SVCC Tour: Day One, Part Two

The first post in this series is here.

When we got on the bus after the tour of the Capitol, Sandy, one of the moms who had been in the other group, asked me, "Did you tell Josiah to take notes?"

"No," I replied.  Since he and I were in separate groups, I was unaware that he had done so; and I had certainly not instructed him ahead of time to do that.

Sandy told me that he had carried his little notebook with him and had been busy writing down the things their tour guide had mentioned.  In addition, Josiah had been involved in the conversation, answering the guide's questions and perhaps asking questions of his own.  I knew from Josiah's excited exclamations to me when we got on the bus that he had truly enjoyed the tour, but I didn't know he had been so involved, and I appreciated Sandy telling me.

You want to know how to encourage a mother's heart?  Notice her child doing something great, and then tell her about it.  It's a guaranteed gift of warm sunshine poured out on her.  :)

From the Capitol, we headed out to the Catholic church where our evening concert would be, and the first thing I took a picture of was this:

You know, there's something to be said for a "high church" style of worship, especially when it comes to gorgeous stained glass windows (says the girl who was raised in and still finds herself very squarely in the "low church" camp, but who has a deep appreciation for beauty).  :)

Our choir had a chance to rehearse, although much of the time was needed simply to figure out positioning.  Having a round sanctuary makes choir placement interesting, to say the least--plus, our choir would be singing some pieces alone, but then joining a larger, older choir for some other pieces--plus, our choristers would need to sit for part of the concert, when the other choir was singing alone, but the rows of chairs didn't match up with the rows of choristers when they were in singing formation--plus, the piano would need to be turned around during the concert.  Lots of factors to complicate things!  Singing in an unfamiliar space certainly requires more logistical work behind the scenes than the average concert-goer could imagine.

 After a rehearsal that was probably much shorter than Dr. V., our talented and beloved conductor, really wanted, we hurried off to Golden Corral for a quick bite of dinner before returning to the church for the concert; and once again, I was reminded that, at Golden Corral, it is easier to be a chaperon of two choristers than a mother of five!

When Jeff and I and our family go out to eat to a buffet restaurant like Golden Corral or Country Cookin' or Aroma, we have a system that we have developed through the years that still comes in handy.  Jeff stays at the table with Moriah, while I go up with the boys to supervise Josiah and David (not that they need a whole lot of supervision anymore, but restaurants usually don't like to see kids wandering around the buffet without a parent close by--can't imagine why not!)  ;-) and to help Tobin and Shav get their food (and usually, to carry their plates for them).  I also get food for Moriah and bring it back to the table so she can start eating, and then I return to get my own plate.  After all of that is accomplished, Jeff goes to get his first serving; and we proceed with our meal.  It actually works out well because Jeff eats incredibly fast, so even though I start before him, I never finish before he does!  I'm always grateful for his help with the kids, and especially for his patience when it takes the kids and I a while to get our first plates so that he can get his.

But on this tour, there we were at Golden Corral, and I didn't have to get a plate of food for anyone but myself!  I didn't have to cut up pieces of meat for anyone, or spoon applesauce into anyone's mouth, or supervise anyone at the chocolate fountain, or wipe up anyone's sticky hands and face when we were done.  It was amazing how easy it was to eat there!!  ;-)

After a meal that was probably much shorter than any of the choristers wanted ;-), we headed back to the church to get changed into uniforms and then rehearse with One Voice Chorus, the other choir that participated in that concert.

 Again, there were logistical issues to work out; but once all of that was settled and the singing began, oh, what a sound poured forth from those two choirs!

I spent this rehearsal time walking around and taking pictures--and, of course, enjoying the energy and enthusiasm that was present in the room.

 I tried to get a picture of Josiah, but I didn't succeed very well.  The side of him is visible, that's all.

 I really was fascinated by the windows...

...but I, with my very limited knowledge of the technical side of photography, had a hard time getting a good picture that showed the brilliant colors of the windows without the choir being too dark.  I was wishing my friend Emily was there because she would have known how to do it!  :)

 Now Josiah is more visible.  :)

 While the faithful parent assistants and chaperons watched the choir, I watched them.  At this point, I only knew the names of a handful of them and didn't have a clue how meaningful my conversations with them would be in the next few days.

 The last picture I took that evening was of a window--what a surprise!  ;-)  The light--I mean, just look at it!  How could I NOT take a picture of that?  :)  Wouldn't you like to have a window like that in your house so that every evening at sunset, a gorgeous splash of color would be painted on the wall?  :)

After that, I put the camera away and took my seat to enjoy the concert, and enjoy it I did.  There was a vibrancy in the air that covered over any technical mistakes that might have happened, and the audience clearly appreciated both choirs.  I think they were particularly enchanted with our youngsters though, and many kind words of affirmation were given to our choristers after the concert (including from the tour guide we'd met earlier that day!).

Eventually we shepherded the kids to gather all of their things, then we tore ourselves away from our adoring fans ;-) so we could head to the hotel for a night of good sleep before another full day on tour.  The four hours of sleep I got the previous night made it easy to fall asleep approximately 1.73 seconds after my head hit the pillow.  :)

But most importantly, I drifted off with a smile on my lips and a song in my heart.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one.  :)