Despite these damn hives, I am feeling very spoiled today. Mark and Leigh, my brother and sister-in-law gave me the Child Ballads for my birthday. They came in the mail today.

I admit that I was thinking of buying them for myself for my upcoming birthday. What a very pleasant surprise!

Church went well yesterday. It was our first choir Sunday. There were about fifteen choristers present. Several members had signed out. However, I had four new members present, one of which was not there Wednesday. After church, the son of one of our new members said he wanted to join the choir as well. He sings bass in his high school choir. Bass is currently our smallest section so this is very cool.

We don’t have enough robes for this many people so we’re going to order more after we wait a couple weeks to make sure people want to continue in the choir.

I wrote another Music Note today. It could easily become a routine to look at the upcoming hymns on Monday, to learn about them, but also, to check if there’s any interesting information about them that would make a good Music Note.

The tune of the opening hymn is called Bourbon, “so named because of a possible association with Bourbon County, KY. The 1982 Hymnal Companion, says’This county … is more popularly known for its association with a particular type of corn whiskey distilled according to a process invented by Baptist preacher, the Rev. Elijah Craig.’ ” This had to go in the note.

Also we are singing “Will you come and follow me” John L. Hooker’s melody. which “originated in the Iona Community on the island off the coast of Scotland. It was sung there to a lively Scottish folk tune. When preparing for using it at a Maundy Thursday service, John L. Hooker thought the text ‘was perfect for an intense, personal mood,’ but that the melody was not. He goes on to say that ‘my partner at that time, David Carter, suggested that’ it might be ‘a golden opportunity to write the kind of Barry Manilow tune he loved to sing.'”

Finally, the choir is singing “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” by Al Fedak on that day. Fanny Crosby, the author of this text, is a very interesting gospel hymn writer.

Fanny Crosby

I have read Bernard Ruffin’s biography of herI like that she was an early proponent of the visually impaired. She herself was blind since she was a child.