Balance

My disgust and anger at the so-called "health care overhaul"bill that the Republicans in the House of Representatives managed to squeak through today by four votes knows no bounds. Twenty Republicans had the courage to vote no, along with the 193 Democrats. 

Much has been written about this "health care" travesty already, and much more will be added in the coming days. It's late, so I'm quieting my mind and reflecting back on the good things that happened today, among which was seeing this Steller's Jay and several other interesting birds, including two pairs of Goldfinches and a Black-headed Grosbeak, at our high feeder. 

Another was having our arborist friend John prune the three Japanese maples that grace our front and back yards. The trees look even more beautiful now, with their fresh new leaves and graceful limbs more evident.

A third pleasant thing was having several hour hours of sunny spring weather, followed by a thunderstorm -- not common here -- and a good rainfall. The Pacific Chorus Frogs in the seasonal wetland behind our house were singing fortissimo tonight! You can hear their songs on that link, as well as enjoy a range of photos and interesting information about them.

The fourth good thing began yesterday. At the Whatcom Chorale rehearsal on Tuesday, the director invited a few of the second altos to help out the tenors with passages in the Brahms Requiem that sit high in their range. I can sing comfortably to the E below middle C, so I jumped (figuratively) at this opportunity. 

I had purchased my own score of the Requiem so I could mark it up as needed, and had the full alto part carefully annotated. Now I had to review the work again, figuring out where I would sing with my own section and where I'd switch over to help the tenors out. That took longer than I'd expected, as it was more complex than just marking one voice part, but now I'm ready to use my tiny toy piano to play the two parts I'll be singing. After that, I'll sing along with one of the many YouTube videos of *choirs performing this superb choral work, and hope to be ready by Tuesday evening to get through my chorale's rehearsal well. 

We have a busy weekend ahead, about which more later... I'll catch up here on Sunday, if not before.

(*My favorite is this one  of Herbert Blomstedt conducting the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/Danmarks Radio SymfoniOrkestret.)

Blip 1795