The Finer Things

So yesterday my only plans were to watch the crappy Dolphins play, but my friend Kenny had a better offer: go with him and Joelle to see Seraphic Fire at the South Dade Cultural Center. I was in.

Kenny always had a taste for finer things. When we were in high school, we actually drove to NY Tech to see a Shakespeare play. He is a music fan, and has catholic tastes.

I had seen Seraphic Fire before. They're a nationally recognized choral group based here in Miami. We saw them at an old church on Coral Way, and liked them immensely.  So I drove to the theater next to the old Cutler Ridge Mall, and met my friends.

The group was appearing with the American Brass Quintet, and they were terrific, too. The concert was some very old songs, from the times of the Crusades, when pilgrims would go through Europe on their way to the Holy Land, and stop along the way at local churches, where these songs were performed.

Of course, as I am low brow, I kept thinking about a spoof of this music I heard years ago -- Gregorian chanting of "Hey hey we're the monks."  But as the concert played, I was truly transported by the beautiful harmonies.

There was some unintentional comic relief, too. One of the singers is an enormous black fellow. He looked like he had a VERY deep voice. But he was a soprano. He sang beautifully, too.

After the concert, we drove to Black Point Marina, which was buzzing with people. They had live music there, too, a guitar playing singer. His first song was the Dead's "Ripple," so we knew we'd like him. We did.

The heat is still here, but there was a lovely breeze blowing off the water. Kenny, Joelle, and I toasted how lucky we are with our 4 kids. Lately we've been hearing tales of misery. We got very lucky with the Ds and their 2 sons.

I came home, and took the crippled Spaniel and strange rescue dog outside. I drank some tea while the dogs sniffed around. I heard some scurrying -- we have a pair of large iguanas living on our property lately -- the dogs made sure the big lizards knew they were NOT welcome.

There was a 3/4 beautiful moon. I thanked the Big Man. It was a lovely night.

This am I spoke to the Ds -- D2 conferenced in D1 and we caught up. There'll be some chilly temps for our upcoming NY state weekend, and D1 is non too happy about it. I look forward to actually needing a sweater to wear for a change.

We joked that Wifey might not join us -- she is having too great a time with her "Gem Tones" friends. D1 calls them that -- apparently after a certain age, women look better wearing gem tones as clothing, and sure enough, the photos show them all in sapphire and ruby colors. Who knew?

I think Wifey will indeed come home, and it should be a lovely family weekend.

Maybe I'll play some Seraphic Fire...