Vision-Sunday Afternoon Band Concert

Sunday Afternoon Band Concert

7" x 10.5"

watercolors

It seems like a perfect thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. Go to a band concert in a lovely place. A park is great, as is an auditorium.

My young grandson escorted me to a concert by my favorite band at Rudder auditorium in Rudder Tower on the Texas A&M University campus last month. (Which is also one of my favorite places to go.) Both the symphonic and concert bands were going to present programs during the afternoon.

Having played flute in the Calvert High School band for a few years, I have an appreciation for good band music. The former director of the A&M band, Joe Tom Haney, was also our band director in high school. So we had some excellent training.

As I dressed to go over to campus, I was watching the news on tv and knew that Shep Smith from Fox News was broadcasting from the Flag Room in the MSC, next door to Rudder Tower. I really wanted to go watch him, too, and, hopefully, meet him.

We also heard on tv that Bill Clinton was flying in to make a speech at Reed Arena about the same time as the concert. A busy day here.

As we drove past the airport on our way to campus, Clinton's plane flew over us as it landed. We knew because of all the police cars, waiting and circling around the area.

My daughter let us off by the MSC and we went into the Flag Room to see Shep Smith. I could hear him, and I could make out some people at a table across the room. But I couldn't really see much because of the bright tv lights! I checked out the art gallery door in the Flag Room to see if they were open on Sunday. They were. I thought we could return after the concert and look around there, if Shep was already through broadcasting.

We entered the lobby of Rudder and I almost had a panic attack! I couldn't see much. Dark carpets and low lighting in places. Thank goodnes my grandson was with me and that he is able to read almost anything! There was a sign placed on a stand in the middle of the floor, showing which auditorium the band concert would be in. I couldn't see it until I was just a few feet away. It was printed on maroon cardboard with black letters!

Then there were two flights of stairs to walk up. Carpet was maroon or dark blue in the building. No lights on the actual steps, but the landings were lighted. I was leaning over trying to find each step, and, at the same time, having pain in my knees from my worn out joints! People around me were walking easily while I was complaining, "Why don't they have elevators in this nice building!"

I couldn't help but wonder why, with a big architecture department at the University, this very public building was not made more handicapped friendly. I'm not that bad off, but I'm sure that others who do have more serious handicaps, and didn't have a young person to help them, would not be able to function in the building is, as lovely as it is.

(I have since learned that, there is a number to call to let them know that you are coming, if you have special needs, and they will have someone to assist you or show you where to go to avoid all those stairs.)

And, then there was the restroom situation. We were on the second level, but all the restrooms are on the first floor. That meant that, at intermission, I had to climb the stairs again. And then, I couldn't read the signs to know which was the ladies room. Signs were placed high on the wall, too far for me to read with my poor vision. My grandson escorted me to the area, but he was a little embarassed about going to the area of the ladies room. A man was there, waiting for his daughter to come out, and he showed me which door was the ladies room. I felt really stupid that I couldn't even find the restroom, and I was in a hurry, too!

We entered the auditorium and took the first seats near the door. To go closer to the stage meant climbing down more steep stairs. I noticed a woman on the floor near the stage, in one of those little electric carts. I decided that there must be another entrance somewhere that would allow people to sit close to the stage and not have to climb all those stairs.

My escort was a little gentleman and sat through the concert. A few times, I asked him to read the program to me, and he did. (Some of that was just to discuss the instruments and the music.)

The music was excellent and that should have been enjoyable. But all I could think of is that, one of these days, I may not be able to see the band at all. It was hard to sit there and struggle to make out instruments or what the musicians were doing.

Oddly, I could see the director and his platform fairly well. I could make out the percussion section with men in bright red or orange shirts. I could see one on the left who may have been playing a xylaphone or a kettle drum, just from the way he bent over and moved his arms. Another played rhythm instruments and chimes. Another either played a kettle drum or some kind of drums. He seemed to be using his hand flat.

Other than that, all I could see was a golden halo in the back of the orchestra for the baritones or bass horns, that same golden halo on the left for the trumpets (I think!), and the same halo for the trombones and possibly some other horns on the right.

I could see some knees in front of the trumpets. One set of knees seemed to be covered by a blue and green floral patterned skirt. Next to the skirt, there seemed to be jeans and next to the jeans, there appeared to be another blue and green skirt. But what instruments they played, I have no idea.

