Last night, Marshall Anderson and I were at the Lyric Opera of Chicago .... but we weren’t there to hear Parsifal or The Marriage of Figaro or Samson and Dalila or any sort of standard grand opera. Instead, we were there to enjoy the Lyric’s sparkling production of the musical Showboat. No, this is in
The day before yesterday, our good friend Kate Barrow gave birth to a beautiful new daughter named Anneka. She did show up a tiny bit ahead of schedule - the very day that Caritas was supposed to be singing for an evening program at another church in town. But Kathy, Chip and I hobbled along
My wife hates February. It has nothing to do with an aversion to Ground Hogs OR a dislike for George Washington or Abraham Lincoln OR misgivings about designating February as Black History Month OR frustration with what to get her husband for his birthday. No, she is disgruntled about February because that’s the month when
Yesterday I tagged along as my Carthage colleague Amy Haines took 21 of our music students to see the dress rehearsal of Handel’s Rinaldo. This is something that the Carthage music department has been doing with our students for quite a few years now, but I have typically not come along because I’m a Lyric
As my 52nd birthday winds down, I am thinking about all that was good about today..... sifting through Facebook birthday greetings, enjoying the birthday serenade of none other than the Carthage Choir, welcoming two more new members into the Holy Communion Senior Choir (who also serenaded me), watching Jane Eaglen sing the Immolation Scene from
Kathy and I just got back from JC Penney. What did we need? Absolutely nothing. That is, there was nothing we needed to buy. Not a single thing. Nor did we feel much like doing any recreational shopping tonight, thanks to the snow, wind, and freezing cold. Once we’d had dinner at Applebee’s with Bob,
If you happened to tune into the National Geographic channel tonight, you would have seen the first two episodes of a fascinating and troubling ten-part series called “Doomsday Preppers” - in which the viewer is introduced to a variety of Americans with one things in common: they all sincerely believe that some sort of doomsday
Happiness is . . . . . . Kathy getting the starring role in a play at the Racine Theater Guild . . . . . . watching her successfully memorize the biggest theatrical role she’s ever had . . . . . . seeing her make the role her very own, and growing in
One of the best things that Pastor Ross Larsen has done as interim chaplain at Carthage is that he has invited faculty and students to play an interesting role in Wednesday morning chapel services. In each service, someone will read a scripture lesson and then offer a few words of reflection on it- after which
