Sweet Prospect: Music At Christ Church
I remember when I lived in Qatar, and Kuwait, and then Qatar again, how I would read about something in the paper – the day after it happened. The things I did go to – and there were some spectacular events in Qatar – were mostly word of mouth, a personal invitation, very few cultural events were well advertised.
Not so in Pensacola. There is a wonderful Symphony, truly wonderful. There is an Opera, and several theatres, and even a Pensacola Ballet. And there is Music at Christ Church.
Yes, I am partial. We attend Christ Church, and I always love a concert where the surrounding is so beautiful. Tonight’s concert was irresistible – hammered dulcimers. Hammered dulcimers! Some of the earliest music in our country was hammered dulcimer. Lucky for me, AdventureMan loves music, and was as eager as I was to go to this concert.
So off to church in the morning, then meet up with our son and his wife – who ran the half marathon today, HOOOO-AHH! And of course, our darling little grandson, who wants nothing to do with me these days, not when there is AdventureMan, the original fun-guy. Famous Dave’s Barbeque, a wonderful meal with a truly great waiter, patient, kind, didn’t mind a baby and four dawdling adults – good fun, good conversation, good food, and then off to the concert.
The sun started setting around 3:30, and the concert began in the dimmed church around 4. It was sheer magic. The group, Sweet Prospect, is so talented, and their music is so lovingly performed. Melissa Allured plays the recorder as well as most of the melodies in the selections they played today, Sheryl Bragwell plays the hammered dulcimer and a bowed psaltery, and Gary Diamond backs them up with guitar. They played a wide variety of tunes; Scottish, Irish, early American, even a very Wyndham Hill sounding piece from a Lopez Island (Washington State) artist Gary Haggerty, called Coffee American, which was lively and quick.
(angel playing Psaltery)
I have a complaint. The concert was only an hour long. I could have listened longer. But oh, what a wonderful hour it was! I love the Music at Christ Church program. There is a suggested donation for the concert, but if you can’t afford the $10 donation, no one is standing there scowling if you want to come into the church and hear some great music. There is a bowl out for collecting the donation, people toss their donation in and sit down. The concerts are also sponsored by several levels of music lovers at Christ Church who are patrons of the arts, and contribute generously so that these opportunities are available to the Pensacola community. How cool is that?
The good news is that on the Sweet Prospects website you can also listen to some of their recordings, and you can buy their CD’s. THIS IS IMPORTANT, ADVENTUREMAN! The one I really really want is called Cold Frosty Morn. If you go to their website, it tells you how to order it, or you can find one of the bookstores in Pensacola that sells it. (hint hint) It is Christmas music. If you want to go listen to a tune or two by Sweet Prospects, click on the blue type above, and listen away. 🙂 If you live in Pensacola, and you want to learn to play the dulcimer – or several other early musical instruments – there is a group that welcomes you and will teach you how. Learn to play hammered dulcimer – in Pensacola. I am blown away.
It’s just been such a great day, full of church, family and culture. We are so glad to be in Pensacola.
I just wish Sweet Prospects would be picked up to be sent on a cultural tour to our embassies in the Middle East. I wish our friends there, who love music, and who know the early musical instruments of the Middle East, could hear this music, and see these instruments, which are so similar. As I enjoyed every minute of this concert, I was wishing my Arab Gulf friends could be hearing it, too. This music is so American, and yet, you can hear the early strains of the Irish, the Scottish, and yes, even the sounds of the Holy Lands, brought back to Europe by the early crusaders.
Welcome to Ed’s Seafood Shed, Mobile, Alabama
“Oh my Mom is going to love this place!” I told AdventureMan as we entered Ed’s, a Mobile favorite.
He looked at me sideways.
“She can’t climb all those stairs,” he said, “But I will help you push the wheelchair up the ramp.”
LOL, it is a long way up. But it is worth the push. 🙂
When you get there, they bring you a bowl of cole slaw, and no wonder, it is really good, not too sweet, not too much mayonnaise, and just a little bit of bite. It quells those stomach rumbles while you look at the menu:
We always have to try the onion rings. We look for real onion rings, not processed pieces of onion reformed into identical rings, and we look for a light batter. These were wonderful:
And no. No, we are not supposed to be eating deep fried onion rings. You’ll notice there aren’t a lot, and each one was delicious. 🙂
AdventureMan had the Scallop Platter, and I had shrimp and scallops. We both had turnip greens. You’d think that would be healthy, wouldn’t you? They were SO delicious, but I am guessing it is because they were full of ham, and salt:
We always have to test the hush puppies, rate them on a scale. These were pretty good!
This is the condiment of the South, pepper vinegar:
And now, what you have been waiting for, what Ed’s Seafood Shack looks like:
It’s just like Kuwait and Qatar; once the heat eases up, we all want to eat outside. 🙂
The food is so delicious, we can’t go too often. We’re too tempted by those onion rings and those hushpuppies. But the prices are reasonable, the outside deck is comfortable, the view is great and it is close to the Battleship Museum in Mobile. We saw many people having desserts, huge desserts full of chocolate and whipped cream and by the grace of God, we were able to pass those up. Bon appetit!
