All posts by reneeinnd

Music, Nature, Uncategorized

A Night at the Opera

38 Comments

Today’s post is from Occasional Caroline

Last summer or perhaps it was the summer of 2016, my sister heard about and attended several Grand Oak Opry concerts. She loved it, raved about it, told everyone about it. I knew from her enthusiasm that I would enjoy it, but I didn’t make time to join her at a concert until August 11. I’m pretty sure I won’t miss another one, except due to circumstances beyond my control. It can’t be adequately described, you have to see it for yourself to “get it.”

The Grand Oak Opry is a unique concert series that takes place in the backyard of Sean Kershaw and Timothy Hawkins, in St. Paul’s West Seventh neighborhood. They started by hosting two concerts in the summer of 2014, and have grown every year since. The 2018 schedule includes seven concerts, with two still to come; We Are the Willows on 9/1 and David Huckfelt & Erik Koskinen Band on 9/30.

 

The show I saw could not have been more fantastic. It was presented in partnership with the Schubert Club, and the performers were Maria Jette and Dan Chouinard! The Schubert Club delivered a Steinway grand piano to the backyard venue early in the day and picked it up when the event was over at about 9:30.

 

So, yes, the concert I attended will be hard to beat. Dan Chouinard played a rendition of Rhapsody in Blue that was absolutely amazing. Maria Jette displayed a remarkably diverse range of musical artistry; the whole night was magical. But, I think the Grand Oak Opry experience would be sensational if the entertainment was an elementary school band with a tone-deaf director. The setting is under a huge oak tree in the backyard of 273 W Goodhue St, St Paul. A crystal chandelier hangs in the branches of the tree, which is estimated to be about 200 years old and is still going and growing strong. The backyard décor also includes several brightly painted doors, each with a lantern hanging on a bracket. They are doors to nowhere, but provide a whimsical, colorful, touch to the setting. To put a cherry on top, as the sun began to set, fireflies came out to add to the magical ambiance.

 

There are no tickets or reservations. Shows start at 7:30 and gate opens at 6:30. Concert goers just show up with their chairs or blankets, bringing food and drink if they choose. A $10 donation is suggested from each guest; all the money collected goes directly to the evening’s performers. Children are welcome to attend the concert or to play in the front yard of the pre-Civil War era home, if the music isn’t quite to their taste. Pets are not allowed. Neighbors volunteer as greeters and information givers, helpfully pointing out the path to the restroom (in the house), a table with water and bug spray, and answering questions. It’s an amazingly friendly and welcoming atmosphere for both newbies and veterans. Attendance has varied from 40-45 at the first show in 2014 to about 500, including overflow into the neighboring yard, earlier this summer (I think it might have been Chastity Brown that night).

 

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/grandoakopry/) is the primary source for schedule and other information about concerts. They do have a WordPress blog but a lot of the information there refers to past years and the Facebook page is more up to date.

OK, that’s it. I’m done. I liked it. A lot. Anyone for a Baboon field trip on 9/1 or 9/30?

 

Have you had an experience that was better than you could have hoped for or expected?

Uncategorized, Words, work

Oops!

35 Comments

On Thursday evening I sat down to write Friday’s blog post when I noticed that there was a new post submitted by our dear, absent leader.  I read through it. It was rather long and somewhat odd, the draft of minutes for a meeting at his work.  “Well”, I thought, “this is interesting. I don’t quite get it, but how nice he submitted it”. There was no header photo or question.  tim commented on Thursday about the “bait and switch” that our dear leader often used when writing posts, so perhaps this was something of the same.

I excitedly contacted VS and asked her to take a look and give her opinion. She thought that it was an error,  and that he had mistakenly submitted something to us that should have gone somewhere else.  She emailed him and he responded to let us know she was correct. He thought he was submitting his draft minutes to another Word Press account, but submitted it to the Trail instead. I deleted the errant post.

