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28 February 2004 - 6:54 p.m.
Afternoons like this, Nashville is one of the best places to be alive, ever. It's 64 F, the sun is shining, and I'm sitting on my deck in a light sweater and long dress, watching my dog romp around the yard and listening to the noises around me - birds chirping, people working on their houses and cars, other dogs barking, traffic zooming by on the main thoroughfare a few streets away. There's a glass of milk at my feet and a frying pan balanced on the rail near my head. I left church wanting a hamburger and fries, but on the way home remembered the package of mushrooms in my fridge needing to be used up. So, instead, I stopped by the neighborhood organic store and picked up a jar of sun-dried tomatoes and a jar of olives (and remember, I live on the "wrong" side of the river), and scrambled some of the eggs with the mushrooms, some chopped onion, some leftover "crabmeat," and some of the goat cheese remaining from last week's experiment with stuffed tomatoes. Other things making me happy: The purple tulips and cream-colored miniature calla lillies I picked up for yesterday's brunch.The story about the hymn Jason wrote to close this morning's service: he was in Boston last Tuesday working on the new supplement to Singing the Living Tradition, and happened to be in the UUA president's office when Sinkford and his staff began drafting his response to Bush's endorsement of an amendment against same-sex marriage. When Jason heard Sinkford say, "We stand on the side of love," he started writing the hymn. . .and after he was done with the errand that had brought him to Sinkford's office in the first place, he went back to the hymn commission's meeting and eventually (after Leon noticed his distraction and said, "You're writing something, aren't you? Come on, let's hear it. . .") played it for his colleagues there. On Thursday night, he shared this story with the choir and we read through the draft, which was in E-flat major and had only the third verse. Today we sang it in E major, all three verses, with congregation and piano and bass and drums:We are standing on the side of love:hands joined together as hearts beat as one.
Emboldened by faith, we dare to proclaim
we are standing on the side of love. [Copyright Jason Shelton 2004; melody "Sinkford" (7.6.5.5.8 with refrain)]
Speaking of drums, the kit at church had jewel-toned plastic butterflies affixed to the rims and stands, and a stuffed pink bunny rabbit sitting between the two snares. This made me ridiculously happy.Our pianist really showed off her chops today, with Fred Bock's arrangement of "America the Beautiful" and Phillip Keveren's version of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."Watched another keyboard virtuoso play Bach's Toccata in F Major (BWV 540), which includes some killer pedal solos. (I wonder about taking up organ playing as a workout option? It looks more fun and more exhausting than riding a stationary bike. . .)During "Joys and Concerns," one woman lit a candle in memory of her mother, "who would have been celebrating her 21st birthday today were she still alive."The Google leap-year froggies.Three years ago: "Last night I read myself to sleep with The World of Jewish Entertaining, which included a recipe for homemade fortune cookies." (Looks like the Lucille Clifton links are dead. Try this one instead. . .)
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