Weekend Roundup

Last Friday, J and I went to the dentist for a sixth-month checkup. Everything checked out OK for the two of us.

The next day we had a Humanism and the Arts program at Restoration. Vanessa called me around 5 pm and said I could come by her house to pick up the key. Vanessa lives on the north side of Sand Springs, not far from my son Nick. I left the house and drove to Vanessa's. She was working out in her front year.

When I arrived at the church the SOS group was still meeting there. SOS is an alcohol recovery group led by Larry Hochhaus. Larry is also a member of the church. I brought the refreshments inside. Although eight members had signed up to perform, three were no shows. Only five people performed. The first two people on the program were no shows. Joy had called me hours earlier to let me know she would not be able to be there. Vanessa was supposed to come later but never did. I led off the show playing a piece by a Russian composer with a title something like "Pioneer Campfire." It is a piece I found in a book I bought some forty years ago when Russia was at that time known as the Soviet Union. The book has some twenty songs in it. I enjoy playing them. The book is written in the Russian language. Next Barbara Frey read a poem she had written a few decades ago. She spoke of her time as a teacher. Barbara is now 84 years old.

Next was Marilyn Clarke. She read three poems by Billy Collins. Collins is one of my favorite poets. I always enjoy hearing his work read aloud. Following the Collins verse, Gail and I performed a duet at the piano. We played "Heliotrope Bouquet" by Scott Joplin. Larry Roth, usually a reliable performer, was to finish reading his ghost story, but he did not show.

Today I attended the service at Restoration. The were nine of us there. The number in attendance is much smaller than some Sunday School classes at other churches, but that does not slow us down. We keep plugging right along.

This evening we attended a gathering of the Methodist Church at their new Family Life Center in south Sand Springs. The church has a new minister. The Methodists rotate ministers every few years. Now was the time for a new minister. He preached his first sermon in Sand Springs today. He comes from Mangum, OK. It is in the far southwest of the state .

Luke is spending the night with us tonight. We will have him with us for much of the day tomorrow.