Ode to Joy

For the last three years Sophie and I have been members of our local ukulele orchestra. I know I've posted about it often. On Wednesday morning we learned that one of our longtime members, one of the anchors for the group, passed away. Some of us gathered at the library this morning to share sweet memories of him. We each had personal interactions with him that showed his kind and giving character. It was good to sit with friends and comfort each other. And that's what this group is, a lovely bunch of friends who play happy music for our community. I'm sad that our friend is gone, but I'm glad he was my friend and for this musical group that brings so much joy.

Troubadour

Sophie was invited to participate in an open mic tonight. I was her ride and stayed to watch. She brought her ukulele and ended up singing four songs. She sounded amazing!

Making Music With My Friends*

Sophie and I had a ukulele gig on Saturday. We played in a room with really amazing acoustics.

It's such a blessing to sing and play with this group and I'm so glad we're both in it.

It fills my soul.

*This is a line from one of the songs in our concert set, does anyone know the song without Googling it?

What Am I Missing?

Today we had a ukulele orchestra performance at a park.

I brought my music.

I brought my music stand.

I brought my folding chair.

Can you see where this is going?

Upon arrival, I discovered I had not brought my ukulele.

I think perhaps my brain still hasn't recovered from the stress and overwhelm of the schoolyear.

When I announced to the other members of the orchestra that I'd forgotten my instrument they had two reactions: several of them said they'd almost done the same thing and then they all insisted that I stay anyway to sing. 

I did, and Topher, who had come with me, sat on my lap and sang along too.

The Happiest Instrument

Sophie and I joined some of our ukulele orchestra mates and watched The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain perform on Friday night. They were amazing! They were hilarious and their playing was insanely good. The concert felt way too short, even when they came back onstage and played three more songs for an encore.

Oh Mr. Moon

On Saturday Sophie and I, along with our fellow ukulele orchestra members, got to perform two shows with Kate Micucci. She wrote a children's book and came to our library to do a reading and ukulele performance. It was such a fun experience!

Our first show was at 10:00 at a local church. There were 100 people at this performance and 50 people at the 2:00 show at the library. Apparently there were 300 people still on the waiting list.

We got seats for these guys! A local bookstore was selling signed copies of the book, so we bought one before our first show.

Kate was delightful and gracious. We learned one of her songs, Mr. Moon, and she played that plus three others songs with us. She read her book and taught all the kids how to draw their own puppet. She answered questions from the kids in the audience, then stood in line and talked with everyone that wanted to say hi. When it was our turn, Topher showed her his favorite page from her book, so she signed it!

Kate had come a few days before to practice with the ukulele orchestra. Unfortunately, neither Sophie nor I could be there. The rehearsal was recorded so we could watch it at home and be ready. It helped a lot. 

Before we started our first show, before the audience was allowed in, Kate came over to say hello to the ukulele players. She asked the names of those that hadn't been at the practice, including Sophie. But when she got to me, she said, "Wait, I've met you before." She was in town two years ago and attended a library function where the cast of The Little Mermaid was performing. She and I had chatted briefly (I wrote about it HERE) and that was it. I was SHOCKED that she remembered talking to me. She didn't know my name, but she remembered my face. I'm impressed with her memory!

I'm not sure who took this picture, but it was sent to me by another member of the ukulele orchestra.

Phoebe attended the morning show, but then she had to dash off to rehearsal, so she didn't get to talk to Kate afterward. Kate announced that she would be at a local coffeeshop at a specific time, in case anyone else wanted to come by and say hello. So I picked Phoebe up from rehearsal after our second show and we went to a coffeeshop to say hi to Kate. They had a nice chat about Phoebe's love for theatre and Doctor Who, then we took a picture with Kate and her son.

It was a very full, very fun day!

All I Want for Christmas

The library had a Christmas sing-along last week. Sophie and I got to participate with the ukulele orchestra. The evening also included a special visitor in red. Topher is in on the game, but he went and made some Christmas gift requests: a hot wheels garage and a pet polar bear. When he saw the surprised expression on Santa's face he corrected himself and said a stuffed animal pet polar bear.

Aloha

All the members of the Ukulele Orchestra were given leis to take home at our practice last night. Sophie enjoyed weighing her options.