Cheers!

     Summer is definitely ending on a high note here in Oysterville.  Today is our last vesper service of the season, and our guest musicians are the Rose City Mixed Quartet.  In case you haven’t seen and heard this a cappella vocal group, do come to our little historic church at 3:00 today.  They will be presenting a program full to overflowing with musical offerings –  from Mozart’s “Ave Verum” to the traditional South African “Siyahamba” and the familiar “Amen” (which I remember fondly as sung by Sidney Poitier in ”Lilies of  the Field.”)  It promises to be a fabulous ending to a summer of outstanding services.
     As for Nyel and me, it isn’t every day that begins with mimosas and music!  The fact that the Rose City Mixed Quartet are friends and are staying with us this weekend is one of the bonuses that life sometimes offers.  They came laden with strawberries and champagne, interesting cheeses and bottles of exotic beverages.  I’m sure that the Aquavit nestled among the ice cubes in our freezer is an all-time first.
     The house feels happy to me.  It’s not just the music and the conviviality of the weekend, though.  Partly, I think, it’s the continued connection between our house and the little church across the road.  For ten brief years, from 1892 to 1902, this house served as the parsonage for the church.  In those days, of course, it was a Baptist Church and even if the preacher living here could have imagined having a refrigerator, I doubt that a bottle of Aquavit would have numbered among its wished-for contents.
      So, a toast to good friends, good music, historic ambience, and evolving sensibilities!  On Labor Day Weekend 2010, Oysterville is a fine place to be!