A YEAR-CHANGING NEWSLETTER 2005-2006 (Covering events from Advent to Ash Wednesday)
So, people have all sorts of ways of measuring time, some of which will be covered in this little missive. Based on the caption up there, it probably seems like I'm writing newsletters based on the liturgical season, but that's just a coincidence. Really. On the other hand, that would allow for a long break between Pentecost and Advent wouldn't it? Okay, but first we must turn the color back to the purple of Advent, before the New Years' celebrations of various cultures.
Practicing irregular verbs
|
As I recall it, last year I was telling you about our upcoming Christmas show when you suddenly had to go. Well, in your absence, we did in fact play that series of shows. From the start it took a little practicing in between Greek lessons, but I got everything all back up to speed to accompany the jugglers. This year, being the 7th Annual LOST AND FOUND Christmas Show tour, Rachel Kurtz brought along her husband, who plays a mean slide guitar, which has nothing to do with the number 7, but I needed some kind of hinge in that sentence. It was a real treat to hear them together. And the dwindling Fitz Family gained back a member for a net loss of one since the early days. So, that's the overview. Here are the towns we visited . . .
First Weekend: Caro, Michigan. Nice town, nice crowd, nice time. Mount Prospect, Illinois. Fine town, fine crowd, fine time. Oak Harbor, Ohio. Friendly town, friendly crowd, friendly time.
Look out!
Troy, the Gatekeeper
|
Since this last show was in a theater, we had all manner of costumes to mess around with, which we obviously did. Not sure what play they were putting on there near the nuclear power plant, but it must've had something to do with alcohol and ties and firearms. So, either it was a play about a business lunch in Queens or it involved a raid by the Justice Department and the Bureau of ATF. Also in Oak Harbor, as Michael and I were waiting backstage to go on, I thought maybe I saw an apparition over his right shoulder, but it must've just been the Peter Frampton lights or something. Oh, and in case you haven't met him before, this is Troy who runs our office. You can probably tell by looking at him that Troy is the president of his congregation back in Minnesota. A little piece of advice for the newcomer: Do not mess with Troy.
Second Weekend: Aurora, Illinois. Excellent town, excellent crowd, excellent time. Crystal, Minnesota. Festive town, festive crowd, festive time. Owatonna, Minnesota. Great town, great crowd, great time.
On top of the world!
Horse picking
Birthday ice cream.
|
With the second round of shows under our collective belt, it was time to call it a year, and Michael and I took the rest of the year off. Somewhere in there, my family and I drove back to Ohio to visit friends and family. Then, with the turning of the year, we celebrated Lily's birthday in grand style, as these photos will attest. As per her requests, we went up to Central Park and rode in one of those carriage thingies, then had dinner at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, one of the finer halls of fame in all of Manhattan.
Then, as I say, it became 2006, and we all crossed out 2005 on the first few checks we wrote, right? Our first travels of the new year took us to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is a completely different town from Cedar Falls, in case you didn't know. We were there to play some songs for a group of young Lutherans who were gathering to elect new officers and so forth. Sunday night, after having blazed over into Illinois, we played a concert in Rockford and had a fine turnout. The next morning, we played a different room in the same school for some Lutheran High School students, this being a Lutheran High School in Rockford. That evening, we drove on over to St. Louis and then both flew home and rested up for a while, until flying way over to Texas.
As you may know when you're not messing with Texas, everything is big there. And the Winterfest Gathering was no exception. We had a real big time in a big way with a big group and it was big of them to welcome us so warmly. From there, we flew up to St. Louis to look for our van, and then played in Kirkwood, which was as great as always. That Sunday night we played in Leawood, Kansas, which is Kansas City to you and me. Had a fun time and the kind hosts went and got us some delicious food to eat before the concert. Having eaten the delicious food, we were in perfect condition to have a fun concert, which we then did. Afterward, we drove to Cincinnati, Ohio, where we left the van and flew home.
For the final January fling, we flew back to Cincinnati and then found our way to Wilmington where we were joining up with yet another group of young Lutherans who were gathering to elect new officers and so forth. Spent the whole weekend with them, and then flew home Sunday afternoon. Having the next weekend off, meant I could join my family for the Chinese New Year's parade in Chinatown. And I can just imagine there will plenty of folks crossing out Yi-You and sheepishly writing Bing-Xu instead. You know, happens to everybody I guess. Then, just when everybody thought winter was over because of some groundhog in Pennsylvania, we had a delightful little dusting here in New York.
Once we could dig our way out, I went to the airport and met up with Michael in Cincinnati so we could drive down to the place where it's always Christmas: Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We were there to play the aptly named Winterfest. This is a h-u-g-e event put on by our friend Dudley and his crew. An amazing amount of young folks all having a great time in the unique town of Gatlinburg, and being subjected to our unique version of music. We had a Christmastime and then headed on off into the hills of the Smokies, or some such mountain range. Of course, it only makes sense that they're called the Smokies, since we were headed for Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Then I flew home, and Michael drove our van to our nation's capital and flew home as well. Then we quickly turned around and flew back to that van and drove it on over to Charlottesville, Virginia. Cool town, but not much time for sightseeing, since we were scheduled to play the ONE event, being held in a great auditorium there. My family was passing through on their way back from Florida, so we were all able to spend a few hours together as well. Had loads of fun, until we had to load out and drive on off into parts west.
The Most--rocking band
Nice Shirt!
|
Which is not to say we were not headed for fun, for we were. We went to Columbus, OH where we hooked up with our long-time friend Jay who runs the Lutheran Chapel on the campus. The folks that night taught us the complicated cheer for the Ohio State teams. I don't know that I have it all exactly right, but it goes something like this: O.H. I.O. As I say, I'm not sure I have it exactly right, but it's something creative like that. Anyway, afterward we said goodbye and drove further west into Indiana so that Sunday night we could play for a group of students at Concordia University, in Mequon, WI. Opening the show that night was a group called "The Most." They say it is their last gig, but I'm looking forward to the reunion tour, because they were really good! When they were done rocking, we played a few of our songs to close out the night. Also in attendance were a few members of one of the school bands. (Was it pep band? jazz band? rubber band? citizens' band?) Apparently, they had these shirts made up, and it made me laugh, so I took this picture.
Once that was all wrapped up, we drove south, stayed briefly in Chicago, and got up before the people in charge of sunrise in order to make our flights, which making we did. And now we're both home until tomorrow, when we'll be back on planes and the next newsletter season will be beginning.
Until you hear from me, you can look at these pictures and see if anyone you know came to one of them there concerts I was describing. Just click on the Photo Phrenzy to enter that world. And until you hear from us that another newsletter is ready for reading, remember to just bide your time and all good things will come to you.
Later on people,
george
Read more of George's monthly newsletters.
|
