A very busy Saturday

Saturday, July 29, 2023

I had a very hard time picking a single potd, so you are getting several. I guess it isn’t unusual to get several, but I feel like the first half of the day was so long ago that it seems like another day.

We went to the Ren in the Glen in Glenwood City, WI. My friends, Christina and Russell, had a vow renewal (not a vowel renewal, like I kept saying) in honor of their 10th anniversary. Keith played a fanfare (twice, because the shade umbrella was tipping and the service didn’t start right after he played, so they said play it again – and he did) to start things off and then he played a tune at the end. It was his plastic trumpet’s very first gig and it did a good job. The minister gave a very nice message about the continuing road of marriage and recommitment and other good vow renewal things. It never occurred to me that there would be an actual minister/priest guy there. Who did I think was going to run the show? I have no idea. Anyway, it was nice. Keith dressed up, because he was part of the event. We went to Alexander’s last week and said we needed an outfit. Alexander quickly procured a “billowy” shirt in the father’s size from a Rubbermaid tub, then scurried around his house gathering pants, a hat, a belt pouch, and belt loops. Viola! Ready to go to the fest. I did not have an outfit. When Christina invited us to her event IN March, I said I was going to get an outfit, but I also said I would never get around to getting an outfit and it would be a week before and I would be scrambling. I actually wasn’t scrambling. I just gave up. Keith said I would be sad if he was dressed up and I wasn’t (and I bet he was right), so he went on Amazon and ordered all the sizes of several dresses that looked possible. It came down to a green and a blue, and my sister, Donna, said the blue with my blonde (colored) hair made me look like Cinderella. Well, no one ever said that (or thought that) before, so I was all in on the blue. It was very comfortable and very soft, and I felt lovely wearing it. Thank you, Keith, for scrambling.

It apparently rained quite a bit last night and the road (wide dirt path) that wends its way through the festival grounds was a bit of a mud pit. Super unfortunately, Alexander’s mask booth was very, very near the mud and very, very hard to get to. He had a few customers while we were there, but…not what one would hope for. We wandered the festival for several hours, before we needed to head out for the second part of the day. Out in the parking lot, we un-costumed (we both had our shorts on under our outfits) and ate a turkey sandwich. YES! I made him eat a turkey sandwich! Bwahahaha. I knew our time was limited and some years food lines have been very long, and I didn’t want to end up with no food, so I packed sandwiches and granola bars and grapes. We were on our way by 2pm, driving the 100-minute drive to Northfield for the Metro Brass performance at the Vintage Band Festival.

We got absolute Rock Star Parking (RSP) as we zoomed in 20 minutes before they were going to play. As always, Keith carries copies of all of the parts of all the songs they are going to play – and it was a good thing, because one of the tuba players forgot his whole book and had nothing. Keith was a bit nervous, because they only had two rehearsals to put these songs together (they have all been performed in the past by at least some of these people), and the rehearsal last Sunday was an absolute TRAIN WRECK.

Luckily, the old adage bad dress rehearsal makes for a great show was true. They just sounded great. Keith always invites people to come up and dance if they are so moved, and today people did!! It was great! And they kept dancing. They danced to a march. They danced to the Incredibles theme. There was a woman dancing alone who was a DANCER and she was amazing. There was a swing couple who really made it work for all of the songs. There was a mom and teen daughter who invented absolutely terrific dances for every song. And there were some joyful kids who took their adults out and had a great time. I could not stop smiling. Keith did a great job announcing and the whole thing was such a win! Yay Metro Brass and Keith!

Tom and Louise continued to support Keith in all of his playing endeavors and came for the show. Afterwards, we listened to a mariachi band for a bit and then went to have Mexican food, because, well, mariachi band. The food was really different than traditional Mexican (well, I had a giant burrito which was delicious and what you’d expect). Keith and Tom had big pieces of steak and pork with vegetables – very delicious. We all had little salads but didn’t really eat them because the portions were so giant there just wasn’t room for all of it (and salad lost). We each had a little cup of a pale green sauce, which I thought was perhaps a Green Goddess dressing. At the end of the meal, Tom asked if anyone had tried it. Nope. He said he had, and it was really spicy. Louise said she wouldn’t not try it then. I was game. I put a little (A LITTLE!) on a piece of lettuce (oh, so foolishly confident in my ability to eat hot things) and popped it in my mouth and my mouth EXPLODED immediately. I yelped!! It was so so so very funny. I had to grab liquid and have a bit of tortilla to calm my sore mouth. I suggested we take all of the little cups home and make something amazing out of them – such wonderful flavor…if I could tame it down it would make a really good something. Since we are leaving town in the morning, I realized my creative cooking was never going to happen (let’s face it, it really probably wouldn’t happen without leaving town) and left them behind.

We listened to another band before we left, and we walked around the block to get some steps. I’m still 2000 short and I GOTTA GO WALK BEFORE IT IS MIDNIGHT!! Bye