Ramblings of a rural(ish) geek

I got back from camp yesterday. Officially, band camp ends with a full concert on Sunday afternoon, but there's a "participant celebratory dinner" at the local pub, and that's the unofficial end of camp. The first few years I went to camp, I'd either skip the 'celebratory dinner', or come home right after it; but that always felt like I was rushing the end of my vacation, and that's not something I like to do. (Most of those years had Reasons why I needed to be home by Monday morning, usually associated with offspring needing to be at the HS at 7am.)

It was the largest camp they've had (nearly 90 people!), and probably the most ambitious program as well. Lotsa new people, too. The saxophone section resolved itself into 6 altos - 3 tenors- 3 baris, so that was nice -- one of the alto players had volunteered to swap down to bari for the small ensembles, borrowed a friend's bari to get some practice, and had such fun with it that zie decided to swap down for all of camp. The entire sax section went out to lunch one day, and had a "sectional" before sectionals. No booze involved, though (still an afternoon of work to do). I stayed in the hotel on campus, in the cheap rooms (that was all they had left when I registered), but the rooms are fine, just old decor and no TV/coffee maker (I usually pack a kettle anyway, and rarely watch TV...). This year, the camp had included cafeteria privileges with a room, so I often ate there. It was camp food - there's always a couple of high schools on campus for their band camp, so the food is not adventurous at all. It's edible and nutritious and usually not horrible and "free". Food during the school year is better because there are fewer people to feed and they're less picky. It did mean that I really didn't need the kettle, because there was hot water in the cafe.

There were a couple of pieces where I looked at them and said "there are parts that this *horn* will not do. I'm not even going to try". Newer baris have a different arrangement of left hand keys and a slightly different mechanism that make those passages playable, but my old horn doesn't have those. I suppose that I should think about replacing her, but any horn that I'd want to play starts at $10K, unless I'm lucky enough to get an OpenBox or a used but well cared for horn from a local shop. I should probably check with the local shops, and ask them to call me if they get a good used bari in.... It'll probably take a couple of years to get a new-to-me horn that way.

The yard looks very different now, with the four 85' cottonwood trees gone. There's an oak tree that's got some gaps in its crown from where the cottonwood next to it was crowding it, and it will be interesting to see how long it takes to fill in. J says the tree guys wound up with three truckloads of wood chips from our trees, and that was *after* leaving us with 12-foot diameter by foot-high heaps of wood chips where they'd ground out the stumps and roots as best they could. The backyard is a lot less shaded than it was, although the deck didn't really lose any of its shade, which is good. The trees were shading a couple of gardens far more than I had intended (to be fair, 20+ years ago when I put the gardens in the trees weren't as tall or as large), and it will be nice to see the flowers-that-like-full-sun get healthier. After they get over the shock of Suddenly Much More Sun, of course.

packing paper arrived, so I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon repacking a 90 year old 12-place setting of china plus serving dishes into a couple of Not Too Heavy boxes. Ideally, I will be able to hand them off this summer, if the surface border to/from Canada opens and Sis can drive down. Otherwise, they'll sit in the basement for a while longer.

Livingston CCB concert was Sunday. They really are a pretty good band. Not "pitch optional", like a lot of community bands; the director is very good at selecting music that is within their technical abilities, and isn't afraid of giving the band new things to play. J _was_ able to come to the concert - he left right after the applause ended for the last piece to go pick E up at the airport.

Yesterday's FCB rehearsal was hard. You'd think we had a concert coming up or something. (two rehearsals lef - one of which the maestro will miss - and a stage rehearsal which will mostly be layout and sound check.) We'll be at the Farmington Community Arts center, which is a stage many of us have played on, but they have folding chairs and only 50 stands. And they want the band to base themselves there? Yeah, it's got the biggest bandroom and stage in the school district, but they don't seem willing to invest in infrastructure. The band is still observing all the safety protocols put in place in September, but that may change after the board meeting on Wednesday.

I should probably go pick up branches today, but my back is cranky. They tell us it will be warmer tomorrow, so I think I'll wait. (I should go to the gym, too; but see prior comment about cranky back. Again, tomorrow. :) )

temp in the high 60s, sunny, not much wind. Guess I should go do garden work.

PT this morning, early. One new exercise, refinements on a couple others. Really nothing new. Still unclear to me how much work they're going to do on the scapular weakness - I"m not sure there's much to be done, honestly. One more scheduled visit, then (I think) they'll go to every 10-14 days for visits, but there's two people doing the scheduling, and sometimes they miss notes....

