Toomers Trees

I am a tree lover. I always have been. I find them beautiful no matter what the season is. I adore the Spring and Fall colors. I love the fullness of the foliage in Summer, and admire the elegant contours of the branches when they are bare in Winter.


I chose my home largely due to the wonderful big trees in the yard. The house could be fixed up, but trees like mine only come around once in a lifetime. When I go on vacation anywhere without many trees, I miss them so much that it is almost a physical ache.


Like most people I have talked to, I am absolutely devastated over the brutal and senseless poisoning of the gorgeous and historic old oaks at Toomers Corner in Auburn, Alabama. That just disturbs me deep in my soul. And what if some fools decide to do "copycat" tree killings? Are any historic trees truly safe right now? Especially if they belong to an SEC school like the ones in "The Grove" at Ole Miss. 


I am not going to stop praying that somehow, miraculously, these trees can be saved. And sending my best to my Auburn friends during this time. 

Happy Singer

I was able to sing a couple of hymns in church for the first time since New Years, making it a happy Sunday for me. 


I saw both my pulmonologist and my neuromuscular specialist this past week. Basically, the MG and asthma are going to affect my voice to some degree for the rest of my life, primarily in the area of being able to sing for very long at one time. This continues to rule out things like doing concerts at nursing homes and singing in cantatas. Right now, even an entire Sunday morning service singing in the choir is not manageable. 


I have to try to focus on what I still can do vocally. I can still sing a solo or two. I hope to make another recording, a bit at a time. I hope to sing the National Anthem for the Mississippi Braves this Spring or Summer. And, now I can "sing" with my paintbrush, which helps tremendously. 


But, for today, I am just grateful that I could sing a couple of hymns and sound almost like my old self. 

De-Friended

While browsing around my FaceBook account this weekend, I decided to look up a couple of people whose names had not come up in my feed lately.

Not totally to my surprise, I discovered I had been "de-friended." Even though our real friendship had cooled through circumstances, I was hoping we could at least keep up a distant FB relationship. I had limited my interactions with her on FB to "liking" links and pictures.

But, the de-friending speaks volumes. And I hear it loud and clear.

National Anthem

Poor Christina Aguilera. For the next few days she is going to be ragged  far and wide for forgetting the words to the National Anthem. 


I can understand how this can happen. I have sung the National Anthem for everything from Little League to the AA Mississippi Braves. When all those eyes are on YOU, it is possible to get a bit nervous. 


I can deal with forgetting the words. However, for someone with Christina's talent, this performance was awful. I lost track of how many times she changed keys. And the only person who has really been able to get away with that degree of showboating is Whitney Houston. 


Of course, I am old fashioned. I don't think the "Star Spangled Banner" should be a platform for showboating and grandstanding. I think it should be sung in a manner befitting the flag and our country. Some of the most wonderful compliments I have ever received have been from veterans who come up to me I sing our National Anthem at some occasion with tears in their eyes. They always say "this is the way our National Anthem should be sung. 


Christina, next time you are asked to sing the National Anthem, remember who and what you are singing for. 


Then I bet you remember the words.