Skip to main content

Heart Breaker, Dream Maker....Bell Ringer?

By
When I asked John to sing that song for me (so I could get the lyrics), John sang it more like "Hart Breaka, Dream Maka.  So, Bell Ringa....

A couple of months ago, I was approached by my visiting teacher, asking if I wanted to join a local bell choir, sponsored by the local Catholic church.  Absolutely!

Seriously, Tuesday evenings are the highlight of my weekday schedule.  I love going to bell ringing rehearsals!  I have the cutest stand partner (I'd be surprised if she was more than 100 pounds)--maybe that's why she rings the smallest bells, although I don't know what my excuse is....  This choir has been growing for almost 30 years now through generous donations of members of the church--it's amazing to see the number of bells they have purchased over the years.

The people are so friendly, and the music is just beautiful.  I'm in the beginning choir (or the newb choir, as Mark would say), mostly because I don't have a clue about the technique of ringing a bell.  I just try and get the right bell to ring at the right time.

I couldn't resist asking Johannah if she wanted to come to.  She was hooked after the first rehearsal and is now a more permanent member of the choir than I am.  In fact, we have a regional bell ringing festival to attend in April, and she was asked to play a viola solo (originally written for cello) in one of the numbers!  Believe me, we cleared that day in April so that we can both attend.

This month, I was able to attend my first performance.  Catholic Mass.  Hmmmm, not so excited about that.  You know how most people attend rehearsals so that they can perform?  I attend performances so that I can go to rehearsals :-)  Attending a private, Episcopal school for grade school, I participated in more daily morning masses than any child should ever be subjected to--I wasn't too excited to return to that part of the performance, although it was a bit amazing to see how much I remembered of the service itself.  But ringing the bells?  I love it.

Here's set up before rehearsal on Sunday.
See Hannie peeking her head out from behind the conductor?

It did give me a chance though to be thankful for my own religion.  I love being a Mormon.  I love the wonderful feeling of the spirit in church meetings.  I love the closeness that I feel to my Heavenly Father.  I must admit that the Catholics as a whole are much, MUCH friendlier than I have found the Pennsylvania Mormons to be, but I'm still glad that I hold the beliefs that I do.  I especially love our conductor, Gail--she has the patience of Job, and is extremely positive.  All good things for any musical director.

Really, I feel like I get the best of many worlds by being a member of this choir--the friendliness of the fellow bell ringers, the happiness of my own religion, and the joy of music.  What more could I want?


Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 3, 2013 at 9:50 AM

    Look at you! That is wonderful that you discovered new that you love.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Like Dominos....

By
It all began with glare.  Simple, obnoxious, I-can't-stand-it-anymore glare. Our 60" rear projection TV in the family room was basically unviewable except after 10 o'clock at night.  The glare from the windows was making it impossible to see anything during my 10 minute lunch break each day, and something had to change. Too, the TV didn't fit in the entertainment center from Germany.  John, wanting bigger and better, hadn't considered that the space is only 40" wide.  For the past five years, I have been nagged by 6" of overhang on both sides of the TV stand. I went to Lowe's to price blinds.  $1,043 for five blinds, and that was at 20% off. I figured a new TV would be cheaper than that.  I was right, even with the state-of-the-art receiver and new HDMI cables that sly salesman told us we needed to have. But where to put the old TV?  It just needed a quiet, dark place to retire. Glo's bedroom.  Her TV was a relic from the paleoneoneand...
3 comments
Read more

The Quest for Birkenstocks

By
One of the main reasons I go to Germany every couple of years is to restock my supply of Birkenstocks.  I started buying them when I lived there, and I basically can't live without them now.  It just about kills me when a pair runs its course and needs to be thrown away.  I think in my lifetime, I've thrown away only three pairs.  One that never was quite right (the straps were plastic and would cut into my skin after a long day), one pair that I wore gardening one too many times (the brown dirt stains wouldn't come out of the white leather), and the pair that I was wearing when I broke my ankle (they were an unfortunate casualty of broken ankle PTSD because those purple and blue paisleys go down as one of my favorite pairs of all time).  I only threw out the garden ones a couple of days before I left for Germany, because I knew I would be getting a new pair. The only store where I have ever bought my Birkenstocks is Hoffmann's in Speicher.  (Well okay, t...
2 comments
Read more

Thinking Beyond Ourselves

By
In our church, most adults hold a “calling”.  What this really means is they have a job, or a specific way to serve within the local congregation.  We believe that this calling is inspired from God—it’s a specific way that he wants us to serve, so that we can either learn and grow ourselves, or so that we can help someone else. I have had more callings in the church than I can count, and with few exceptions, I have loved every one of them.  I have come to love people (adults, teens and kids) who I might never have met.  I have learned much--from how to organize a Christmas music program, to how to make a Sunday School lesson meaningful to apathetic teenagers.  I have served as president of the children’s organization, and I have been the leader of 30 young, single adults. With every calling comes a lot of work.  Of course, the amount of work one puts into a calling is up to an individual.  I choose to put everything into a calling.  I give up ho...
3 comments
Read more