Errands were errands. No house brand paper towels, and I had to poke around a bit to find the kind we like. We much prefer the half size sheets because they're less wasteful - if we need more than a half sheet of paper towel, that's what the barmops are for. Paper towels get used to clean up cat yack, wipe the egg pan, wipe up spilled milk, and as napkins for greasy or crumb-y things. One Meijer didn't have a couple of things I was looking for, but the one on the way home did. Cider mill is still open - they're currently planning on being open through Thanksgiving week. Still have to run into town for a couple of things from that grocer, but the most efficient route from where I was to the grocer in town goes by the house, and if I wait I can stop by the coffeeshop for a mid-afternoon latte and pastry snack. :)

In wildlife news, there were three does in the backyard when I went out to get the birdfeeders on Wednesday. I think they were also there on Monday, because I heard a lot of clattering into the cornfield when I turned the light on. Tuesday night when I came home from the election there was a 6 point buck standing in the driveway.

The birds are eating more birdseed now. I think it's mostly migrating birds, although some of the usual winter visitors (juncos, more chickadees) are beginning to show up. The woodpeckers are visiting the seed feeders, as it's easier than digging for bugs now.

In my email this morning was a notice that they were cancelling today's blood drive due to 'unforeseen circumstances'. Yesterday, they called to remind me about my appointment to donate, so my best guess is that a nurse or two was called to cover somewhere else, or the truck broke down.

I still went out upon errands, though. We were getting below my comfort level on a lot of things (as in, the last unit had been brought up from the pantry). I haven't really been grocery shopping all month, between my schedule and other people's panic buying, so that's not too surprising. I went to two grocery stores, Costco, and the coffee shop in town. Got everything on my list except rice and the frozen chimichangas that DB and I sometimes eat for lunch. (the coffee shop in town was not a necessary stop, but I was hungry, and given a choice between supporting a fast food joint and them? ZZ's wins.) The fridged stuff and fresh veg got disinfected before being brought in (MI has lots of cases, and western Washtenaw county is not free of them), and the rest will sit out in the car in plastic boxes (to keep the mousies out) until Sunday or until we need them, whichever comes first.

Yesterday morning I got a call from the PT clinic - "we're restructuring our treatment days, can you reschedule your appointments?" I have no schedule anymore, so I most certainly can reschedule.

Yesterday afternoon, I did yardwork! Raked up the willow branches (again! -- a couple of windy days since the last time we did it means more coming down); pulled weeds/grasses back around the well-point so the crocuses have more space; and weeded the deckside bed. There was a Bloop as I went past the pond, so at least one amphibian survived. I wasn't expecting any to be out yet, so wasn't looking at the pond, but I heard the bloop as it dove into the water, and saw ripples..... a bit cooler today, and rain much more imminent, so no yardwork. That, and my shoulders and back are very annoyed with me for yesterday's efforts.

It's very pretty! Although not right now, because it's gloomy out there -- it looks like it might rain. We got some rain yesterday (the rain gauge said <.1 inches, but it's a rather fussy 'raindrops going through the sensor' gauge, and the 'bucket on the ground' gauge said we got more like a third of an inch), and there are 'looks like rain' clouds today.

The FCB gig got rain-shortened yesterday - GM says we'll go back next year, with hopes of giving them a full concert (it's a reasonabe venue, as senior outreach venues go - decent parking for the band and most of the residents were either in the courtyard or on their patios). In other band news, Farmington Public Schools is not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing -- the staff at Harrison didn't know that we were going to be rehearsing there this summer, even though FPS told us that three months ago. This is a problem because they're deep-cleaning the music wing. Next week. And we have rehearsal on Monday and a gig on Thursday. There is some dismay among the board about Thursday's gig -- the 'stage' we're on is tiny (esp for 70 people), the acoustics are iffy (it's a riverfront park with the river behind the stage, and no bandshell), they want 2 hours of "patriotic music", and parking will be annoying at best. (people who live in that town say the best approach may be to show up about 4 pm and just hang out until the gig starts at 7.) We probably won't do that gig again. Then we have the nice park gig, at Heritage Park in Farmington - bandshell, the river's on the other side of the park, reasonable parking.

My back has been creaky for the last few days -- I moved wrong on Saturday while tearing down after the church rummage sale. :(

So, we've known for a while that we have at least one raccoon who climbs the post to the "house" birdfeeder and flips the top open so he can get the birdseed inside it. I don't know if it was a different one last night, or if it was pissed off, but last night it ripped the plexiglass side out of the feeder. There are grooves cut in the wood of the feeder for the plexi to slide into, and the wood on the outside was split right off.

We've had that feeder up for 15 years at least, repainted the roof of it at least once, replaced a roof panel once, and it was finally done in by a brat of a raccoon. I was able to wedge the side in, but I'll have to replace the feeder, probably today.

In other news, Wednesday afternoon I went out to weed, and was almost thwarted by dry ground. The east bed dries out quickly, and the weeds I was trying to pull have lots of very fine roots that don't like coming out of dry ground. I had to work each plant out, rather than just pulling like I can when the ground is soft. And then it rained Wednesday evening and Thursday, so it should be easy to work. It's also not even 50F, and that's too cold for me to weed.

