Visiting the Twin Cities and Chicago

I had a brief day and a half in the Twin Cities. After a week in the dorms, having a hotel room complete with private bath seemed like a palace. Karen and I got a ride earlier than we expected, so I had enough time to see the Walker on Saturday. The Picasso exhibit was quite interesting, particularly seeing the maquette of the sculpture that I got to see in Chicago. I was also enchanted by the sculpture garden, particularly Stonebridge and Cherry. I hadn’t realized when I looked at pictures before I went that the whole thing is a fountain!

I had a lovely Sunday in St. Paul. I arrived for the 11 a.m. worship, having completely forgotten that I had told Paul my original plan to go to the early worship so that I could go to the Walker between meeting and singing (sorry, Paul). It was a lovely meeting for worship, in any case. Then Paul took me home with him. I got to meet his kids and the cats, though sadly I missed meeting Lovely Wife who was out of town. He made us a simple lunch, we went for a walk by the Mississippi River, and we sat on their porch and watched a thunderstorm and talked until it was time to go to the singing at St. Sahag’s.

The singing at St. Sahag’s was marvelous—the church has a great sound, and there were at least 40 strong singers present. It was a relief to just sit in the back and sing—and not be responsible for anything! I was pleased to realize that in addition to knowing Paul and Gerry (another Twin Cities Friend), I also knew Steven Levine and Paul Wilson. I had met both of them at singings in California.
I took the train the next day for Chicago, finishing the Empire Builder route. I arrived to find that the private hostel room I had reserved smelled kind of funny and had no air conditioning. I really need to accept that I am not the sort of person that enjoys staying in hostels. Anyway, I took a long walk in the rain and found a hotel that I absolutely loved: The Inn at Lincoln Park. It wasn’t grand by hotel standards or anything, but compared to the hostel... Once settled, I headed out for blues and dinner. I was so exhausted, I can’t say I got my money’s worth from the cover charge, but I did enjoy my visit to Kingston Mines.

I took a Chicago Architecture Foundation tour on the Chicago River on Tuesday before I took the train to Princeton to meet Katie and Dan. This is the one time Amtrak let me down- several delays had me worried that I would have to turn around as soon as I got there. But it all worked out fine. We got to the restaurant where we were celebrating Dan’s birthday a bit early, so I got to talk with just them for a while before their friends arrived. Then I got to meet their friends and enjoy pretty decent Mexican food together. It turns out my train was late getting in, so we had a bit longer to talk before I headed off.

I really enjoyed the Art Institute. I felt rather dazzled by the impressionist rooms, as if I had walked into a jewel box. I was entertained by Millenium Park. I loved the fountain and the jellybean sculpture (properly known as Cloud Gate).

I had a blast in at the Notabaert Nature Museum, particularly in the butterfly house. I liked the zoo, and especially enjoyed the conservatory.
I got to go to the Hyde Park singing on Thursday. Carolyn had very kindly put me in touch with Ted Mercer so that I could get a ride there. Ted was incredibly welcoming. He kept introducing me to everyone, and prompted me to tell everyone the names of the folks I sing with in Berkeley that had come from Chicago. They even afforded me the honor of the last song before the closing song, so I led 229 Irwinton. Again, I expected to only know Ted, and so was surprised to see two people I had met this winter at the Harmonia Sacra singing, Ginny Landgraf and Jim Helke. It also turned out that many of these folks were coming to sing in Goshen, Indiana and in Michigan, so I got to see them again.

FGC Gathering

I was probably the most selective about Gathering activities this year than I have ever been. Partly I began to plan life around getting to the dining hall at the calmest time possible. As that conflicted with a lot of scheduled activities that I might have otherwise attended, I had a pretty low-key time. Mostly what mattered to me was singing, knitting, deepening friendships and meeting new people.

