Pilgrimage to National Shrine #9162023

Pics: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11f9nrI49_tEQ2YlFQK31nZU4iJG9rFzm

Yesterday the Newark Cathedral Choir sang at the national shrine in DC for the NJ pilgrimage. It was a special day and an extraordinary place. Grateful to be a part of this group. I woke up at 530am with significant ragweed throat covering passaggio points/sinuses/cough, and a beginning of the year teacher throat. I conjured every drop of vocal technique I have acquired since 1982. Made possible by ee vowel, ng, and unvoiced consonants, I was able to segue from a 60% to 80% throat by mass and sing with fellow music ministers with a needed robust head voice. When we got home at 11pm, my voice was on hiatus. After 15 hours of sleep, what the, I’m feeling restored and ready for a big week of school.

Shenanigans of the day traveling with this crew. Things I discovered:

1. My derrière hurts in bus seats. I feel more empathy for kids who daily take the bus.
2. Bus seats without a place to put items pose a problem. Next time I’ll come prepared with a contraption to have a place to hold my drink or phone. I like gadgets ya know.
3. I’ll never not like rest stops; always an adventure.
4. I have more creature comfort needs in the middle age. Getting back into our car at the end of the night felt like sweet sweet freedom.
5. Elizabeth Honer and I always have a lot to say but it’s nice that we both feel content to just stare into space when we are fatigued.
6. I tend to start shenanigans on buses when idle. I plead elementary teacher occupational hazard. Alas, no one chimed in as I began a rendition of 100 bottle of beers on the wall. Paul Rajah
7. I observed the following riding with many adults mostly middle aged: there’s WAY less talking than the kids, no one worries too much about seat belts, it’s very laid back in comparison to how kids are monitored these days.

(Hibernating post trip brought wild dreams spanning from being straight to having a week straight of faculty meetings.)