Nolan and the Mark Miller Band

The Eden Prairie High School Band had a fund raiser on Sunday at Champp's Kitchen and Bar. A local group called the Mark Miller Band provided the entertainment. They reached out to the band directors asking if anyone could play along. Nolan brushed up his bass guitar skills for a set beginning with Summer of 69 and Walking on Sunshine.

The director of the Eden Prairie High School Band program, Dr. Liz Jackson, put her clarinet to the side and joined the group singing Born to be Wild.

Nolan finished off his set with Proud Mary and Mustang Sally. Quite a few people got up to dance. I wanted to get up and dance too but my favorite dance partner wasn't available!

St. Matthew Passion

Last week Nolan got tickets from a colleague to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. So on Saturday we headed to the Ordway Concert Hall to hear Bach's St. Matthew Passion. We were very surprised to see that our seats were in the choir loft behind the musicians! It was like we were a part of the performance. The pressure was higher not to fidget or fall asleep. We performed pretty well.

The orchestra was phenomenal. It was a double orchestra and double chorus. They had 4 singers who traded off parts and sang all the chorales together. They even had two organs! Although I'm sure Nolan appreciated the view of the conductor we moved seats during intermission to get the other view of the performers. Nolan and I both found the chorales very touching. I think the chorales are probably touching to me because they are attached to church nostalgia. It also reminded me of how my Aunt Joan has been told (negatively) that she has the ability to make any song sound like a hymn. If she could make every song sound like a Bach Chorale she should be very proud.

Harping to Pink Water

I started volunteering this week by playing the harp at Park Nicollet Medical Center in Hopkins, I've played harp at a number of hospitals in the past and I'm happy to have the time do it again. People are always so gracious at the hospital and I think the harp is a perfectly soothing instrument. It's also not terribly common and gives me a the chance to allow children and adults to see and touch one who have never before had the opportunity. I try to go twice a week for 1 1/2 - 2 hours each time. I depends on how much my fingers hurt. I'm a little out of practice!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the hospital dyed the water in their fountain pink! What a fun reminder. It certainly caught my eye and made me pause and think of all the strong women I know who have battled with breast cancer.

Dinner and a Lesson

On Wednesday Nolan and I were the guests in a Young Women's missionary activity. We were invited to a house for dinner and afterward the "missionaries" taught us a quick lesson. The young women did a very good job covering The First Vision, Christ's Earthly mission, and the Love of God and Jesus Christ. It was fun to get to know a few of the young women in our ward and have a delicious meal. Our chef for the night is a food scientist for General Mills!

Hauta See a Movie

Nolan comes home early on Mondays which gave us just enough time to get the matinee price on a movie together. There is a movie theater nearby which shows movies that are out of the big theaters but not yet on DVD.

We saw the movie Shaun the Sheep for only $5 total! What a deal. It is a cute stop motion film based off a British television series. I remember adults telling me how much their children loved Shaun the Sheep while I was in Germany. It was fun to finally see what the kids were watching!

A Musical Tribute

We drove to Edina High School yesterday to attend a musical concert honoring William A. Webb. This man has been a large figure in the Minnesota band scene and Nolan found out this year that he has been very ill. A combination of Levaquin (a fluoroquinolone) and Prednisone put him in a wheelchair and he has no promises of recovery. His mind is still clear, however, and his arms and hands still function.

The concert was very touching. The Edina High School Concert Band began with a tribute to the Pops concerts Bill established during his decades of teaching there. I was very impressed the band could play so many numbers so early in their school year. There were a number of well-known band composers and conductors including Daniel Kallman and Timothy Mahr.

A fanfare written for Bill was premiered and a music education scholarship for Edina High School was established in his name. I don't even know the man and I had a difficult time not crying! It's incredible how one person can influence so many. The theater was full to capacity with people who felt such gratitude for Bill and the lifelong love of music he instilled in them. Nolan met Bill from a tour that he played in as part of the Minnesota Ambassadors of Music. This tour was extraordinarily meaningful for Nolan and he feels grateful that he had the opportunity to meet Bill Webb. I was happy too because the performance was very good and extremely moving.

Walking the Dogs

Our friends, John and Tina, have an adorable Border Collie name Jessie. Tina got Jessie from the Border Collie Rescue of Minnesota (BCRofMN) 8 years ago. Since John and Tina live in the Cities now they help BCRofMN by volunteering and fostering. Their latest foster is Sam, a German Shepherd/Corgi mix and the most adorable dog ever! If our apartment complex allowed dogs I would adopt this sweetheart in a heartbeat. John and Tina are very close to us so I walk the dogs every once in a while.

This week I had to take a detour to my apartment during our walk and Jessie and Sam found a treat: the chipmunk hole right outside our patio door. I walked outside to find them face first in the tiny burrow. It was cute watching them try to poke their noses in at the same time until they started digging. The fun had to end then. If little Chippy (or Oakley, or Alvin, or Gadget, haven't picked a name yet) were home I'm sure he had the scare of his life.