Update 14 Nov: I got the nicest note from the people at Ed’s Seafood Shed, and I want to share it with you:
Hi! This is Barbara Bridges, owner of Ed’s Seafood Shed. I just read your post about your visit to Ed’s. Thank you very much for the nice comments! I am so happy you enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. If you bring your Mom just call the front desk and my Manager will push her up the ramp for you.
(number for manager taken out by Intlxpatr in case they don’t want everyone calling them, LOL!)
Again thanks and hope to see you soon.
Barbara Bridges
Ed’s Seafood Shed
Veteran’s Day Tribute
Thank you for your faithful service to your country, and to mankind.
I Miss St. Martin of Tours
Today is Veteran’s Day in America, and in Europe, it is the patron saint day of St. Martin of Tours (patron saint of France) who, on a cold winter’s night, saw a beggar freezing and took his own warm red cape and split it in half with his sword and gave the begger half.
(I’ve always wondered why he didn’t give the beggar the whole cloak?)
All over Germany, a rider portrays St. Martin in towns and villages, and little children with lanterns on sticks greet him with songs.
Here, you can spend six minutes in a German village, experiencing the St. Martin’s Day parade and the arrival of St. Martin on his horse:
Today is also the beginning of the St. Martin’s goose season, one I used to wait for avidly while living in Germany. Oh Yummmmm.
Happy Veteran’s Day, to all those who have proudly served or are proudly serving our country.
‘Where’s the #!*% Gecko?’
Today when I got home, I saw that Barcelona Red (AdventureMan’s car) had a rear light that looked like it was out. Oh oh. It looks like Barcelona Red took a crunch! I rushed inside to make sure AM was OK, which he was, and actually, he was very calm, it was a small accident, a young girl hit him while he was waiting for the car in front of him to make a left turn across traffic. They exchanged insurance information, AM filed a police report, and we think all is well.
AdventureMan and I follow good advertising campaigns. ‘What makes a good campaign?’ you are asking, and I will tell you. It gets your attention AND you remember the name of the advertiser when recalling the ad. If it is really good, it enters the national vocabulary, like ‘where’s the beef?’ or MAC vs PC.
‘I hope that Gecko pulls through for me,’ AdventureMan says, a little traumatized now that all the must-do’s are done. It’s her insurance. She has the Gecko. Great campaign; we’ll see how they perform in real life.
Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus at Macys in Philadelphia
What a great way to start my day! Thank you, Momcat, for this wonderful new cultural random happening, this time at a large Macy’s in Philadelphia. Of course, this music is one I put on if I am feeling down; it lifts me right back up. 🙂
Vote. Vote For Your Candidate, But Vote Because You Can
When it comes to elections and elected officials, I am cynical. To me, it’s almost as if, when a person wants to get elected, just wanting to be elected is an indication that they are unfit for office. Elected office attracts narcissists, men and women hooked on power, people with a void in their hearts which only the acclamation of the crowd can fill . . . and a few good candidates.
If you are a woman and if you know anything about how hard it was for women to get the vote, please, vote. (If you don’t know anything about our fight to vote, click here.) Please be sure to read the comments, too, as the article was written the first year the Kuwaiti women were allowed to vote, and I was writing in Kuwait.
Before you go out to vote, here is some wisdom from the book of Psalms (from today’s readings in The Lectionary) It’s all about power, the illusion of power, and where power actually rests. It will give you hope and courage. Then – go vote. 🙂
Psalm 62
To the leader: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall never be shaken.
3 How long will you assail a person,
will you batter your victim, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.
Selah
5 For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my deliverance and my honour;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah
9 Those of low estate are but a breath,
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no confidence in extortion,
and set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
according to their work.
“To Serve You More Efficiently”
This is a photo we saw yesterday in the drive-through window at McDonalds. I will add that AdventureMan hates any kind of drive-through because he thinks there is a greater chance of not really getting what you ordered, but I love the convenience, and I was only ordering one simple thing:
Excuse me? If you have four ladies coming back from a shopping trip (say like) and each wants to pay her own order, you can’t do that? To serve us more efficiently, we can only make two orders per car? If I were a fast-food chain which relied on my customer’s good will, I would serve them, period.
Whenever a bank or a store or a fast-food joint start a sentence with “to serve you more efficiently” start looking for CUTS in service – shorter hours, fewer free services, fewer employees, fewer amenities.
Getting it Wrong
With all my years of living abroad, with all the experience I’ve had keeping my head down, observing, and trying to look and act like the locals, you’d think I’d get it right in my own country, right?
Wrong.
Well, most of the time I get it close enough. Sometimes I am overdressed at the Target or Home Depot. Rarely am I underdressed, but today I was. I looked around the church and I was one of very very few women in short sleeves. Almost every woman was wearing a jacket with either full length sleeves or 3/4 sleeves. Oops, I thought. When you are new, you especially need to try to look like those around you. It must be a calendar thing, not a temperature thing, because the temperatures today are back up in the 80’s; that is not long sleeve weather in my book, but it is in the Southern Lady Book.
