“People have always been good at imagining the end of the world, which is much easier to picture than the strange sidelong paths of change in a world without end.” Rebecca Solnit (Thank you, Jenni, for this quotation) I am no stranger to panic.  I suffered for nearly 20 years with panic disorder.  A counter-intuitive  Read the Rest…

This is the third in a series posts about a 40th Whitman College reunion that begins with Walla Walla Begin Again. On Saturday morning were the class photos, the parade of classes and convocation.  For the photos we all congregated on the steps of “Mem,” the Memorial Building, a truly iconic structure to Whitman students.  Read the Rest…

(This is the fifth in a series that begins with A Night in Steerage.) Saturday, June 11 arrived.  This was the day I had planned my entire trip around.  The day of the St Leonard’s Church village fete.  We’ve all seen fetes on PBS mini-series: the big hats, the tea tent, local musicians, crying children,  Read the Rest…

Memorial Day Weekend: a signpost to vacation like pausing my library holds, arranging on-line bill pay, another storm of cottonwood pollen and another Northwest Folk Life Festival for the annals of The OK Chorale.  Our first official appearance at Folk Life, fifteen years ago, was on the Intiman Stage under dramatic lighting and it gave  Read the Rest…

I yelled at the Chorale. In 23 years of directing the Chorale I never remember yelling at them. I am often irritated by them but I don’t let that show. I’m a singer and I know how to take a deep breath. I often raise my voice over them to get their attention, but that’s  Read the Rest…

The OK Chorale lost one of our long time singers three days ago. Quite unexpectedly, Hal, our resident funnyman, died in his sleep. He was cheeky, irreverent, and a reliable bass with a lovely voice. When I got the news, I went trawling through my blog posts to find the ones he had starred in.  Read the Rest…

My two choirs began last week. I’m not sure what prescience caused me to be more than usually prepared with the music, the schedule and the quarter routine but I shudder to think what the first rehearsals would have been like if I hadn’t been. The OK Chorale has been singing for 23 years. It’s  Read the Rest…

There’s almost nothing I like better than sleuthing out a new song.  This week, as it continues to be World War II at my house, the latter interest has intersected with the former.  Just as one gets used to seeing the same news footage of D-Day, of the Zyklon-B can, and of the liberation of  Read the Rest…

The week after my Confining Illness was almost harder than the week itself.  There was a point what with the obscenely sore throat and conjunctivitis in both eyes that I realized couldn’t even pretend to work.  After that I almost enjoyed not having to do anything except occasionally forage for food.  Feeling well enough to  Read the Rest…

The All Present/OK Chorale Holiday Concert and Cookie Exchange took place over the weekend.  The actual Cookie Exchange was demoted to Cookie Potluck as in the end no one had the stomach for the politics of a formal cookie exchange. “Whose idea was this cookie exchange anyway?” asked Susan, my lovely assistant with All Present  Read the Rest…