Contrary to my expectation yesterday, two parishioners commented on the prelude I played on the organ. The piece was “Processional” by William Mathias which is a piece I think is attractive to the listener. I had not put the title of the piece in the program due to my illness and dithering with the choir piece for the day.

Immediately after I played it one of my tenors asked me what it was was and said that he liked it. Then after service walking in the parking lot, a parishioner asked me what it was that I had played for the prelude. When I told him, he reacted as though he recognized the title and said he liked it.

I guess more people are listening than I sometimes think.

Also, I had a good moment with a bass who often resists singing in his upper range. In between the pregame and the service, I had a chance to ask him if the exercises to extend range I have been doing with the choir for the last few weeks were helping him at all. He said he thought that they were. Woo hoo!

He also said how much he enjoys singing the Psalms in Anglican chant. Wow.

I’m looking forward to two days off. Eileen is starting to feel a bit better. I am hoping to shed a bit of burn out and exhaustion.  My cold or whatever it was is still with me, but I am feeling a bit better.

How Not to Drown in Numbers – NYTimes.com

Big data is not enough. It needs the “special sauce” of polls and human understanding and judgment.

The Medical Bill Mystery – NYTimes.com

If you’ve been paying attention this is not a revelatory article. However, it is troubling.

What Black Moms Know – NYTimes.com

This author’s approaching to raising kids is one I recognize more than the one I see around me.