I spent a lot of time wandering the campus and some time in the town of River Falls. It was good to spend so much time walking and birding, two things that began to fall out of my routine in the hectic months of May and June. It was nice to see cardinals and catbirds, as we don’t have them in California.
I had a great time in my workshop this year. I took Paul L’s and Carol Crawford’s workshop on Sacred Harp singing (surprise, surprise). They did a lovely job. I had a funny conversation with another participant who had taken the workshop last year. She basically wanted to know why I was taking the workshop, since I already know how to sing Sacred Harp. I told her how I really love the chance to sing all the parts to the songs—it makes even the songs I know well seem new, and gives me a chance to practice sight reading. And with repeated exposure, the rudiments of music are slowly seeping in. I also know that it helps new singers if some more experienced singers are there, too. Plus, if I wasn’t in that workshop, I’d be wishing I was singing anyway. So why fight it?

The afternoon Sacred Harp singings seem to be getting better every year. Having a good singing space really helps, and I think more Quakers are learning to sing. Partly I enjoy these afternoons more because I know more people, so the singing starts to take on a bit of the same sense of community that a local singing can have. You build up a sense of the types of songs individual leaders are fond of, their quirks and humor, sometimes a sense of the joys or burdens they carry. I was moved to tears by the memorial Robert Sullivan gave of Hibbard Thatcher. He led 542b Martin in his honor, which I hadn’t heard before. I was also moved when Carl led 86 Poland as a prayer for a Friend who is dying. It’s a song that gets called a lot at home, and I had grown a bit tired of it. But hearing Carl speak about the courage of this Friend helped me hear the song in a new way.
It was great fun to celebrate my birthday at Gathering, as well. During workshop that morning, I was fiddling with my knitting and only half paying attention to the rudiments lesson, so I missed that we were singing Happy Birthday in shapenotes. It came as a complete surprise when Paul asked the class to sing it again with the words, and for the name to say “dear Linda.” Then he taught the class each part of 68b Ortonville, and asked me to come lead it. We gathered after singing for cupcakes. Everyone from my meeting made it, as well as singing friends, folks I knew from the trip to Alaska, and others I’ve met at various Quaker functions over time. Lovely, lovely.

The Rivers of Sorrow Shall Not Overflow

I led Bellevue tonight at my local singing. I became fascinated with it at Goshen, when Syble Adams and Claudine Townsend led it very slowly in four. We usually sing this at quite a clip, which is a great way to sing it. But I really appreciated the stately quality of the slower tempo and wanted to try to lead it that way at home. As I was leading, I found myself really taken by this verse:

"When through the deep waters I call thee to go
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”
From Bellevue (72b)

There’s a lot going on right now for many folks I hold dear. Several friends have lost close family members, are grieving the losses of relationships, experiencing illness themselves or that of those they love. There is much to hold in the Light. I find this verse so comforting, the idea that though there are rivers of sorrow, they will not overflow and be too much to bear. May we all feel our distress sanctified and feel the presence of God in our time of need. May we be the hands and ears of God for those among us who are suffering.

It's good to be home...I think

I'm finally home, after 3 weeks away. I've visited 5 states and traveled through several more; attended FGC Gathering, 2 local singings and two all-day singings; and done lots of sight seeing in the Twin Cities and Chicago. All of this was by train: Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Carl Sandburg, and the Wolverine. With few exceptions, I encountered lovely weather and lovelier people.

The cat was relatively sane when I arrived home: she meowed plaintively, but she didn't hiss at me once. Now she meows rather frantically if I leave the room for more than five minutes, but other than that, she's back to normal. She has managed to cover the entire house with her fur.

On the positive side, my mountain of mail included a birthday present of homemade cards from my Aunt; a card from Anna, a young friend from Gathering; a postcard from Catherine L., whom I just missed in the Twin Cities; and the knitting needles that I lent Kendra at Gathering (she wanted a pair so that she could teach her son how to knit on the train ride back).

I'm pretty tired, and not entirely ready to be back to the everyday joys of paying bills, working for a living, washing dishes and cleaning the house. I was definitely ready to not be in motion for a while, so being awakened by the 4 point something earthquake at 4:40 this morning seemed rather unwelcoming. The cat was not amused, either. Clearly, I'm not in the Midwest anymore.

I have grandiose plans for a series of posts about my travels. We'll see how that goes.