Singing With Rayne

I never imagined myself a singer.  Ever.  Well maybe, but only in very large groups.  But singing with my Treble Clef group has pressed me into a whole new world of music.  Perhaps you will remember that this is a group of women who sing to senior groups of all sorts and, sometimes, to community groups.  We earn money with each performance and donate it to charity.  I've been singing with them for several years now and I feel myself transforming into something of a minor singer.  Nothing truly special, but now able to sing in a duet, or even, shudder, ALONE.  Since our audiences are very accepting of any effort on our part, stretching into singing is not very intimidating.  And that has made a big difference in my level of musical stress.

We are in the midst of our spring concert series, finishing up this coming week.  Our series of songs is light-hearted and happy.  Layne continues as our token man, beloved by all the girls in the group.  Bonnie, our leader, makes sure to pick a song to suit his bass voice, so he sings a solo with every concert.  He's never soloed before, so even he is stretched by this experience.  But his strong bass voice moving through his song is lovely.  Our narrator, getting a little carried away in introducing him at one of our performances, called him the "Lovely Layne".  We've had quite a bit of fun referring to him since as the Lovely Layne.  The audiences seem to especially love his singing.  You can hear a sample below.  He and I sing a duet too--Singing in the Rain, complete with an umbrella, which provides a bit of humor as we trade it back and forth throughout the song.

Here's the "Lovely Layne" singing "Sing Baby Sing."  Below is a picture of our duet, "Singing in the Rain".

"Singing in the Rain"

All of this singing fills our days for the three weeks we are performing.  But I have come to love it, as I learn how to sing with this group and move to the music.  It has become a source of growth, friendship and fun.  It ends for our spring season this coming week.  Then life will return to normal.

                                   Part of our singing group singing "The Orchestra Song".

In the midst of all this singing, our granddaughter Rayne came to visit.  She arrived Saturday of last week and stayed through the weekend.  So she was pressed into service taking pictures at some of our Monday performances.  We had such fun with her. She and I walked the path along the Boise River one morning.  I suggested that we take the path on the other side of the River to return, which we did.  Then we got lost.  Let me clarify, I, who live here, got lost.  Rayne, who has never been on this trail. knew where we were and how to get back.  Hum.  Do you think I might have a little problem with direction?  I have come to think that I am definitely losing my sense of direction.  It used to be so good!

                                   Rayne and me along the trail beside the Boise River.

The Boise River, at a high point from the release of the Winter melt.

Our lovely Rayne, on her last day with us.

In addition to singing, we are also in the process of visiting all of the addiction groups we are supervising now.  Rayne accompanied us on one of those visits also.  Poor girl got exposed to much more than she planned on, I'm sure.  So, between singing and visiting addiction groups, we are much busier than normal.  Somehow I've got to find a way to fit all I want to do into my schedule.  Oh yes, even in my older age there are times when I feel a little overwhelmed!  I didn't imagine it would be like this at this time of life.  But I suppose being stretched into new territory is good for us at any age. Right now is a stretching time.