Flowers, Music, and Pumpkin Pie!

Hospital Concert

All the way from Olympia they came!  The Bays Family Band!  Never mind that they were minus one important member, (Dad) Randal Bays, who was in Texas teaching at the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat.  And never mind that (Mom) Susan Waters didn’t arrive with her fiddle – “It’s right by the front door where I put it, ready to go!”

Brothers Willie and Owen brought (respectively) flute and concertina and serenaded Nyel much to the delight of the nurses on duty who filled up the doorway with smiles and foot-tappings.  There’s nothing more cheerful than a jig or a reel no matter where you are and, up close and personal in a hospital room, it was THE perfect rainy Saturday afternoon experience!

Flowers!

We hadn’t seen Willie since his fabulous experience as a Next Gen Monterrey Jazz musician last summer.  Nor had we seen any of the family since they went to Ireland so the boys could compete in the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Ennis last August. Not only did we hear the highlights from three perspectives, but thanks to cell phone cameras, we got a glimpse of the Fleadh, itself, known in the Irish music world as the most important event in the traditional music calendar.

The conversation, as always, ran the gamut — from the egg laying slow-down of their chickens (and the total shut-down of ours) to the story of their new dog, Ivy — a four-month old rescue puppy from Hurricane Harvey — and Susan’s news of an AmericCorps worker who has been assigned to her on-going pollinator project.  (Besides being a ‘pretty face’ and a fine musician and a wife and mother, Dr. Susan Waters is a biologist working on pollination research.) Meanwhile, Owen had a stuck concertina key which he fixed and Willie corrected a screw-up on his YouTube application for the Grammy Band.  It was a jam-packed two or three hours!

It was an added bonus to get the first-hand evidence that 13-year-old Owen has finally surpassed my 5’2″ height and 15-year-old Willie is now up with the 6’2″ height of his dad and Nyel.  Wow!  And even beyond all that – they came laden with flowers and a complete pumpkin pie!  Wow again!

Dessertf!

Later, after our guests had said their goodbyes, and after we had eaten the hospital dinner, Nyel used a plastic knife to cut the pie into eighths.  He and I each had one slice, along with a cup of decaf coffee from the nurse’s lounge, and then Nyel sent the rest of the pie to the Nurse’s Station for the staff to enjoy!  I hope they thought it as delicious as we did!

It was definitely a day to remember!  One of those “beyond the call” days on the part of the Waters-Bays family!  We can’t thank them enough!  (Plus, we’ve already had two inquiries as to whether there will be another concert today!!)

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