We continue to keep you in our prayers in the Mueller household in Wheaton.

Jonathan, Dawn, & Family

Warmly,
John

Hi Connie and all —

Well, couldn’t make it up the mountain – ended up in church instead. Last weekend, the roads were very snowy (chains required, etc.) for the trek from Palm Springs to Idyllwild (elevation 5,280). We ended up for a 3 night weekend at Susan’s sister Ann’s in (rainy, windy) Pasadena – her sister and her husband were to meet us in Idyllwild.

Sunday morning was very quiet, and I decided to attend the 9:30 service at the what is called the Neighborhood Unitarian-Universalist Church of Pasadena (uuneighborhood.org). The location is very special, as it is on a parklike piece of land that is shared by the Gamble House (Gamblehouse.org), a beautiful large house that is now open as a museum focusing on the Pasadena Craftsman style architecture. The actual church is a windowless, shake-covered box surrounded by trees, although the church’s fellowship hall and offices are in a structure which might have been part of the original Gamble estate.

(Unitarianism has always been part of my internal religious/spiritual mix – my first marriage occurred in a Unitarian church in Seattle. But my most recent Unitarian church attendance was 46 years ago in Lansing, Michigan, when I was a sociology grad student at Michigan State.)

With Valentine’s the previous day, the service was oriented around the theme of love. Several aspects of the structure of the service were very interesting. 1. It was billed as an “intergenerational service,” with children (except for very small ones) in the congregation (and totally quiet during the two silent parts of the service). 2. At three points in the service, people could offer the number of a hymn, and we would sing together the first verse only (the excellent organist was quick to play the melody through before we started) – there were 2-3 hymns in each of the three such sections (there were also 2 full hymns in the service. 3. The sermon by the Senior Minister was not delivered from the pulpit (but from his moving in the center aisle and in front) and was broken into three sections (the church was at maybe 500 people capacity, and his voice carried well enough for even my 71 year old ears to hear ). 4. The service also included the minister reading a (politically correct – young girl wanted to be a knight rather than a lady-in-waiting, ended up saving the town and befriending the dragon, etc.) story to children who gathered in the front with him (again, his voice carried well, and even 71 year olds like to be read to). In all, a very special time in a very special place.
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(Delayed) Weekly Concert Report: It’s Back to Church for a Sunday Afternoon Concert.

Turns out that the Church’s Music Director is also the Director of the Pasadena ProMusica, a separate organization that includes much of the church’s choir and performs in the church. “The Battle of the Sexes” was the title of the 4PM concert. The program was divided into six sort of relationship stages from The Divine Plan to The Chase to Trouble in Tahiti to On My Own Again. There were 3-4 pieces in each of these sections, which included composers as diverse as Purcell, Benjamin Britten, Thomas Morely, Haydn, Gershwin, and Puccini. There were voice solos and different chorus combinations, including a short barbershop quartet number. A piano, harpsichord, cello, and bluegrass duo also did their part(s). Great concert!!

Connie, you get strong positive thoughts sent your way by us from all sorts of places – now you can add Uuneighborhood Church as a sending place for thoughts winging east to you.

Your spirit certainly continues to shine though that hazy mix of drug stuff you are going through. But, hey, low, husky voice, etc. — an appealing contralto in a bright green pajama suit, being led by a personable large brown dog — sounds like a great combination!

Our Warmest Best to all of you,

Dick and Susan Gale

Warmly,

Judith

You must also add to your “health resume” being the best dressed, most polite and helpful (caring for yourself, being the nurses ‘favorite’ and making sure persons calling into the phone get to the right person), hip (not replacement, I mean laptop-wireless connection – calling tech support to get connected-I-Phone wielding kind if Hip), and out and out just fabulous!!

We had a great time introducing our newly adopted dog, Leo – a 5 year old chow mix, to Alphie yesterday. Alphie showed Leo, the city dog, how to run through the pasture, chase rabbits into the next section, and then generally lie around – a very informative night was had by all!

Love H