Reconciling church, then family and bells

I’m home.

I started my journey on Wednesday, February 26 with an afternoon drive to a motel south of Cincinnati. Light show fell for most of the drive. Roads were clear but wet. I usually get caught in traffic backups in Cincy. This time it was in Toledo. It took 45 minutes to go two miles. At least 10 minutes of that the car was motionless.

On Thursday I drove on to Nashville. I had a couple hours in the Tennessee State Museum. It’s pretty good. It portrays such things as the earliest residents of the state, Trail of Tears, slavery, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson and a great deal more.

The Reconciling Ministries Network 2020 Connection started that evening. I described the whole event on my brother blog of United Methodist Church news.

The Connection concluded at 3:00 on Saturday. I had time to visit downtown Nashville that evening. I started at the Frist Museum. This art museum doesn’t have any permanent exhibits, rather a series of temporary exhibits. On the day I was there only two exhibits were open, the main one was art of JMW Turner. He’s an English painter who did impressionism 20-30 years before the French. I saw it all in about 20 minutes.

That meant I could join the Architecture Tour. A guide showed us around the building, pointing out interesting details. The building started as a post office built in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The exterior has classical lines, the interior is off-the-self Art Deco.

I left my car in the Frist parking lot and walked to downtown. There is a well known pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River which is described as having great views of the downtown area. Well, yeah, but I didn’t regret leaving my camera back in the car. I then walked through Music Row (I think that’s the name), which is at least two long blocks of restaurants, each with its live performers. All of it was loud and none of it was the classical music style I like (I did pass Symphony Hall, but no concert that evening). So I walked the two blocks and kept on walking. I ended up back at a restaurant near the church that hosted the RMN conference near Vanderbilt University.

On Sunday, March 1 I drove back to Louisville to spend a few days with my niece and her family. She and her husband have three kids. I’ll describe them using their initials. K is 6½ and is being homeschooled. He already reads at a 4th grade level and is learning Latin. P is almost 4. He is very good at distracting his brother. G is the little girl at age 2.

I shared a few music videos with them, such things as a piece of music to show off the instruments of the orchestra, a few scenes from the opera Hansel and Gretel, and scenes from The Magic Flute.

While I was there Louisville had unseasonably warm weather. So we had outdoor adventures a few afternoons. K is pretty good on a bicycle (though it has training wheels). P also has a bicycle, but it is too big for him. He can pedal to make it go if someone is guiding the direction. He usually tires quickly and would rather walk. But he soon wants back on to try again. Which meant I had to tow the bike. G was either in her stroller or waked.

Our adventure for Tuesday was to Beckley Creek Park. There we enjoyed 0.8 miles of a paved trail. This trail is a part of the Louisville Loop, a bicycle friendly trail that encircles Louisville. I don’t know how long the whole loop is, likely at least 100 miles. We were in mile 71.

P has had some tummy pains, so is avoiding dairy foods. Tuesday night the pains were severe. So on Wednesday Niece took him to the doctor while Husband stayed home. When there aren’t actual pains (like when he was actually in the presence of the doctor) P is a boisterous little boy, so the doctor ruled out major things, such as appendicitis.

At the start of Thursday’s outdoor adventure I suggested letting P try his bicycle down the cul-de-sac and back. He decided that was enough and I didn’t have to drag the bike through the neighborhood.

On Friday, March 6 I went to downtown Louisville for a handbell festival. Five hundred of us gathered from across Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Michigan. Much of our time Friday evening and most of Saturday was to rehearse for a Saturday afternoon concert held in the hotel ballroom. Most of the people had practiced before coming. I learned the music while there.

Our rehearsal on Friday evening was interrupted about 5 minutes before the scheduled end. The event organizer interrupted the conductor, who then told is there was a fire alarm (some flashing lights, no loud noise) and we needed to evacuate. So all 500 of us pulled on our coats and headed out. Most took the escalator. I and others found the stairs. I thought it odd that once outside several people leaned against the building that might be ablaze. I went across the street. A few minutes later the all clear was given. There hadn’t been an actual fire.

The title of the bell festival was “Bluegrass, Bourbon, and Bells.” There really is a hymn tune with the name “Bourbon.” The conductor for the event arranged it for bells and Bluegrass instruments – fiddle, guitar, bass, and perhaps a couple more. A couple other pieces had elements of Bluegrass music. So, yeah, I’ve now heard bells play Bluegrass. I’m sure the band was thrilled to be backed up by 500 ringers.

Niece and family came to that concert. They stood in the back of the audience, which was good because that allowed all three kids space to dance to the music.

I volunteered to take Niece and family to supper that evening. We went to a place near their home. The wait time for a table was 45 minutes. We decided that was too long, so Niece took the kids home and Husband and I went to nearby Buffalo Wild Wings for takeout.

That was a mess. When we placed the order we were told the food would be ready in 25-30 minutes. It was a Saturday night. But when we got to the end of that time the story changed and kept changing – almost ready, just waiting for this item, the original time we were told was wrong, now we’re just waiting for that item, shouldn’t be more than an hour. At 50 minutes I started seriously complaining and was told, “Please calm down, sir.” I asked for a refund. The female manager whined, “My kitchen is about to go into meltdown and I’m about to cry.” At 55 minutes I got the refund. We never saw the food. We ate leftovers out of the fridge (and the kids had been fed a while earlier). I’m sufficiently annoyed that I’ll likely write a letter of complaint, listing at least four mistakes.

I left this morning as the family left for church. It was a warm day (warm for March) and a pretty good drive. I stopped for a few groceries before arriving at the house, enough for meals before heading to better stores tomorrow.

Once home I found the furnace wasn’t working. Outside with the sun shining and the temperature at 51F it felt warm and inviting. Inside with the temp at 50F it just felt cold. I called the furnace company. They gave an emergency number, but when I called that number it didn’t go through. It is 48F inside now (54F outside). The forecast says outside shouldn't go below 40F tonight.