Cold Duck(s) and cold light in Eau Claire

I am in Eau Claire and thought about going to take pictures this morning.  I have to admit that I am a big wimp.  I wasn't out much and I didn't stray too far from my car.  It was -9 and it was windy, too, he said while whining.  But I did find two photos.  Quack Quack.  Happy New Year!

Wisconsin light

I am in Wisconsin, safe and sound and enjoyed a snowy but safe drive.  I loved the shaggy Shetland ponies--it was 25 degrees and windy, and they formed their own windbreak to try and block some of the wind.

I feel kind of bad about actually taking a photo of a barn as I have spent much of my life avoiding doing just that.  But the white barn caught my eye, enough to turn around and try and make a photo of an old barn.  I am kind of ashamed but I think that it still an semi-decent photo.

Christmas light

I had to drive quite a ways, but I did find enough sun to actually have a sunset.  It was fleeting, but here you go.  I couldn't decide, which is why you get several, close-to-the-same photos.  Don't make me make a decision!!!!

Hey, Merry Christmas.  I hope that you and yours have had a wonderful day filled with kindness and fellowship.

On to the new year!

Fog

We are having weird weather, with temps in the 40s and rain.  And fog, lots of fog.  These are kind "Blair Witch-y" type photos but these are the same woods that I have have photographed with snow.  Now it seems that someone is going to throw an apple or just appear from the mist.  One shot is my road--seriously foggy, but kind of cool,

Handel and all that

I just sat down after standing and lustily (and badly) singing along to Handel's Messiah.  I love music from that era and this is (can be) a very seasonal thing to do.  It is an amazing oratorio and more so because it has survived, well, it has survived 375-plus years of people singing it.

Certainly we weren't all like sheep in following his score and vision.  He started out with an orchestra of 35 and a choir of 20--it is not uncommon today to have 6-800 perform the Messiah.  The edition I have on my iPod has a mere 300 or so musicians.  That's like chamber music!

What I find equally interesting is how little people know about the WHOLE oratorio, mainly because it is so seldom that the whole score is presented.  There are Christmas, Easter, and short excerpt versions and you hear them more often. Blame Leonard Bernstein for the Christmas and Easter versions and organization.  Oh, those Sharks and Jets could sing!

 Most commonly heard is the Hallelujah Chorus and we all stand and often sing along.  I bet Handel hated that piece or at least the focus on it.  It is a catchy tune, but it is the 51st piece in the score in the recording I have and 43rd in Handel's original.  People stood in part because their legs were asleep.  It follows the piece with the most dreary excerpt of the Psalms ever,  "Thou Shalt Break Them."  Here, cheery holiday lyrics of  "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel" push people into their seats.  Again, no wonder people stood up when that positively celebratory anthem rang out.  Hallelujah indeed.

My house is filled with music as I dredged up my battered iPod from digital oblivion.  I bought it in 2003 so it is ancient in Apple years.  There are 1200 songs and pieces in its old memory and I put it on shuffle.  I am going from Meatloaf to Handel to Phillip Glass to Abba to Dan Fogelberg to Johnny Cash to Bach and and and… Music has a visceral tie to memory circuits so it is kind of fun.  Rock on, Rachmaninoff!