Verna and I posed for this today as we were getting ready for a couple of errands. Wishing all a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Culture
Thanksgiving 2019
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” —Psalm 100:4-5
Let us be thankful for the good things on this day.
We hope all of you have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving Day!
Our Twenty-First Anniversary
One of these days, the ring depicted in the photo message above will be delivered. In the meantime, we only have a likeness of the actual gift (in addition to the earrings already given) until the package arrives. We inadvertently chose an east-coast Amazon Marketplace affiliate with poor shipping practices. Verna will have the new ring and I will post a photo of her wearing it in a few days.
UPDATE: Verna’s new ring showed up today (09/13/19). Very nice . . .
Learning the Largo
For the past couple of weeks, I have been studying and practicing on the keyboard a small part of the score from the Opera Xerxes by G.F. Handel. The excerpt above has been transposed to the key of C major which is easier for me and my arthritic old fingers to perform as I learn the fingering and tempo.
The piece I’m learning is the bridge music between the recitative Frondi Tenere (Branches Tender and Beautiful) and the aria Ombra Mai Fu (A Shadow There Never Was) both of which are sung by the title character Xerxes of Persia. The piece is only fifteen measures in length and can be executed in about 35 to 40 seconds but the fingering and tempo are a little challenging to me. I’m sure I will get it down soon, but in the meantime, I’m still practicing.
Handel’s Largo, as it is popularly known, is actually a Larghetto tempo, slightly faster than Largo. The opera was designed to be a comedy with Xerxes, a Persian King, falling in love with a Plane Tree. Regardless of the original intent, the interlude above along with the aria Ombra Mai Fu is not only one of the most beautiful compositions in classical music, but has also been adapted with lyrics and performed as “Holy Art Thou” in Christian Churches.
Craft Fair and Bluegrass Festival
Although we don’t normally venture out on the weekends, today held a special reason, actually two, to lure us out of the comfort of our beautiful home. It was a beautiful spring-like day with sunshine and temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s.
The first event, an arts and crafts show downtown by the library, was interesting; there were many vendors of jewelry, clothing, pottery, knick knacks, books and other stuff. We looked around a bit and Verna bought a decorative screen cover for a wine glass to keep the bugs or falling debris out. We didn’t stay too long, just enough time to look at all the booths.
The other event was our Annual Bluegrass Festival. There were several bands that we listened to, all of which were very good performers. We also browsed the vendors up at the Rodeo Grounds where the event was being held. I bought a souvenir T-Shirt commemorating this year’s Festival.
Photos of me in my new cowboy hat at the rodeo grounds and of Verna browsing at the craft fair. Click on either image to enlarge.
Wickenburg Wall Caricatures
This wall art on a building on Frontier Street just east of the Yavapai Street Railroad crossing is just one of the many interesting things to see in Wickenburg. The caption is “HOWDY,” and depicts cartoon caricatures of a horse, some six-shooter packing cowboys (one with a lasso), a lady and a couple of other townfolk. Although they are cartoons, they are not too far fetched from what you might expect to see in town during roping season which is currently underway.
I took the photo this afternoon when we were on our way to the clinic for a medical test (nothing serious). Click on the image to enlarge.