Wednesday evening I went off to Saline HS to this year's collaboration concert, even though I had no kid on stage. Damien was directing, and I thought that Saline's bands were very good at Festival this year. (It's really odd, going to a concert that I don't stack-and-rack afterwards.) It was a pretty good concert -- SHS had invited Livonia Churchill HS out for this year's concert. I don't like LCHS' director (bad experiences at Festival), but I can't deny that she's a good director and good with her kids. Damien did HR Reynolds' O Magnum Mysterium with Saline's band, and it was gorgeous. (Ok, I'm biased because I really like that piece anyway, and any chance I have to revel in those glorious chords I'll take.) He then did Saint-Saen's Pas Redouble with the combined bands. The FCB had just done this piece with a guest conductor, and he had added in an accelerando at the end. Damien apparently liked it, because he had the mass band do it that way. :)

Lots more frogs! J went past the pond on the lawnmower and said he got about a dozen bloops, and when I went out shortly thereafter we got another 5 or 6.

SR is in the air as I type...a 13 hour flight from Detroit to Tokyo, and then another 4 hours to Taipei, where she will be met by a friend and his room-mate. The friend teaches at the school she will be teaching at. DB is being his bratly self, and making her cry at the airport -- he sent her a picture of the grey floofball.

By request, crane pictures!




There are two cranes in the bottom picture -- one is sitting on the ground. Not the best picture, but that was taken through the sliding door. I knew if I tried to open the door for a better picture the cranes would move (and at least one of the cats would have gotten out....)

This morning, Ji was annoyed with me because I wouldn't let him out. Sorry, cat, do *not* want to deal with this guy:



Yesterday I looked out and there were a pair of sandhill cranes wandering through the backyard and a deer out in the field. Earlier in the day, there was a single crane poking through the hulls under the birdfeeders:


There's at least one deer wandering through the yard (saw it in the field yesterday), and the kids tell me there's a family of turkeys in the vicinity -- they saw mama and a few chicks crossing the street yesterday.

In other news, we did a quick dessert table for a funeral. In Milan [n.b.: Milan (pronounced "mile-an") is a town about 30 miles away]. The family had the funeral meal catered, but the caterer doesn't do desserts, so a family member asked B if she thought it was something the church could do. She asked me, I said "I don't see why not", and voila!, I was in Milan with two crates of baked goods. B picked up more baked goods that people had left at the church and brought plates and napkins.

After perusing various schedules, and observing the way the calendars are colliding, I think that I will not be at the annual picnic. I'd like to be there, but I'm scheduled to work the election on Tuesday, beginning at 6am. J's not planning on leaving the site until Monday, and it's a 10 hour drive home. With Musecon the next weekend and band camp right after that, I'd essentially be gone for over two weeks, with just enough time home to do laundry and repack.

FCB stage rehearsal Friday evening, concert Sunday. The concert went pretty well, I thought. It was quick -- I think we would have been out of there in just over an hour if we hadn't had to do a complete stage reset at intermission. It was a collage concert, so the first half was small ensembles, and then the full band came on and did a mini-concert (fanfare, tricky piece, march, orchestral transcription). Then there was a whole band picture after, and then we struck the stage *and* organised the music folders. So I still didn't get home until 17:30. Tonight we get new music. For a concert in four rehearsals (no rehearsal on Easter Monday, because no rehearsal space).

DB's collage concert is this Saturday. The pictures J took at last year's concert are being used in the PR for this one (with permission, and credit in cases where the publication gives it). Mum was planning on coming to this one, but instead is in FL, dealing with AJ's estate. DB did get Benedick for Much Ado About Nothing-- while he menaces well, KA didn't have a lot of realistic choices for the lead. And there are other ways to do menacing than looming over people.

In yard/garden news, the snow is melting, and exposing a lot of birdseed hulls. A couple of days ago, there were fresh bloodstains on the snow. I don't know if a squirrel squabble got vicious or if it was a hawk strike -- there were no feathers, but the blood was still bright red.

There are snowdrops blooming in the garden by the side door. They were not blooming yesterday noon-ish when we got home from church.

We went to a really good HS concert on Saturday night. Intended to show off the best of CHS music, it did. Band, orchestra, choir, small ensembles, a couple of soloists, etc. The grand finale was all the instrumentalists on stage and the vocalists up in the "juliet" balconies, doing an arrangement of tunes from Phantom of the Opera. Even the lighting crew got into the show, popping spotlights on and off to show whichever group was performing.

There was a female red-bellied woodpecker at the birdfeeder this morning, completely ignoring the suet feeder five feet away. I tried to get a picture, but it's hard to get a decent picture through the rosebush -- that birdfeeder is placed for optimum bird usage, not visibility from the house.

There is a black cat sprawled on his back in the sunbeam. He's very restful to look at. :)

There is open water in the pond, melted down to the bottom. Only in the shallow areas, and not under the snowdrift, but still....

And it's opening day of the 2014 baseball season. Go get 'em, Tigers!