I have finally returned to work this past Monday to the hoots and hollers of the throng. And I have successfully made it to the end of the week. This weekend is the open mic night I organized at KI, my little synagogue on the prairie, or more to the point Forest Road. Starts at 7 and anyone can come and be part of the festivities. Come and hear me play and sing nontraditional songs of heartache and moving on. Starts at 7 and if you are interested contact me and I will hand out directions. Dessert to follow so it should be a great evening. My co-organizer, Karen, had major back surgery in April and we are like the Gimp Sisters with our canes. She is turning 70 and I had a strange thought, i.e., why is this grown up woman even conversing with me, much less playing music together? And then I realized I am only eight years out and even though I rarely feel grown up I am about as close to that as I can get. Anyway, the Old Duffer and I are playing three songs which I would like to winnow down to two as he goes on quite a bit. Ending the evening will be an ensemble performing Ashokan Farewell, with me on my Martin guitar making sweet music. Before dessert I will perform my classic hit "I got some place to go" and that will segue into dessert. And, my goodness, the desserts are always phenomenal so that alone is worth the price of admission, which is free. And, truly, yes, friends and families are most welcome. KI Synagogue (Kehillat Israel) is the most welcoming of venues. Aunt Marilyn is always so grateful that I affiliated. I occasionally go to services, especially when I am playing when it is kinda mandatory. Next Friday service I am playing for is in two weeks.
This Saturday's performance will open with the Havdalah and I am playing on this as part of the ensemble. We have a young widow who has two kids and is studying to be a cantor singing lead on the Havdalah. It is a beautiful way to end the Sabbath. And then on to the music and jokes of the evening. Mrs. Post will kick us off with her telling of jokes, which is expected to be a hoot as she is older than God with a bawdy sense of humor. Some of those old Yiddish jokes get pretty racy. I remember growing up (yes I in fact do remember that) in Detroit with the aunts and uncles telling jokes in English and, because the punchline were so filthy, they would revert to Yiddish so us kids never knew, until years later, what bawdiness we were missing.
So that is what awaits the weekend. Tonight, Master Simcha goes in to the vet clinic urine test for which he has spent the better part of the night studying. Seems they found some E. coli in his initial urinalysis and they want to be sure he doesn't have a UTI. I need to order more of his special food. He loves the canned food, even cold from the fridge. And he is so easy to pill. Just shove it down his throat and he is ready for a treat. Meanwhile the in-fighting continues, with much hissing and fur flying. No, it wasn't just the debate that put them in a foul mood. The mood continues. And speaking of debate, did you happen to catch the Donald at the Alfred Smith Dinner being booed for his "humorous" remarks. Booed I tell you. Never before has that happened that a speaker had been booed. Hillary was a little stiff but she was sincere and did her best to tell a joke. No boos for her. My gosh it was like watching a car accident in slow motion with the Trumpster. Awkward.
So, here's the deal. Monday was a very hard first day. I went home and slept for four hours, got up and ate and then when to bed. Tuesday was better. I had to finish working on the program for the open mic night and was able to finish it up on the cloud. Gotta love that cloud. Wednesday and Thursday I have spent practicing and rehearsing with others for Saturday. Today is the great cat adventure. No rest for the weary until Sunday, when I hope to have some help with straightening up the music room. Maybe laundry. Do some home automation with my Amazon Echo and Dots and hook up the sound bar. Monday it all starts again, work that is.
All I can say is I can't wait until retirement. It will be nice to have unlimited time off, money coming in and the wherewithal to move and socialize without too much pain. Let's see if I can do another three years.
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