She still looked as though she didn’t feel well. We chatted for a bit and then I left her. I stopped in to talk to her nurse and found out that she had had a visit from the psych nurse the day before.

Apparently she complained of symptoms of a Urinary Tract Infection.  They were planning to test her and determine whether this was true.

I phoned the pysch nurse office and Rachel the psych nurse explained to me that in the elderly, depression sometimes precedes other symptoms.

So it is probable that Mom’s clinical depression has at the very least been exacerbated by this.

I was glad I didn’t scold her the day before for laying in bed.

Sheesh.

I had a good trio rehearsal yesterday.

It is so obvious that all three of enjoy this time together. We rehearsed the last movement of the Mozart as well as the first. This was our first run though on it and we all were pretty charmed by the writing. Then the Mendelssohn. Nice stuff.

My boss had to cancel our meeting due to a sudden emergency call. I had been thinking about what articles I might suggest for her, myself and the children’s choir director to read together.

My strategy to help the children’s choir director is to establish a common language around the art of church music between us.

I was looking seriously at Howard Swan’s “Conscious of a Profession.”

Howard Swan is sort of the dean of American choral directors.  I have found him very inspiring. I heard him speak in California years ago.

As I was looking at his section on church music, I ran across a lengthy excerpt of an address Robert Shaw gave to a church that had just hired him as its musician. He is another inspiration for me. Jackpot!

Both Shaw and Swan insist on quality in church music which is where I want to head as well.

Then I started poking around on the web and found that this speech was in a collection called “The Robert Shaw Reader.” I instantly ordered a copy.

I also bought Nico Muhly’s recording, “Mother Tongue.” I was again fascinated to find another composer using folk music. This time in a very interesting and clever way. The pieces in this recording tend toward collage of sound. I like it very much.

It’s part of a $5 sale Amazon was running on MP3 downloads. The sale ends at the end of May in a few days.

I grilled salmon for Eileen and me last night. I bought a “grill plank” and used one of those for the first time. It was kind of fun, but it looks like you only use a plank once because it was pretty charred after the grill cooled down. Hmmm.

Served it with home made potato salad, rice, and fresh creamed corn. Yum.

All in all, another good day.