Monday, December 05, 2005

Weather Facts & Tara the flutist (is that what you call it?)

Okay, I know I PROMISED that I would not post anything about the weather. However, I believe I can post FACTS without opinion and that would not qualify as complaining about the weather.

1. This morning around 3:00 a.m. I woke up to see JB padding the window in our room with a towel. I was too tired to ask what he was doing, however, when I woke up this morning, I asked. The windows in our condo are problematic (the condo association is working on this, but we are hoping they work slowly and that they don't resolve it until after we move out because it will result in another assessment.) However, you will notice on the picture below that what JB was doing was trying to stop the frost from creeping up the window and dripping! This picture was taken after work TODAY so this is much improved from what it was in the middle of the night. Yes, that is frost inside our home.

2. Right now as I write this, it is -6 (-22 windchill).

3. Tomorrow's high is 4 (-13 windchill). That is the HIGH temperature mind you in the AFTERNOON. I'd prefer not to write the low.

Again, these are just facts. These are not complaints.

More facts about the weather. Last night, JB and I went to hear Tara play her flute at St. Mary's Chapel during an Advent/Christmas service. This is probably the most beautiful church in Rochester. In addition, the music was just amazing. I am enclosing some pictures from the night's events.

However, after the service was over, we had to walk about 100 yards from the chapel to the car. During this walk (and mind you this is a FACT not a COMPLAINT), I literally got sick to my stomach I was so cold. I know it was in the negatives with windchill. I have no idea how cold it was. I asked JB why my stomach hurt and he said it had something to do with the fact that I was getting the shivers in my abdominal muscles. I didn't know this was possible, but it was.

To make matters worse, we got stuck on the sidewalk behind a very old woman. Now I feel bad saying this because the woman said to her son, "I am so sorry that I am walking so slowly and holding all these people up!" The son then said, "Don't worry -- these are hearty Minnesotans behind us!" I wanted to SCREAM, "NO WE AREN'T -- WE ARE WIMPY FLORIDIANS". Instead, both Tara and I made the decision to venture into the snow on the side of the walk in order to pass the older woman. We had no choice. It was too cold to walk that slowly.

We were so cold, we went to Olive Garden for soup. This helped considerably as did the hot tub when we got back home. We stood in the lobby of Olive Garden for quite a few minutes before we ran back to the car when we were done. We could have stolen numerous vehicles on the way out as everyone had their cars running trying to keep them warm.

Again, these are JUST FACTS. NO COMPLAINTS.

Okay, back to the concert. We had to get there an hour early to get seats so we had some time to pass. I am not sure if taking pictures in church is sacrilegious, but I should note we didn't use a flash. Here are the pictures from the concert.

Here is Tara playing her flute. She played her flute for two songs, however in the song Ria Ria (Tara did I spell that right?) Tara was simply AMAZING, and afterwards, everyone was coming up to her telling her it was. She was absolutely AWESOME. And I don't care if she gets mad at me for saying this. JB and I were awe-struck since neither of us are very musically inclined (although, we both were 1st chair clarinets in junior high!)

The choir and the orchestra played behind us. The sound through the chapel was simply awesome. I only wished we could have seen them (especially the harp player!)


Passing time before the service started.


Here is a picture from our seat in the chapel. This chapel is in St. Mary's hospital.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hi, sometimes i sit in in the back row of this chapel and pray for family and friends. One night i entered and heard a small group singing; it was beautiful. The acoustics were just right for raising voices to the Lord. There is an awesome presence when mind is filled with challenges. Think i will visit the chapel tonight and lift up prayers for JB and W.