Who'd a thunk!

I may not be my mother's daughter (e.g., can't play classical piano) but I must be my brother's sister because for dinner tonight I had Velveeta cheese between 2 slices of my homemade oatmeal bread!

Ravens...

It was great to see the Ravens win the AFC conference title.  I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl Game on Feb 4.  Georgia is on board to be the biggest Raven fan.

My arm feels a bit better due to last week's acupuncture session so I will go back next week.  I had one night with no sleeping pill which is a step in the right direction.  I woke up a few times but then went back to sleep.  Voices rehearsal start up tonight so I'll get to see what I have to sing in the Mozart Missa Brevis. Concert will be June 1.

Went to several movies this week including Zero Dark Thirty and Hyde Park.  Going to see Broken City on Saturday.

desperate measures for desperate folks

So let's be clear, I am the desperate one here.  And what am I desperate about?  My tennis elbow hurts and prevents me from getting out and playing (or lifting anything with my right hand); my vacuum cleaner died because I did not change the bag soon enough; and I still miss Moody very much. So what have I done about all this?  Read on...

I found ladies to take almost all my tennis games for the next few months (the season and schedule are up at end of March) and I went to see an acupuncturist.  The first was difficult to accomplish and the second was a bit painful.  He took my pulse and looked at my tongue.  Then he had me lie on the massage table face down and he started putting needles into my skin. Some of the steel pins that the practitioner inserted sent tingles all the way down my arm and out the end of my index finger. (He called that good!)  Some pins didn't hurt at all. He put needles in my arm, hand, back, ankles and top of my scalp.  Then I lay there face down for about 20 minutes.  He took them out and massaged my right arm, shoulder and back near the neck.  Then he did some on my front and stretched my arm a bit.  He said to do the stretches at home and come back in 2 weeks.  I made the appt and will probably keep it. I'm desperate!

I bought a Roomba which is a little robot vacuum that is a small disc about 5 inches tall. It goes around the house picking up dog hair, dust, and dirt.  When it's done it goes back to its docking port and recharges.  I have to empty the little bin and clean the hair off of the rollers.  But it was clear that I could not use it as my only vacuum so I bought a Dyson vacuum excellent for pet hair.  I went over the places that the Roomba went and picked up masses of dog hair.  So while the Roomba is not very effective on carpets, it's pretty good on the bare floor.  I named it "Buddy" and he helps me and keeps me company and gives me something to supervise, so I do not think I will return it.  It's really good for going under things like the couch and the bed.  The two corgis shed mountains of hair daily.

I followed a suggestion from my pastor at Chapel in the Pines to have a person come and talk with me weekly about my grief.  This is a program called Stephen Ministries and is done by all kinds of groups like churches.  The volunteers are trained to come and listen to folks going through crises.  I've been very tired and depressed since the time change in the beginning of November and of course the holidays didn't help.  I do feel better now even before the person came.  She lives here in Fearrington and will come on Monday mornings for an hour for a month or so - then I will see if I still need someone to talk with.  I'm sure that 3 days in the 70's was helpful for improving my mood.  But now I have to go weed but don't want to use my right arm....ah...

Rehearsals for Pirates of Penzance are in full swing.  If you want to come for one of the performances, let me know- March 14-17 & 22-24, 2013 at the Carolina Theatre.  Mary Laurel and Robert are coming March 23.

Also- sending healing vibes to cousin Jeff who tore ligaments in his ankle and chipped a bone last weekend while walking in Kanawha State Forest with the dogs.  He had surgery yesterday and will be off his feet for awhile.

2012 in Review

I suppose everyone has a year they'd just as soon forget and this would be that year for me. January started out promising with the commencement of rehearsals for Iolanthe where I again was in the Royal Chorus.  The Voices Spring rehearsals started up for our Chatman concert but the music was hard and in 6 or 7 foreign languages (e.g., Russian, Chinese, Spanish, etc).  I had my closet in the media room turned into secret desk area (close the door and no one knows the mess). It eventually went on to be the cover photo and story for a local rag on home improvements- best design.  Moody had some doc appointments where they said he was just fine and still in remission from the mantel cell lymphoma. 