A hand with a part of a flute was near the director, toward the center on the right. A yellowish pattern was next to the director, in the first row, on the right. I couldn't tell if this was an instrument case, or some kind of air cast a person might be wearing.

On the left, I could only see a foot wearing a sandal.

There was a light area around the director, I suppose from a spotlight. But that blended into the purple spot that I see , and darkness. Only the few things I have mentioned poked through that darkness. At least that is the way that it looked, through my eyes.

"Will I be able to just sit and relax and enjoy listening, in the future, if it comes to that? Can I enjoy anything without being able to see it correctly?" I couldn't help but wonder as the director put his energies into conducting and the young people in the band worked to give us their best efforts. "Why can't I just sit back, relax, and enjoy being here and listening!"

I thought of the park and the old band stand there and how it should have been used more over the years. It was so wonderful when the Houston Symphony played there one spring. And the big highlight, for me, was when the band from Ft. Hood came during the Sesquicentennial. What a thrill that was . It was even nice when our Trojan band would play in the bandstand.

And I dreaded having to go back down those stairs to the lobby! I felt sort of lost and that I should be showing my grandson things instead of the other way around. I could recognize things and knew generally where to go, but I feel so foolish when I can't find or read signs, or recognize which way I should go.

The concert ended and I walked sideways down the stairs. My grandson and I walked across the fountain area, through a little dust devil, back to the MSC and the Flag Room. TV lights were still on and people were sitting around in the "living room", as they often do. We sat for a few minutes, too, but the tv personalities seemed to be gone. I thought they must have rushed over to Reed Arena to do a story on Clinton being there. Or maybe it was a supper break.

We went through the art exhibit in the gallery and looked at work by, and from the collection of, actor Anthony Quinn.

I've written about that in a previous post, so I won't go over that again.

I'm sure that, now, I have lost my center vision due to wet Macular Degeneration. (The cataracts in both eyes don't help, either.)

But it was a bit odd that I could see the band director so well, and he was in the center of my vision. I guess that it has something to do with the lighting in the auditorium. When the normal lights were on, I could see the band members entering and getting ready to play. And I could see their instruments.

If you would like to read more about my experiences with Macular Degeneration, look for the older posts that are prefaced with the word "Vision". Also, I have listed some of the sites that I have found that deal with AMD in my sidebar under "Eye Sites".

I painted "Sunday Afternoon Band Concert" from a sketch I did after we got home from our visit to A&M. I used Winsor Newton watercolors on 140# Arches watercolor paper.

Please let me know if you see something that you are interested in. Most of the art work on my blog is for sale.

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Stork Update

If you are stork watching, or would like to, the nest in Przygodzic now has 4 eggs! Mama stork seems to be sitting on the nest every time I look, but they give the egg count at the bottom of the camera shot. There are now 4 little animated eggs there, so we know that the nest has 4 eggs in it.

You can check out the links under Stork Sites on my sidebar on the right.

If you click on Stork Cams, you can see a list of various places that have web cams or information on the storks.

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19th Worldwide Sketch Crawl Announced

Get Ready! Make your plans! Sharpen a pencil. Pull out your sketchbook (or buy a new one!). Dust off your watercolors, markers, crayons, pens, or whatever you like to draw with.

The date for the 19th Worldwide Sketch Crawl has been announced for Saturday June 21. I will be adding more about that on my blog, but I just wanted everyone to be able to plan for this.

You can check out the website at http://www.sketchcrawl.com/ or look on my sidebar under Art Helpers and click on that link.

I hope that we can get a lot more participation from this area this time.

You can read more about the last one in previous posts on my blog. You can also see some of the work that we created that day.

If you are interested, you can register on the Sketch Crawl website, or, if you are in this area, you can register, then post a reply under either Bryan, Texas or College Station, Texas and let us know that you are interested. (You don't have to, but it would be nice to know who all is sketching, and might be fun to get this together as a group.)

You can even post your own reply to get a group together for your area.

Remember that this is open to everyone-all ages, all levels. Beginners, professionals, students, teachers, professionals, families, groups, or individuals. People can work together or solo. The idea is just to draw that day, with people all over the world, working at one time.

I'm excited about it and looking forward to another day of drawing.

More on this later. I just wanted to pass on the announcement of the date.

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Election Day in Texas

(To the tune of "When It's Roundup Time In Texas")

It's Election Day in Texas

And the sun is shining bright.

Not a cool north wind a blowing,

Nor the sky high cost of gas,

Gonna stop us all from voting

Spin that little wheel on the stand,

Just to think of all

Who've made us free and all

Drinkin' coffee while we can.

