiced some of my Barbershop Songs and then we went to Barnes and Noble. Dee bought a couple of books to read (mysteries) and I bought "Idiot's Guide to Music Theory" complete with a CD on training the ear so I can improve my singing. The CD has exercises and lessons on it, so I put it on my ipod for use away from home. Should be fun.

Bonz' Canine Social

During Father's Day after I'd gotten home from Ohio, we took Bonz to a "Canine Social". It was at our local Brusters Ice Cream Parlor. They had games, prizes, free ice cream in a cup for the dogs. It was sponsored by the woman who dog sat Bonz for us during the wedding in January. There were scores of dogs there. It was great seeing all the other kinds of dogs and they all got along very well together. Of course they were all on leashes, but Bonz seemed to have a good time.

Yesterday, Dee went to her exercise class in the morning and then we shopped for supplies for the 16 Bogmeisters who came over last night for rehearsal. We just had hotdogs and potato salad with iced tea and lemonade and cookies. Most of the meeting we debriefed our trip to Apple Corps and what we learned. By the time we started rehearsing it was getting dark out, but we rehearsed some anyway. Even in the dark for a bit. They all left by about 9:40 PM. and since most of the food was gone, I figure they had a good time. (We try to have one rehearsal a month at someone's home through the summer.)

My mom called during the practice and Dee answered the phone. Mom thought I'd called her. But I hadn't. It seems she hears my voice making the answering announcement on the answering machine and thinks it's me calling her. That's the third time she's done that. Next time I go to her place, I'll have to change the announcement answering calls to her voice.

Dee's mom is at St. Johns Specialty Care in Mars. She had a day or two when we was listless and not eating much. But when Dee saw her on Sunday she was doing better. She plans to see her today to see how things are going.

I'm in the process now of getting ready for my speaking engagement at FBC of Monroeville this Sunday the 22nd. That should be fun. I've never preached there before and I some of my former members at Wilkinsburg attend there. I also got call to preach at FBC of Aliquipa, PA on the 29th which will be interesting since I've never preached there before, although I have been inside the church on many occasions when I preached here in W PA. Looking forward to that too.

Home Again!

From Thursday to Sunday last week I was in Gambier, Ohio on the campus of Kenyon College. A beautiful idyllic spot. There were about 300 men there for the Apple Corps District Music School for the 58 Barbershop Harmony Choruses from Western PA, Northern WV, and Ohio. Thirty-Seven chapters represented. It was an awesome experience of singing, education and fellowship.

This picture shows the 13 of us who went from our 16 voice chorus.

Imagine walking around the campus and hearing groups of men singing barbershop style. Spontaneous group singing occurred everywhere, in the hallways, outside buildings, in the lunch line, around the meal tables, back at the dorms everywhere. Of course most of them have the music memorized so all they need is a pitch pipe, and no other musical instruments or sheet music and they're singing.

The courses offered provided a multitude of learning opportunities on a myriad of subjects. I took "Get Out of the Box." A class on learning to use your face arms and hands as well as body when singing to help sell the song or tell the story's song. I also took a course on how to be a better bass as well as a course on "Better sight singing and barbershop style versus church choir style." Each class was two and a half hours long with a short break of 15 minutes in between. The latter two courses were filled with music theory as well as how the voice works and where in the 4 places in the head where sound is produced for resonance. Interestingly I learned that chords ring when all four voices are resonating sound from the same area of the vocal cavity. The instructors were awesome and experts in their field. I learned so much !

We were all part of a Massed choir. We prepared two songs for the concert on Saturday night. There were over a hundred in the choir. See picture below. The chorus director was awesome. Lots of fun, but all with a focus on the final outcome of our singing. I learned (actually we all learned) so much from him about music in the process of learning the music. Someone said, "You learned music as you learned the song." Good stuff.

Our Bogmiester group became one of a unit for being there and experiencing so many things about barbershop style together. We have a better idea of what our director, Susan, has been trying to teach us.

On the first night there we were allowed to put our names in the barrel to be in a pick-up quartet to sing on stage with guys we never met before. I thought I'd give it a try. The rules were that you had 5 minutes to select a song you all knew, and to give your group a name. We selected "Honey/Little Eyes I love you" and since it had rained hard earlier in the day we chose the "Four Drips" as our group name. We didn't win, but it was an invigorating challenge for me as a new barbershoper. It was fun. One of the guys in our group did sing in the winning quartet and now we'll have to hear about it till the next Apple Corp Camp.

Oh yes, the meals were awesome! All buffet style for each meal. A wide selection of hot and cold items all the time. All you could eat. And some people really piled it on. All in all it was an awesome experience and one I'm sure I'll not forget for a long long time.