Closet office

By February, Moody's mental abilities declined so far that I called in the Long Term Care Insurance folks to start drawing his benefits for which he qualified a year ago after they looked at a test he took in 2011.  He started going to the Charles House in Carrboro one day a week so that I could check out other living arrangements for him should I not be able to handle him.  His response to one was "just shoot me."  I had Fearrington Friends send over a person to talk with Moody while I went to my Polyfonics rehearsals.  It turned out to be our neighbor, Eric, which was very nice.  Moody had gotten to where he could not be left alone because of his confusion, I often took him to my rehearsals.  He did get to where he did not know me and kept wanting to "go home." 



Pic from last year of Moody with his oncologist and nurse

Finally in the beginning of March, a blood test revealed that his cancer was back and he might only have 5-6 months to live.  Mary Laurel and Robert came down and visited and found ways for me to cope.  Robert cooked a bunch of food and put it in the freezer.  By this time, Moody wasn't eating anything but ice cream.  We called in Hospice care that provided a chair, hospital bed, walker, medications- none of which he needed on March 10, by March 23, Moody died in our room in the hospital bed with Mary Laurel and me beside him.   Robert came down and he & ML painted and rearranged our bedroom to turn it into a lovely guest room.  In April, we had a wonderful funeral for Moody at St. Andrew's Church in College Park where we placed his ashes in their new Columbarium.   Mary Laurel got a new job at Restoration Hardware in Annapolis and gets to do some traveling with them.



Moody's cremains and St. Andrew's stole

In May, Robert's game development business went under so he came down to Cary for about 3 weeks to work at another company (Epic Games).  They then rented space in Baltimore and hired about 60 of the folks who had lost their jobs.  So by June both ML & R had new jobs that they very much like.  I tried to find new things to fill my time such as taking up tennis, singing in a trio at open mikes, taking dancing lessons, resuming fiddle lessons, etc.  In early May I attended a 100th birthday celebration for Juliet Low and Girls Scouting in Charleston. The Voices concert in May was poorly attended after all our hard work, but we started up on the Summer Chorus which featured Faure's Requiem and did quite well with the attendance in July. 

GS reunion in Charleston WV

After the summer concert I left for a 6-week summer progress to MD, NJ, VT, NH, ME, and MA.  The Perkinsons kindly kept Zoe and Zelda in Greenbelt.  On the way North I joined the 21st century and bought an iphone, to which I am now addicted.  I enjoyed all of the trip especially seeing my neighbor's wonderful farm in South Hero, VT; taking Patti's dogs on early morning walk/runs;  going to Saratoga Springs with Ned & Royal, and visiting Ted and Waite to thank them again for speaking at Moody's funeral. In Nantucket, there was a tree-planting ceremony in the Ellicott's backyard (site of Robert's and ML's wedding a year earlier) for Aunt Liddy and Lou Ellicott.  The highlight was playing Salad Bowl with the Guihers, Chamblees, Bileks, and Molly Brown. On the way back I dropped in to see Sue Davies in PA after visiting John & Carol in NJ.  A stop in Columbia with Bill & Melva included dinner with Lisa and Drew.



ML and me at dinner in Nantucket

Returning home at the end of August, I resumed my Voices treasurer duties and fall rehearsals. Cathy Dippo stopped by on her way home and we spent the day looking for a tour to some place neither had been.  We settled on a Morocco bus tour which started the day after Thanksgiving.  I spent turkey day with ML & R then Cathy and I were off to Casablanca (where my luggage did not arrive until the day we came back to the States).   We very much enjoyed our tour around Morocco including a camel ride in the desert and have planned another trip to Key West at the end of February.