You can hear the candidates calling,

Beggin' for every vote they can.

Hear the boring ads

All through the whole day long,

And the pundits everywhere.

They're a flying, flapping, yapping,

with their planes and SUVs,

Flitting place to place

Spending lots of cash,

Wanting votes from you an' me.

Hear the anchors just a wailin',

Hopin' for a scoop each day.

Watch them trying to be there

With their pretty suits,

And the big ole satellite trucks.

Just a readin', watchin', thinkin',

Whose the best to vote for.

To keep our country safe,

To stay free always,

To preserve our sacred ways,

So we can all be healthy, happy,

Smart and secure,

When it's voting day in Texas.

Who to vote for? That is the question.

With apologies to Shakespere!

Boy, has it been busy and exciting around here. I'm just in awe about the people who have been and who are here because of the election.

I'm a news junkie. I guess that's because of my time writing for newspapers and teaching journalism. My daughter said that I just learned to be nosey in my home town. Everyone turned out for everything, appearances, programs, church, wrecks, fires, trials, meetings-you name it-night or day. I still want to be there for everything. And I don't like to vote for anyone who I haven't at least had the opportunity to see in person.

Well, I got to see John McCain when he was here last spring. Didn't agree with him on many things except the war. He is someone to be admired, though.

Mitt Romney came, but it was a closed event. I wasn't invited, so that ruled him out as someone to vote for.

Mike Huckabee was here, but I couldn't get over there. That ruled him out. Besides, I only think of him as wanting everyone to lose weight, just because he did.

Personally, I think that we haven't seen the candidate that this country really needs.

Sunday afternoon, I took my grandson over to campus to hear the Texas Aggie symphony and concert bands at Rudder Tower. Being the news junkie that I am, we had to, first, go by the MSC to see the Fox News crew, with Shep Smith as anchor, broadcasting from the Flag Room. I couldn't see anything because of the big tv lights! But, I am still thrilled that I got to be in the same room with Shep! I really enjoy Shep and Greta Van Susteran reporting on Fox. Wish I could have met him.

We went on to the concert, came back to see if Shep might still be around. The lights were still on, but the crew was gone. So, we went through one of the several art galleries in the MSC. I had been wanting to see the exhibit of art by actor Anthony Quinn, along with some of his collection of art. Just outstanding!

I told my grandson, "I want to do that!", looking at three large paintings at the entrance.

Of course, after sitting through a band concert, my grandson was tired and wiggly and wanting to go home.

When we got home, I was so surprised that Shep was broadcasting again on Fox News! I thought he had left for the day.

He was back there yesterday for his program, and will have a special election party in the Flag Room later this afternoon. Did my heart good yesterday to hear the Aggie yell leaders, leading some traditional yells with some of the students, and to hear the group doing "The Aggie War Hymn" with "Saw Varsity's Horns Off" ! They needed that great Texas Aggie Band, too. Hope that Shep and crew got to see a lot of Aggieland and its great traditions while they are here.

Also, Sunday, we heard that Bill Clinton was going to be in town for an appearance at Reed Arena. But, no one, including the local tv station, knew if it was by invitation only. So, we ruled that out and decided to go on to the band concert as planned. (Turned out that it was open. I learned that people knew about it from phone calls and Hillary's website.)

Would have been nice for my grandson to be able to say that he saw the former president. I'm not supporting her, but I just like to see and hear everyone that I possibly can.

But, we did get close! As we drove past the airport to campus, Clinton's plane flew over us-really low! I don't think that I can count that as seeing him, though!

I used to support Hillary, as a woman. And she became more human when she and Chelsey had makeovers with a Mary Kay consultant while she was in the White House. I am keenly aware that everyone needs to be able to have healthcare, (It's just criminal to deny healthcare to anyone because of lack of money or adequate insurance, to my way of thingking) so I was listening to that. But, her bad remarks against the president, wanting to bring troops home immediately, and learning that everyone is going to have to buy healthcare, and her "listening to the squeaky wheels" instead of doing what this country needs, just turned me off.

Obama makes nice speeches, but I think he is all wrong for this country. No real plans that could be carried out, too inexperienced, and I don't trust him at all.

So, it looks like I may have to do the old coin toss to make up my mind when I get to the voting place. I've been leaning toward McCain. If our country is not strong and secure, then all our other issues are not going to matter much. But, then, I'm thinking that Hillary needs our support in order to beat Obama. At one point, I thought that it's just too much! Maybe I'll just stay at home and send the rest of the family to vote! Can't do that, though. This is too important.

