On September 24, 2018, my wife Lois died, after a four-year battle with cancer.
The Sunday after her passing, we had an open house. Lois’ sister Janice supervised the food. Lori, her husband Mark, Lois’ friends from Master Gardeners and Tax Aide, and our neighbors helped out.
We prepared a slide show, and put it on the living room television. Please click here to scroll through it. Lois_slide_show.
“You can probably get it at Swain’s.”
If you’re on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, Swain’s is the go to place for just about everything. Located in Port Angeles, it has been a general store for a couple of generations. So pull off U.S. 101 and take a tour:
Park your car and dodge the pickups on your way in.
Passing through the enclosed porch, you pass a moose.
The main aisle, from one end…
…and the other. It can take years to get this far.
First up: lots of rugged, warm clothing.
For your garden: a Sasquatch clubbing a gnome.
The technology section: cameras for your bike or ATV
Stroll past bows and arrows
And knives…
And sturdy suspenders…
Stuff for good clean fun…
Getting stuff dry in a damp climate.
Featuring the artwork of Alaskan artist Ray Troll.
Pumice sticks, for cleaning that pink ring in the toilet bowl.
We ascend the stairs to ladies’ wear…
Watched over by an eagle, presented by a first nation person to the original owner.
Lots of nice stuff upstairs. The wool socks are on the back wall.
Back downstairs, we pass the signs for sophisticates…
and as we leave, we pass by the inflated Seahawks helmet in the enclosed porch.
And we bid good-bye to Swain’s!
Another year, another struggle with the outdoor lights. Finally got ’em all to light (by buying some new ones).
The year began with a visit from John’s children, Glenn and Paula, plus Paula’s Theo. He celebrated his second birthday here, before returning home to the Netherlands, where he is talking Dutch accented English and generating hundreds of baby pictures, all wonderful. Glenn is working and pursuing a Master’s of Social Work degree. If he survives, it’ll be great.
Meanwhile, Lois and I traveled to Seattle to rally in support of the Affordable Care Act. Lois was embattled and bundled.
The weather got warmer, and Lois and the deer contended for control of her vegetable garden. We opted to build a fence, but it didn’t get done until the Fall. Okay, deer, wait until next year!
      In March, Lois dropped out of a clinical trial when it became clear that her primary peri- toneal cancer had recurred. She discovered she had been on the placebo. She opted to try an expensive new drug which sometimes works well with her particular genetic mutation, but it had bad side effects and was ineffective. In July, she resumed standard chemotherapy. Despite all this, she has continued volunteer activities, gardening, and enjoying life. She was thrilled to be 1 of 5 Master Gardeners holding monthly public meetings at a community garden to discuss what was growing there.
Lois found it a rewarding experience to work with both the other Master Gardeners and interact with the public. She continues to be the Local Coordinator for AARP Tax-Aide in Port Angles and is once again preparing for the coming tax season.
John continued to work with the Peninsula Singers, converting their website to WordPress and creating practice songs with his synthetic choir, the LaLa Singers. He completed a couple of science fiction stories, and continues to look forward to getting delivery of a Tesla Model 3…by Easter? So, in the words of the late, great Mel Tormé:
Love and Joy come to you, and to all your loved ones too,
And God bless you and send you a happy new year!
Traveling west through wheat country, to view the solar eclipse.
Set up for the big event in Baker City, Oregon
We bid good-bye to summer, going to the top of Blue Mountain with Mark and Lori
Lois and Sarajon, old friend and fellow Delaware transplant, show off our great Fall color.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with Lois’ sister Janice, her husband Joe, and Mark and Lori
Many people dream of being able to see a live dinosaur. Modern research suggests that to do so, all you have to do is put up a bird feeder. Birds are dinosaurs that fly. They evolved from feathered dinosaurs. Continue reading
Mark Hayes’ arrangement of Long Ago and Far Away, by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin, for five parts. The LaLa singers observe the dynamics and tempi marked in the score.
The Whole Banana
Sopranos
Second Sopranos
Altos
Tenors
Basses
Dewey Ehling’s arrangement of Give My Regards to Broadway, by George M Cohan, for four parts. The altos “split” on two notes, but there’s just one alto part here. Technical note: Like many other arrangers, Dewey has two notes tied together, with the second note marked with a fermata. My music editor sees tied notes as one long note and doesn’t want to put a fermata in the middle of a note. So I made the first seven measures slow (85 quarter notes per measure) and then picked it up to 110 at measure 8.
The Whole Banana
Sopranos
Altos
Tenors
Basses
Good Night, My Someone, Pick a Little, Lida Rose and The Wells Fargo Wagon from Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man, as arranged by Clay Warnick. The pieces all begin with the second to the last measure on page 3 and continue through the second system on page 13. Tenors and basses should choose the parts they sing in Good Night Ladies.
The Whole Banana
Sopranos
Altos
First Tenors
Second Tenors
Baritones
Basses
The Wells Fargo Wagon from Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man, as arranged by Clay Warnick. The pieces all begin with the last two measures of Lida Rose, in the middle system of page 10. If you want to practice getting into and out of Good Night My Someone, Pick a Little, Lida Rose and The Wells Fargo Wagon, use the Music Man G P L W, which includes all four.
The Whole Banana
Sopranos
Altos
Tenors
Basses
Pick a Little, Talk a Little and Good Night, Ladies from Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man, as arranged by Clay Warnick. The pieces all begin with the first measure in the bottom system on page 5, and they all repeat, so the men can practice making their entrance the second time through. If you want to practice getting into and out of Good Night, My Someone, this number, and Lida Rose and The Wells Fargo Wagon, use the Music Man G P L W, which includes all four.
The Whole Banana
Sopranos
Altos
First Tenors
Second Tenors
Baritones
Basses
Merry Christmas, and Best Wishes for the New Year!
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