Cathy and me on the camel ride to view the desert sunset

In December, Mary Laurel came to visit for my 60th birthday.  She helped me decorate for the holidays.  Some of the neighborhood ladies and I celebrated by taking a ceramics class which was partially successful (a few things cracked during or before firing).  I was planning to spend Xmas at home since ML & R were going to Va. Beach, but plans changed when Jim Brown died of cancer the evening of our Voices concert.  His funeral was on Dec 21 in Charleston so I stayed there for Xmas.  Patti and Jeff had a table for 14 set for turkey on Xmas Day (Patti & Jeff, Molly, Charlie, Ed & Clara, Willis & Betsy, Gary, Elaine, Judy, Diane, JT, and me).  I came home the next day in torrential rains.  New Year's Eve was spent hosting a small dinner party for some of my friends here in Fearrington.  I start Pirates of Penzance rehearsals on Friday.



ML & R's Xmas in Va. Beach

 

We lost a lot of really great people this year in addition to Moody and Uncle Jim (e.g., Andy Griffith).  We had horrible storms (e.g., h. Sandy) and rampant violence (e.g., Sandy Hook Elementary School).  I was ready for the World to end with the termination of the Mayan calendar on Dec 21.  I guess we will all have to clean up our act.  I am praying today for Hilary Clinton to recover from her blood clot in the head and for my friend, Candy, who has been diagnosed with ALS.  I am also very grateful to my family and friends for the love and support they have shown to me during 2012.   Let's all hope that 2013 will be a blessed year to start a new era on earth of peace, tolerance, and brotherly love.

James F Brown III (1920-2012)

As captain of the QE2, 1994

50th Wedding Anniversary, 1999

NY's Eve (Jim's Bday), 2003

In the NYC Harbor on the QE2, 1994

At Cathy & Moody's Wedding, 1980

Xmas card ~1966

At Mt. Snow, 2002?

 

At Edgewood CC, 2009?

At the Greenbrier, 1995

At the Greenbrier, 1995

Charleston Gazette obituary 12/19/2012

James F. Brown III, 91, passed away on December 15, 2012, at his home in Charleston, West Virginia.

Jim Brown was predeceased by Catharine L. Hart, his wife of sixty-one years. Canky and Jim are survived by their three sons, Charles C., Jeff (JF IV) and his wife, Patti, and Edward D. and his wife, Bryan; and three grandchildren, Molly, Davis, and Emily. Jim is also survived by his sister, Trudy Lynch of Hilton Head Island, S.C.; and her three children and the children of his deceased brother, Ben B. Brown, Jr., and his deceased sister, Betty (Mrs. J. T. Moore, Jr.), and their families, and many, many cousins and friends, all of whom he loved and cherished. He was greatly loved and admired by them, as well.

Jim Brown was born December 31, 1920, in Charleston, West Virginia, the second child of Benjamin Beuhring Brown and Hester M. Newhall. He was named for his grandfather, James Frederick Brown and attended local schools before attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. He graduated from Princeton University in 1942, and recently attended his 70th class reunion. Immediately after college, he entered the U.S. Navy and served in both the Atlantic and Pacific during WWII. After WWII he earned his law degree under the GI Bill from the University of Virginia and entered into law practice with Jackson, Kelly, Holt, and O'Farrell, (formerly Brown, Jackson & Knight), following the chosen profession of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Judge James H. Brown. Later he formed an enduring law partnership with Angus E. Peyton which lasted until 2005, and then continued to practice with his son, Jeff at Brown and Brown Law Offices, refusing to retire and continuing to be al! ert and independent.

Jim Brown was active in business, being the President of the West Virginia Building and Loan Association, President of Eagle Land Company, and a director of One Valley Bank Corp. He was a lifelong member of Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, where he was an elder and a property trustee. He was also very generous and supported many charitable and educational organizations, including the Legal Aid Society of Charleston, which he helped establish, and gave to the West Virginia University Libraries, the University of Charleston and the Clay Center.