I recently encountered glaring errors in an evaluation I wrote several months ago that I have to submit to the court.  I usually can trust my clerical staff to make necessary corrections when I proof read so that I don’t have to proof read it a second time, but the person who typed this particular evaluation was new to the process as well as to my handwriting when I edit. There were spelling errors that I know I asked her to correct that were not corrected before the report was uploaded into our medical records system. An entire paragraph was in the wrong place. My usual transcriptionist and I sat down and made the necessary corrections and entered an appended report into the system. Both versions will go to the court, and I will have to explain on the stand why there are two versions of the report. Nothing changed except the spelling errors and the location of the paragraph,  but it is embarrassing all the same. I wish I could delete the whole thing like I did the errant post from Thursday.

Tell about your errors and mishaps and  “oops” moments.

Kids, Uncategorized, work

Wardrobe Malfunction

73 Comments

I wear Birkenstock sandals (sans socks) to work in the summer. The ones I have are five years old. My son  tells me that I should replace them every year.  (He has terribly flat feet and probably got that advice from his podiatrist. ) That  seems wasteful and silly to me,  but recently I have noticed some issues with my sandals that make me think it is time for replacements.

The soles of my feet are contacting the foot bed of my sandals and are making continuous fart noises when I walk. It is getting worse every day. I tried tightening the straps, but that didn’t help. My young clients think it is hilarious. I worry coworkers think it is gastric instead of pedal.  If I wear socks I will confirm in everyone’s mind that I am odd beyond redemption.  What is a girl to do?

Tell about costumes, clothes, or uniforms that gave you grief.  What wardrobe malfunctions have you experienced?

History, Music, News, Uncategorized

Queen of Soul

60 Comments

I was sorry to learn that Aretha Franklin is receiving Hospice care and is nearing death. She is one of the first really strong women singers I remember liking. I am not a big fan of soul music, but I love her recordings.  Here she is singing opera.

https://youtu.be/GvJpxkinkPg

Talk about Aretha and her contemporaries.  What was your favorite music in the 1960’s?

Family, History, Uncategorized, Words

Hoighty Toighty

34 Comments

I have connected with several members of my mother’s family over the past four years, both in the US and in Germany. The family name is Bartels, which is a patronymic name that is short for Bartholomew in German.  My Grandfather Bartels and his two brothers and four sisters all settled in Minnesota in Rock and Pipestone counties in the early years of the 20th century. They all lived within 20 miles of one another.

The name is properly pronounced BARtels, with the emphasis on the first syllable.  When my grandmother married my grandfather, she changed the pronunciation to BarTELS, which she considered more posh.  She was a city girl from Hamburg and considered my grandfather’s family too rustic for words.  It  only served to distance her from the family, and caused some hard feelings. After all, they were all in the same boat and were all starting over in a new country.  It didn’t much matter what you might have had over there, since now you were over here with not much. Grandma considered herself superior because she spoke formal German, not Plattdeutsch.

We have the same issue here with a German-Hungarian family with the last name of Lefor.  It is rightly pronounced Lefor, (like leper). The more hoighty toighty members of the clan pronounce it LeFOR, as though they are French.  They all live in the same county, and it is quite amusing.

I like the words hoighty toighty. I don’t know its derivation, but it sure captures a concept.

Who do you know who is hoighty toighty? Why do you think they do that? What makes you think well of a person?

 

 

gardening, Uncategorized

Tomato Personality Types

24 Comments

Well, the garden season is at its height, and, of course, Husband and I are assessing our current varieties and planning next year’s garden.  We just can’t help ourselves. We’re certifiably nuts.

I have been scrutinizing our tomato varieties closely. The header photo is of three Brandyboy tomoto plants (a hybrid) and one San Marzano paste tomato ( an heirloom) planted in front of our house. They are about 6 feet tall, and are wonderful exemplars of their varieties.  The Brandyboys are terrific. I am very unhappy with the other eight San Marzano plants we have, since they are suffering from blight. I spray with fungicide weekly, but it is getting away from me, and I need to find another paste tomato variety next year that is more dependable and more disease resistant and isn’t so much work.  Heirlooms are not very disease resistant. The photo below gives a better idea of their height. The tomatoes are the plants farthest on the right.  The pole beans in the foreground are at least 7 feet tall.

