As summer drew to a close today, my friend Cheryl came over to bring me more apples recently picked from local orchards....[I think they will keep until I come back from Georgia in a week or so....then I can make apple crisp again!] The evening was so lovely, that we decided to go to the local botanical gardens for a free concert. Mr. Pear came along with 3 lawn chairs and we settled in for a genteel farewell to summer!

A woodwind quintet of music professors from our local university treated us to delightful soft music while evening breezes stirred the slowly opening moonflowers!

When there was a break in the music, we strolled the grounds of the botanical gardens, to study the wonderful plants and enjoyed seeing some botanical art on display. These were painted in oils on scrap metal objects by local artist Gregory Moore....so hanging them outdoors was not a problem....[I will return with my camera to capture more of this art show later!]

* friend Cheryl, Mr. Pear and myself

Evening folk concert in the park

Our trip to the gardens yesterday afternoon did not work out so I have no photos to show you now. Maybe next week.

Last night we attended a free concert in the park nearby. It started right after an evening summer shower which produced a beautiful rainbow (of course I didn't have my camera this time) in the dark sky looking east past the gazebo where the band was finally able to set up.

The band, Big Smith from Springfield, MO was here to play, donating their usual fee to our local "Peace at Home" shelter. (Formerly the "battered women's shelter").

They are a modern "hillbilly" family band and the music was wonderful! You can listen to them (filmed indoors a couple of months ago) here on You Tube.

( Photo above from web images...but it is our park. Photo by Slaid Cleaves.)

I always love to watch the crowd....at first it was a bit sparse, but as the weather cleared and the music began, people came drifting in. Carrying their own chairs or blankets, there were some with picnics and ice chests. Dogs of all sizes and breeds (a darling chocolate lab puppy just down the hill from us was getting acquainted with a year old baby girl who had blue eyes and the beginnings of a head full of red hair.)


I always notice the large percentage of redheads in this crowd, Due, I think, to generations of local people of Scotch-Irish descent. ( some of course are not "natural" redheads but many are!)

We are a university town so the crowd is diverse and interesting.... "old hippies", real bohemians (?), dread locks below the waist, faded denim overalls with new tie-dye T-shirts, even a pair of star-spangled boxer shorts worn with red white and blue cowboy boots (both on a slender female "of a certain age"), interesting hats, sandals. I love the long flowing skirts and sleeveless dresses some of the women wear!
Sometimes I spot an family quilt brought out to use for a ground cover (they are enjoying it and I enjoy getting to see it!). Frisbees are tossed nearby....
Fire-flies come out as dusk approaches....but more clouds were approaching too!

Even with the large diverse crowd, we saw few people whom we knew....Mr. Pear, outgoing as always, engaged our local mayor and his wife in a delightful chat just as the storm clouds returned and the concert broke up because of rain, thunder and lightning. Still it had been a fun and relaxing evening!

[Note: all photos are from Google "images" ....I didn't have a camera with me!]

A new book has just been published, "Seven Sacred Pauses", by Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr. Pausing to listen to our heart throughout the day, contemplative listening, is the subject of this beautiful book. Read more on Macrina's website. There is lovely CD to accompany the book, featuring songs using lyrics from Macrina's poetry.

************************************************************

Today I am reading a wonderful contemplative book. "The Barn at the End of the World" by Mary Rose O'Reilley. O'Reilley writes of her experiences learning to be a shepherd after being a university literature professor, mother, wife, spiritual director...and more. I am really enjoying it; I come from a farm background, though I was always (and still am) the "house mouse". Mary Rose was born in Pampa, Texas in 1944....but her book is not just a biography, it is a careful look at life and what it means to be here struggling with moral and ethical decisions...