Saturday, May 25, 2013

Reflections on a bad week for Oklahoma

Some two dozen people lost their life earlier this week.  Most of them were residents of Moore.  An additional several hundred sustained injuries from the tornado -- a tornado at one point 1.3 miles wide which stayed on the ground for 17 miles.  Several hundreds of homes were destroyed and many more suffered damage.

It is such an event as this that makes the atheist wish there were a god who could and would intervene on behalf of the victims.  But alas, there was no help from above.  If you value your life, don't pray for a miracle -- build a storm shelter.

This morning, we had our May Food and Fellowship gathering.  In attendance were David, Mark, Lisa, Randy, Dawn, Marilyn, Barbara, Gail, Jan, and Dan.  We ate at La Hacienda on Peoria.

Earlier this week I posted another duet video on YouTube.  Search for "Gail and Dan at piano" if you would like to view it.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

We dodged a bullet tonight

May is a bad month for tornadoes.  Tonight three super cells developed near OKC.  They were headed up I-44 toward the Tulsa area.  They fizzled out before getting here.  I haven't heard yet if there were any fatalities.

Gail is expecting an important phone call tomorrow.  She asked if I would be willing to practice duets at her house.  So I will be going to her house tomorrow.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Quotation

The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.   --Terry Pratchett

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Reading / Playing / Walking / Cutting

Last night I finished reading a book by C. S. Lewis.  The title was The Great Divorce.  It is the next book for discussion by the Methodist Book Club.  It was to be the book for May, but for some reason the May meeting was canceled.  Thankfully, it was not too long.  It was written some sixty to seventy years ago, a time when it was acceptable to hurl insults at atheists.  Nowdays people are more tolerant of religious diversity.

On Sunday, Edna, the church pianist, had another commitment.  I filled in for her.  I played a ten-minute interlude, and then our minister was led in.  He was led in account he is blind now and must be shown the way.  Shown is not the right word.  He has to feel his way around.  He is familiar with the sanctuary, having preached there many time before the onset of his blindness.

Vanessa had told me that the closing hymn would be "Over My Head," but she had not informed me of the opening hymn.  I suggested "Lift Every Voice and Sing."  She said she had been thinking about that hymn, too.  So that was our opening hymn.

Gail and I provided the special music, which was Gershwin's I've Got Rhythm.

Following the service, four of us engaged in hand-drumming.  I brought my two drums, and the church had two drums.  It was the first time I had drummed in a couple of years.  The four of us were myself, Vanessa, Gerald (the minister), and Hagi. I had to leave after ten minutes to get to a birthday party for Luke, my grandson.

At the birthday party for Luke, there were nine people.  We had fried chicken and potato salad for lunch.

The next day was Monday, and Gail drove over for our weekly practice.  She is considering going to a hospital in Denver in hopes of getting more information about her lung condition.  She has seen two doctors in Tulsa.  Both said it would be too dangerous to do a lung biopsy.

Today I cut the grass in the back yard.  We have taken so much out of the backyard that it is possible to cut it quickly.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Some recent photos

This picture was taken inside the Red Barn Cafe and Hen House Bakery in Mt. Vernon, MO just a few miles west of Springfield  We had dinner on the way to Springfield.  They had a good amount of business.


We got up one morning and looked outside to see sleet covering the car.  This was May 3, 2013.

Here is another view of the sleet covering many objects.  It snowed all day May 3 in Springfield.  Very little stuck to the grass.


This is a view inside our living room.  The object covered up in the background is my piano.  We had to cover up everything and move any items near the windows toward the center of the room in preparation for the installation of new windows.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

A visit to Target

Today we went to the Target store at the Tulsa Hills shopping center.  On our last visit there a couple of months ago I saw a bookshelf which I thought might be good for my piano music.  Presently, I am using a shelf I built myself some twenty years ago.  I used it for my magazines for several years, but decided to use it for my sheet music a few years ago.

The storage unit I built is six feet high with nine shelves about 14" square.  Since I am constantly buying new music, I ran out of space a year or two ago.  We went over to Target to buy the shelf, but they had none in stock.  In fact, they discontinued the item.  We checked at Lowe's, also in Tulsa Hills shopping center, but found nothing to our liking there.  We returned home without making a purchase.

We came back from another extended stay in Springfield, MO on Sunday.  I had to miss church.  It was Humanist Sunday and Joy Avery gave the talk.  Edna, the church pianist, will not be able to be at church this coming Sunday.  I plan to fill in for her.

Back on Easter Sunday, my father fell and broke his hip.  Thus the many trips to Springfield.  Dad is at home recuperating now.

Yesterday, we had all the windows (except the laundry room) in the house replaced.  The new windows look nice.  The crew of four worked from about 7 am to noon.