I thought I'd just journal today. I don't do that often enough these days, do I?
The weather was windy, warm and gray all day. Ike has been gone all weekend to Kentucky for the Southwind banquet. So things have been ultra quiet . . . almost.
Yesterday my husband and I managed to work on the house a little bit. We never do too much. It is simply overwhelming. Then his friend called him to ask for help choosing trees from his own property to put around his new house. My husband asked me if I'd care to go with him. Well--it was simply wonderful! The man's land has been a game/elk preserve since the 1930s and is uncultivated with the exception of some crops planted especially for the game. Pure tall grass prairie and the tall grass this year is as high as I am tall and I'm close to six feet. A beautiful creek cuts through the land, steep sided with plenty of water. We must have walked a mile north and then a mile back--at least--with some side trips to check out potential trees here and there. At one point we crossed a low water bridge and looked out at what looked to be a glassy pond, with a huge sycamore, all bright yellows and browns, overhanging the still water. And all the trees and the sky reflecting back off the mirrored surface of the water. The whole place is a piece of history--as it was established by one of our great oil barons. Maybe when we go back I'll have my camera and I can take some pictures. I hope I get the chance before leaf fall.
Then this morning the bell choir played a beautiful piece called Prayer. It haunted me all day.
I'm so embarrassed! I'm shy. Most people don't realize it, but I am. The bells play right at the start of the service. I was alone today--no family. There was nobody waiting for me in a pew or holding a spot for me. Before we began to play, I'd pegged out two potential seats that I could scurry into as soon as the service began. W-e-l-l . . . by the time the bells finished playing, neither seat was open. I walked down the side isle and back. I hate wandering around during the service. You know how people act when they know you're there, they know you are looking for a seat, they have plenty of space--but they don't want to scoot over and invite you in? You know that stubborn way they twist their heads away so they don't have to looooook at you? Yeah, well, I might do the same thing in their shoes since I choose an end seat on purpose . . . So, I gave up. The procession had a healthy start, but the tail end hadn't started down the center isle yet. That meant that Father was still in back of the pews near the narthex. I slipped around the corner and into the narthex, hoping my exit wasn't being witnessed, opened the outside door and, as I stepped out and was just preparing to pull the door gently to, a GUST of wind TORE it out of my hands and it slammed with a deep and resonant THUD! I'll bet it shook the rafters! I'm sure that people in the first row could hear it.
And so, I cowered on out to the parkinglot where I met up with a friend, also skipping, who was telling me that she was going home to take care of her sick daughter. I was pressing against the side of my car, she was so close. I kept my mouth shut. It's embarrassing. Really it is! Thank goodness she didn't get any closer, I might have confessed! "I'm skipping church because I couldn't find a seat!"
The bells returned for Evensong at 5:00. We did this really cool and simple thing called, "Church Bells in the City Square" (I think). While we were gathering, Father managed to come and stop dead center in my direct line of vision so I could not avoid looking at him. If it was an effort to make me feel guilty--he succeeded. And indeed, he did rather have that look about him.
The piece went
pretty well. One large bell starts it, one set of (8)high bells plays the scale from top down repeatedly; then the random ringers (myself included) chime in from a different quarter of the church; then two players begin playing Westminster Bells in another quarter of the church; each is quieted, until finally, in the silence at the very end one HUGE E bell bongs five bells to call people to evening worship.
Well, Ike was gone and so I volunteered to play his HUGE E. Practice had gone swimmingly even though it is definitely a tough bell to ring--very heavy, a two handed job! This evening, the first two bongs sounded great--but the third didn't happen! The clapper didn't fall, the move was a dud. I was standing smack dab in front of the congregation and everybody saw me glance fearfully up at the quiet bell, gather my strength for another attempt and finish all five.
The Tulsa Boys Choir were our guests tonight. They put on a wonderful service--I love Anglican chant! But as I sat listening to them, my mind tried to work on the bell scenario that had just failed--Ike's perfect bonging gone so bad in my weak hands . . . and I tried to figure out if an actual church bell could miss a ring. I imagined the large rope and the ringer grasping it, pulling it down, BONG, then riding the rope up, legs dangling, touching the ground and pulling the rope, riding it up and then--horror of horrors!--the hands slipping, the ringer falling, scrambling to get back up, chasing the wild rope as the bell swings silently overhead . . . and I laughed almost silently at the thought.
The service wrapped up. The boys filed silently out of the Church. I looked them over, smiling at them as if to say I appreciated their music. And then before I'd corralled my eyes, Father, taking up the rear as usual caught me. I looked away--but sneaked a look back and he was still looking directly at me. He had that knowing smile . . .