I want a hybrid paste tomato. I want disease resistance. The question is determinate or indeterminate.  I never really quite knew what those terms meant until recently,  and I was delighted to find out that I could use the terms for describing people’s personalities.

Determinate tomatoes produce lots of nice, smaller tomatoes, but stop growing at about 4 feet, and then stop producing any more fruit. They may or may not need staking or supporting cages. They are often really good in shorter season areas. We used to grow them in Winnipeg.  They were short but produced well.

Indeterminate tomatoes absolutely need staking or other supports.  They never stop producing fruit or growing taller and wider until it freezes.  Our Brandyboys and San Marzanos are indeterminate, and the plants are enormous.  They are, even now, producing flowers and fruit.  I have the cages supported with bungee cords and stakes to keep them from tipping over.

I have decided to grow Brandyboys again next year, along with a few San Marzanos and a hybrid indeterminate variety named Gladiator.  It will be an experimental year.

What kind of tomato are you? Determinate, indeterminate?  Hybrid, heirloom? What kind of tomato do you want to be?

 

Seasons, Uncategorized, work

Woeful Wednesday

47 Comments

I don’t know why, but for the past month or so, Wednesdays have proven to be the most exhausting and problem-filled days of the week for me.  Everyone seems to go into crisis.  I get more phone calls.  Coworkers need more things from me.  Administrators are around more.  Things get hectic at the regulatory board of which I am a member, so I get many emails from the office needing immediate replies.

I typically don’t dread any day of the week, but I am starting to dread Wednesday.  Even Monday is better.

Which day of the week, month of the year, or holiday could you do without?  Which do you welcome?

books, Family, History, Travel, Uncategorized

Helpful Hints When You Travel

33 Comments

I ran across a little book belonging to my father INSTRUCTIONS  for AMERICAN SERVICEMEN in BRITAIN 1942.  It was issued by the War Department, Washington, DC.  It is a delightful little manual for good relations when you visit Great Britain.  I feel like I should send it back to Washington so they can reread it. Here are some of the headings:

NO TIME TO FIGHT OLD WARS

BRITISH ARE RESERVED, NOT UNFRIENDLY

DON’T BE A SHOW OFF

THE BRITISH ARE TOUGH

AGE INSTEAD OF SIZE

REMEMBER THERE’S A WAR ON

BRITAIN, CRADLE OF DEMOCRACY

WASTE MEANS LIVES

KEEP OUT OF ARGUMENTS

BE FRIENDLY, BUT DON’T INTRUDE ANYWHERE IT SEEMS YOU ARE NOT WANTED

IT IS ALWAYS IMPOLITE TO CRITICIZE YOUR HOSTS; IT IS MILITARILY STUPID TO CRITICIZE YOUR ALLIES

I think this is a nice quote ” When you see a girl in khaki or air force blue with a bit of ribbon on her tunic, remember she didn’t get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswich”.

Well, that sort of sums up a lot, doesn’t it.

Do you have any advice to add to the list? 

Family, Kids, Uncategorized, work

Surprise!

31 Comments

Our daughter phoned yesterday, full of excitement about some wonderful Chevre goat cheese and creamy Brie she had discovered at a farmers market, as well as the thrill of being held up as an exemplar of paperwork perfection at her work during a Medicaid audit.

This surprises me. In elementary, middle school, and high school I could have presented her as an exemplar of the biggest flibberty-gibbet, fly-by-night slacker of my acquaintance.  I guess maturation happens, but I never expected this from her!

Who or what has surprised you, for good or for naught?

Art, Fifty Words, Food, History, Uncategorized

Bread and Circuses

52 Comments

August 4 has been pretty busy through the centuries, so I am leaving this blog post pretty open for the weekend for Baboons to comment on three pretty fun things.

In 1693, Dom Perignon is said to have invented Champagne.

In 1777,  Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley established his riding school with performances in London,  a precursor of the circus.

in 1919,  The Rodin Museum opens in Paris in The Hôtel Biron containing works left to the state by the sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Say what you will about Champagne, circuses, and sculpture.