It's not about making sense

The research I'm doing is truly fascinating and feels important, and it's exciting to be ticking off boxes towards a presentation in June... but I also keep running across things I want to read, rabbit holes to go down, and mostly just have to plant a marker and move on. I'll be back- to at least some of them!

So, I'm doing research on Thomas Commuck, a native Narragansett who moved from Rhode Island to New York and then to Wisconsin, early 19th century. Late in life he sought compensation for family land back in Rhode Island, and apparently became frustrated, trying to handle the matter from a distance. So, trying to truly capture an advocate's attention, he wrote up his case-- in verse! (I have no idea whether he ever succeeded. I suspect not, but will try to find out.)

( Click to read )

So, I'm researching a member of the Brothertown Indians, and laboring my way through a scholar's dissertation on their cemeteries. The author notes that all the gravestones in the NY Brothertown cemeteries line up, but the orientation is odd-- neither east/west, the usual Christian orientation, nor head to the southwest, a usual native custom; but slightly south of east. Perhaps because I live in the area, the diagram he posted gave me an idea, and I wrote to him.

"Sir, I am researching the life of Thomas Commuck, and reading your Becoming Brothertown with great interest. Something struck me as I read the chapter about the burial sites in New York. I hope you will forgive an audacious question: Could they have been oriented to face towards their homelands in Rhode Island and Massachusetts? That could account for the not-quite-east orientation.

Your book is helping me fill out my understanding of Commuck, and I am grateful."

He wrote back! And he doesn't think I'm crazy!

"Dear Carol,

Thanks for your kind email. This sounds like an interesting possibility. I would have to have a closer look at the data since it’s been more than a decade now, but in general, I think it is feasible. Good thinking. All the best, C---- C-----"

From my Facebook memories: "Today's surreal life experience: chatting with a professional wrestler while lifting weights. He was really nice."

That was my first gym. I was on the point of joining Planet Fitness when I saw a flyer for a more convenient gym that was matching the PF pricing, and dropped in for a tour. It was clearly a jock gym, but with quite a few seniors on the cardio machines. Silver Sneakers had just been added to Medicare, and the gym had told all their regulars that 'the seniors are helping pay your bills so you WILL treat them well, right?"

It was also associated with professional wrestling, so when the tour came to town, the wrestlers worked out there. The day of that memory, one of them got frustrated with the crowds in the free weight area, so was working out in the weight machines-- too "wimpy" for most of the jocks. He saw that I was watching for my turn on the machine he was using, and wiped it down and adjusted it so I could alternate between his sets. He was good company!

As a church musician and historian, I am well aware that many of our hymn tunes come from secular sources, especially English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh folk music. But I wasn't expecting this one....

"My name was Robert Kidd, when I sailed, when I sailed,
My name was Robert Kidd, when I sailed.
My name was Robert Kidd, and wickedness I did,
And wickedness I did, when I sailed, when I sailed.
And wickedness I did, when I sailed."

(It's an earlier iteration of what is commonly sung as What Wondrous Love now.)

My last post was about saying goodbye to Nala. In the weeks that followed, I was surprised to find that not having a cat in the house wasn't terrible.

However, having cats in the house again is delightful. Meet Olivia (gray) and Lilly (tabby)! They are 13 months old. Said to be littermates but they came out of a hoarding situation so who knows? But very bonded, and needed a together forever home. They are nervous, but after 48 hours now join us in the kitchen when we prep their food, and accept or even ask for scritches.

A little improv on Shalom Chaverim... planning to expand it as a longer piece, but a good start, I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds6uHC3CPTg

Very much in progress. I've been wanting to work on a much denser style, and after a month I have this tidbit worked out, under tempo and with a few bloopers. The tune is a shape note song called Pilgrim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFMRQDyr6Y

tl/dr- Church music job is going fine. Dulcimer is FUN!

( Details )

I have plenty of imposter syndrome when it comes to directing a choir, because my training is entirely observation and a bit of mentoring.

This week one portion of my choir's anthem kept feeling shaky and rough in rehearsal. Pondering it afterwards, I figured out where the problem lay, figured out how to explain it, and devised a warmup to correct the problem.

It worked like a dream; the spot smoothed out, and choir sounded amazing and were proud of themselves.

(music geeks-- there was a short series of cascading entries. They were hitting each entry just slightly late, and falling out of sync. I had them echo short phrases I sang until they got the feeling of doing so in rhythm with no lag.)