In times past, back home, when I was growing up, men walked up and down the street, met at the Post Office, in cafes, the grocery stores, etc., talking about who to vote for. Grandpa would sort of "hold court" around the stove and the chairs at the dry goods store, and men would talk about the issues. He would also get Daddy, and his brother, together, to talk about who they were going to support.

They were all involved.

The ladies, however, never talked about politics or issues, that I remember. They were busy with cleaning, cooking, entertaining and such. Some were not allowed to vote, despite the fact that they got the vote, because of the poll tax. If the men didn't want the women to vote, they just refused to pay the poll tax for the ladies. Most of the men controlled the purse strings, and everything else. Some men thought that women were "too stupid to know how to vote right." They wanted to be sure that the candidate they supported won and to keep the women out of it all. Sometimes it was really hard to get hold of that $1.50 or $2.00.

Anyone doing "the Texas Two Step"? That's getting a lot of news coverage.

Today, I hope that we all vote "right", whatever that may be.

This isn't meant to be any kind of endorsement, or anything like that. Just my observations and experiences on this important day.

Vision-The News

The News

4.25" x 6"

watercolors

I watch the news a lot. Not just for the information or to know what is going on. But, I have been known to take notes, just to see if I can keep up with getting the important things down, keeping in practice. And to think about how I would write up what I am watching as a news story. Thinking back to the times when I worked for a small newspaper, and also wrote for a couple of other small newspapers and was a stringer for a couple of larger dailies.

I got my training through experience. It was very interesting, but a bit nerve wracking. I wanted to be sure that I didn't have any mistakes and that everything was as perfect as possible.

When I first started writng a column of local news, my old high school English teacher told me that she was so proud of what I was doing! She told me that she read my articles with a red grading pen and circled any mistakes. She said she couldn't find many.

I thought, "She should have seen what I turned in!" A lot of Xs on each page. The editor told me to not worry about taking time to make it neat, just X out any errors, and write in things I needed to add. The editor, typesetter, and all whose hands it passed through, would make corrections as they worked.

I did give credit for the lack of mistakes to the editor, but she was convinced that I did it all myself.

This, of course, was in the days before computers.

In the painting above, I was watching some of the caucus coverage on Fox News. Greta Van Susteran and Shep Smith were the anchors for a special last week. I closed my bad eye to watch. And, just to check my bad eye, I closed the good eye and watched for a few minutes. I did a little sketch of Greta. I was struck that, in the middle of the purple circle that I see, I could still make out her black blazer, which formed a point at the bottom of the screen. Her white blouse stood out somewhat as did parts of her blonde hair. Her face had a bit of orange across her forehead, but the rest of her face was shadowed a bit. Around the purple circle, there was a dark, mossy green circle.

As usual, I could see the edge of the tv set, the wall, part of the cabinet that the set is on, and the pictures above the tv set, but not her face, when I looked at it.

I can make out that there is something there, and know that there is a head, a face, several heads, and a bit of the things in the center of what I am looking at, but there is that dark circle that covers most of it, when I look through the eye with Macular Degeneration.

I've read that one thing that people with Macular Degeneration really have a problem with is not being able to see faces and to be able to recognize people. I've read that some people can't see the faces of their children, grandchildren, friends, or even people that they meet.

So far, I'm lucky in that one eye is affected, and the other is just blurry from cataracts. But I can still see faces if I am close enough and if I use the good eye. I just hope that this doesn't happen to the other eye. I guess that, since this dark spot is here all the time, I have lost the center vision in that eye.

On Gretawire, Greta's blog, there was a discussion a few weeks ago about Macular Degeneration. I know that she has a bit of an interest in the subject. The discussion is probably still there in the archives.

Maybe I should send her portrait, as she looks to someone with AMD, to her. She is a good sport so I don't think she would be upset by it.

Meanwhile, back to the news!

I have some more information on AMD and "My Vision Test", to share with you. Click on the link in my sidebar under Eye Sites if you would like to see the test. It might help for you to know more about the creator of the test and more information about it. I contacted the man who created the test and will try to share what I learned in my next post.

Be sure to check out the Guest Book at the very bottom of my page. Just scroll down. You can sign it, and even add a picture.

Thank you for reading and sharing. Let me know if you see something that appeals to you!