One week I wore purple shoes – I love my purple shoes. I realized, too late, that they might go a lot of places, but probably not to our church. Oops.
Florida is particularly hard because there are the long-time Floridians and then those who are more newly arrived. I learned this the last time I lived in Florida, when, thanks be to God, I had an old Florida friend who told me all the inside scoop to help me pass. That was about 20 years ago, though, and some of the information has gotten a little outdated. The first rule, though, is not to look like a tourist. No little sundresses – and if you get a sunburn, you should have T-shirt marks on your arms so people will know you’ve been out fishing or working in the garden. No T-shirts with beachy sayings; T-shirts from the Breast Cancer Run or the Junior League Marketplace are OK.
My big dilemma right now has to do with legwear. I overheard some of the younger women in the locker room at aqua aerobics laughing about ‘old lady’ stockings, and I realized they meant nylon stockings. I haven’t worn them for a long time, except for once or twice in Seattle when I was back in the winter and had to go to funerals, but I don’t know what ladies are wearing in the place of nylon stockings. Nylon stockings in Qatar and Kuwait were pretty much irrelevant; when the temperatures are in the 120’s F, you simply don’t bother, wearing nylons is unthinkable.
You almost can’t even find nylon stockings in Florida, and a lot of the women seem to finesse the matter entirely by wearing pants, or not wearing stockings at all, which you can do in the summer, and of course you can wear pants in the winter, but what do you wear in the winter if you want to wear a skirt? It does get cold in Pensacola, and my legs are going to need some protection. Â I have a good supply of colored tights, which I have seen some younger women wearing, but this is one of those times when I feel like I have been gone from my own culture for too long and I am out of touch.
As I looked around the women at church today, I also had the funny idea that almost every woman in that church would do just fine in Qatar or Kuwait, they are covered to the elbow – and beyond – and they are covered to the knee, at the very least, with clothing that is mostly not too tight. Just as wearing long sleeves seems to be more cultural than weather-driven, covering your hair in the Islamic countries is more cultural than religious. Mohammed, the Prophet, told the women to ‘cover their adornments;’ it was the men who decided that hair is an adornment. My Saudi women friends told me that it originally meant ‘cover your breasts’. It’s cultural, not religious.
Still working out what works – and what doesn’t – in Pensacola. Praying that all my ‘oops’ are little ones.
A Day in Flomaton, Alabama
All we knew when we started the day was that we wanted to explore a little bit north of Pensacola, maybe even up into the part of Alabama that is across the state line to the north (as opposed to the part of Alabama that is across the state border to the west). We thought we were having a very boring day until we wandered into Flomaton, and AdventureMan discovered a railroad museum.
Flomaton is at the very top of the map:
The railroad museum was also an older house, now the museum, and an older 2 room cabin out back, moved from its original location. Here is a recreation of the old front parlor:
The Railroad Collection room:
The log cabin was out back of the house, and had two women spinning wool into yarn on the porch, who very graciously allowed me to take their photo:
Inside the log cabin – we were told the couple who lived in this cabin had 12 children; they slept on the floor on pallets at night:
At the museum, there was a flyer about “Back to your hometown weekend” in Alabama, which just happened to be that very weekend. The town was full of returning people, there had been a parade and fireworks the night before (three former homecoming queens told me about this) and there was a street fair to celebrate Home Town Flomaton. 🙂
It was nearly lunchtime. We could smell Barbecue. The street fair was just a block away and there was parking right there, right by the fair. It was so much fun:
People were so kind and so helpful. This young woman was grinding corn, and we speculated that it must have been a great modern invention, and a real time saver, when it was invented. A woman passing by said she remembers her own mother using the same machine; all the corn was then taken to be ground, and stored in large airtight bottles in a dark ‘keeping room’ with preserves and food to get them through the winter.
This band was playing blues, gospel and country music, and they were pretty good!
As we stood and watched the choir, another woman welcomed us, and told us we really needed to see the new library (it was gorgeous!) and if we hurried, we could catch the Raptor Show at Otter Point. A Raptor Show!
Inside, there was a butterfly house, and several displays of local natural life:
There was also a wonderful hiking trail out over the wetlands, well maintained and beautiful:
The Raptor presentation was very well done, informative and funny, on many levels. They had a large audience of children, who learned a lot, and also adults like us, who also learned a lot. The bald eagle’s beak is deformed by PCB’s, which, although banned back in the 1970’s, are still present in the environment in quantities high enough to cause birth deformities. The only reason they were able to adopt the bald eagle, a protected species, was that while he can hunt, he cannot tear his food apart with his malformed beak.
It was a day full of gracious hospitality. People were so kind to us, and went out of their way to make us feel welcome and to explain what we were looking at. For a day that started with no clear goal, we felt like we had been abundantly blessed by happening across this beautiful October day in Flomaton, Alabama.
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