A family interment will be at Mountain View Cemetery on Friday, December 21, with a memorial service to follow at Kanawha United Presbyterian Church at 2 p.m., followed by a reception at the church immediately afterwards. The family also thanks Paula Jones who has been Jim's devoted caregiver since Canky died in 2010.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts may be made to Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, or to any of the schools or organizations named above, or to the donor's charity of choice.

ML visit

Had a nice visit from ML.  We didn't do much but it was great having her here.  She took that nice pic of Zoe and Zelda.  The bottom picture is from Robert's holiday party from work.  ML helped me get ready for the upcoming holidays.

Morocco

Just completed a week's tour of Morocco and this is my fav pic - me riding a camel in the Sahara.  I loved it. I forgot my camel's name, but she/he was the biggest camel they had.  I felt like they thought I was the biggest person there.  It is true that I was taller and heavier than the ladies from the Philippines who were on our tour but I think there was at least one man who was larger than I.  Anyway- we rode out at sunset to the high sand dunes and watched the sun set in the west and the full moon rise in the East - it was amazing.

But I should start at the beginning. I had a great time with Mary Laurel and Robert before starting my tour.  Robert's parents, sister, brother and brother's girl friend came to eat turkey, tatters, pancit, lumpia, and other yums.  Earlier that day I went over to see the Guihers and Chamblees with Ned and Royal.  ML and Robert did a great job hosting 11 for dinner.  Many thanks to them and the Bileks for a super T-day.  It was very special to be able to share the day with Ned and Royal.

Cathy Dippo and I left from BWI the day after Thanksgiving for our 8-day bus tour around Morocco.  We flew in and out of Casablanca but took a large bus all around.  Our luggage did not arrive with us.  They were apparently still in NY after we arrived in Casablanca.  We made several trips to various airports but only succeeded in getting Cathy's bag, mine was still in NY or Paris or someplace so I spent the tour without my clothes.  I borrowed some stuff from Cathy and Rosa, so I only had to pay for laundry once. My bag stayed at the airport in Casablanca until I returned there a week later. So I checked it when I came home and amazingly it arrived in BWI with me.



Two Cathy's in the Meknes Medina



















There were 34 on our tour with Hassan as our native tour guide.  There were solo ladies that we hung out with: Rosa from So. Africa, Sharon from Canada, Marcella from England, and Jacqui from Australia.  There were 3 other couples from the USA, one from Singapore, one from Australia, and the rest were a sub-group from the Philippines with their tour coordinator.


Fellow tourmates: Sharon, Rosa, Jacqui, and Marcella

Complete tour group

On the second day we drove to Rabat and Meknes and saw some temples and Medinas (old town). Then on to Fes where we spent 2 nights.  We walked through the Medina and Kasbah which was fun.  We crossed the middle Atlas mountains in the snow and had one night in Erfoud with the camel ride in the desert.  We had one night is Ouarzazate (where they filmed "Lawrence of Arabia"), crossed over the high Atlas mountains then had 2 nights in Marrakesh which included walking around the square at night with snake charmers, belly dancers, and lots of people and food.  The last night included dinner at Rick's Cafe as in the film "Casablanca".  There were long bus rides from Fes to the dessert and from Fes to Ouarzazate.  Below are some pictures to give you the idea. We saw lots of date palms and olive trees in the Oases (which were in the valleys).  Several of us has an amazing hammam scrub with black soap and massage at the spa in Marrakesh (no pics of this, please).

Our Berber camel boys

Meknes Medina

Noontime on the Oasis

Hassan as a Saharan "blue" man

Borrowed clothing...

High Atlas Mountains

Horse carriage ride in Marrakesh

Dancing..

Joining the band...

Berber Tea Service



 

 

Pretty windy at sunset in the Sahara

Here's looking at you, kid!