Music and musings

Today felt the way I imagine retirement ought to feel. Sitting outside after gym to read the paper (refusing to consider doing something more constructive), so by the time I got upstairs there was only just time to arrange to meet a friend and get ready to go to a concert in the city. Anna, one of our young choir monitors, directs a talented group of musicians, who sing a capella accompanied just by a drummer (see extra photo). Today’s show featured this group and similar one that has been going a little longer, and we enjoyed it enormously.
 
Afterwards, we walked through the broiling, crowded streets of Rio’s ‘Sahara’ district with our friend, who’s in her late 80s but very young at heart, till we reached Colombo, Rio’s most traditional fin de siècle style coffee shop, recently visited by digital daze and Barrio boy. Vera told us how her parents used to take her there in the days when the city was home to all the smart shops, restaurants and theatres, Ipanema was just a sandy expanse and even Copacabana had few houses. The food’s nothing to write home about nowadays, but the immense mirrors, soaring ceiling and high-up mezzanine floor are magnificent, even if the plaster's peeling in places.
 
I peeled off afterward to collect my camera, with its repaired lens gear and got home just in time to shower and head out to our choir rehearsal. Good news – we have two new recruits and the average age is creeping downwards. Still have to remind a couple of friends that they were going to join us, and it may come down even further.