Farewell to June

    As we say farewell to June, we have had two more opportunities to enjoy the art of music. Last Wednesday, the Indy Winds Flute Choir performed selections from movies. You should recognize the tune. If not, leave a comment, and I'll let you know. Have you ever seen a bass flute? They are the ones that have a bend or a U-shape. The drummer added a nice touch to the concert.

    

    The Greenwood Community Band performed their Stars and Stripes concert on Friday evening at the outdoor amphitheater. They performed patriotic march numbers and recognized veterans from all the military services.

The Star Spangled Banner opened the concert.

    Last week, Xfinity offered a free movie, The Dark Knight, which we watched, but it could have been a better use of time. I would give it 2.5 stars. Can some of my readers educate me about the storyline? The special effects were spectacular, with many fiery scenes and explosions.

    Greenwood's Freedom Festival was last night. The fireworks were scheduled to start at 10:15 (when we are usually in bed), and with a large crowd expected, finding a parking spot would have been difficult, so we didn't venture out. We may watch some fireworks on TV this coming week. Do you have plans for the 4th?

 

My Everyday Life - June 23-29

Another Concert

    Last Wednesday, we drove to Franklin for the third concert in the summer series sponsored by the Franklin Symphonic Council. The Taiko Drummers from Columbus, Indiana, were scheduled to play in the outdoor amphitheater. Due to the extreme heat, the venue was changed to an indoor facility. We had never seen them before and were impressed by the choreography and synchronization. The drummers smiled all the time. They obviously enjoyed what they were doing. Since it was indoors and very loud, we used earplugs.

My Everyday Life - June 16-22

 

Musical Wednesday

    A bridge friend introduced us to the Franklin Symphonic Council's Summer Concert Series on Wednesday evenings in July and August. On June 9, I wrote about the Franklin Community Band concert, which we enjoyed. Last week, we had the opportunity to attend the second concert with Joyful Sound, a community-based handbell choir. I have three videos of the handbell players, but something went wrong, and I can't share them. I need to learn more about recording videos.

    I failed to share the past two weeks of My Everyday Life. They are posted below.

My Everyday Life - June 2-8

My Everyday Life - June 9-15

 

Indiana State Games

    We've been home from the games for a week, and I'm finally finding a moment to write about our adventures. 

    The State Games are held annually in Evansville for athletes 50 and older. 2024 is a qualifying year for the national games in Des Moines 2025. I entered three competitions: a 5K road race, a 1500 power Walk, and a 5K power walk.

    We drove south Thursday afternoon (June 6) and checked into our reserved Airbnb in a beautiful historic area near the Ohio River. 

We had a room on the second floor and entered
the house under the small canopy. We didn't have an
opportunity to enjoy the picnic table and outdoor lighting.

    After checking in, we drove to the 5K road race site, which was only a few minutes away. We arrived early and meandered around on the trail. Eventually, more racers arrived, and at 6 p.m., the horn sounded for the race to begin. The temperature was in the 80s, warmer than I've been exercising in, but it didn't bother me. Since I was the only one in my age division, I received a gold medal and am qualified for the 2025 Des Moines games.

                               

    We returned to our room and looked for a restaurant for our evening meal. We enjoyed sitting outside on a pleasant evening.

Bokeh Lounge

Sculpture in the back of the Lounge

    

    We had nothing planned for most of Friday, so we visited the USS LST-325. Our guided tour took us to all areas of the ship. The LST-325 was launched on 27 October 1942 and commissioned on 1 February 1943. To read about its many roles in the war, please click here.

The lower level would be filled
with trucks and other vehicles
for offloading when landing.

This plaque explains the duty of the ship in Gela, Sicily

    Not far from the LST-325, we found the Evansville Museum. Since it was the first Friday of the month, there was no admission charge. We wandered through the indoor exhibits and then to the outdoor area to see the locomotive and railroad cars. They also had an elaborate indoor train layout. 

                                     

Evansville Museum

Indoor display with several trains running

    On Friday evening, we had tickets for the Celebration of Athletes dinner. Since the Bally Casino has an oversized free parking garage, we didn't have to pay for parking. The dinner was held in one of the conference rooms. After a delicious meal, we listened to a motivational speech. The State Games volunteers were acknowledged and thanked for their service. Door prizes were awarded, and Ray won one.

    The biggest thrill of the evening was receiving the Dr. Martin Bender Legacy Award. Dr. Bender, who is 101 years old, was a practicing urologist in Evansville for many decades. He espoused exercise and nutrition. The award, which is in its fifth or sixth year, is awarded to someone 80+ years old. 

    The plaque reads: Ruth has been a dedicated athlete in the Senior Games and continues to participate in the National Senior Games representing Indiana! In her 86 years of life, she exemplifies the attributes of the Martin Bender Legacy Award by choosing to remain active through exercise and sports.

    On a rainy Saturday morning, we checked out of our room and drove to Newburgh, IN, for the track and field events. When it was time for the 1500-meter power walk, the rain stopped. We had lawn chairs and watched some 50 and 100-meter sprints, but then the rain returned, and we decided to stay dry and spend time seated in our car. Just before noon, the rain stopped in time for the 5K power walk. I was the last to finish the race and won a gold medal for my age division.

    After a successful, exciting, and fun weekend, we returned to Greenwood by late Saturday afternoon.

Music in the Air

    As I mentioned last Sunday, we were headed to the Greenwood Amphitheater for a concert by the Community Band. We placed our lawn chairs close to the stage and had a great view.  The theme was Latin music, which included jazz selections played by a select group of musicians. We enjoyed the couple who danced to almost every selection, as seen in this short video.

    On Wednesday evening, we drove to Franklin to listen to the Franklin Community Band perform at Grace UMC. The music they played was familiar, lively, and prone to toe-tapping. Franklin College students performed a few selections from their upcoming musical production. One of the College faculty members sang several selections. The evening was delightful.

    I have more to write about this past weekend, but I'll make that a separate entry.

Welcome June

     Has it been only a week since the running of the Indy 500 race? Since then, we've been watching WNBA Fever games. The start of their season has been challenging. They won their first home game yesterday afternoon. These games are very physical. An obvious intentional foul by a Chicago player against Caitlin Clark was not called flagrant. I was surprised to see the same play shown on a national news program that evening. After yesterday's afternoon games, they traveled to New York and are playing again this evening. We'll try to catch the game but also plan to go to the Greenwood Amphitheater for the Community Band Concert. 

    I haven't had to water our flowers since planting them, except once or twice. Since then, we've had occasional rain and cooler weather. 

My Everyday Life - May 26-June 1

    

    That's all I have to talk about this week.