Thursday: The Beginning of the End

I'm always surprised by how quickly the Music Mission passes. Maybe it's because we constantly move from one thing to the next: a routine that typically starts with untaping the doors at 7 or 7:30 in the morning and winds up looking at pictures on my phone deciding what to put on the blog the next day shortly after midnight. Most years we set our face toward Atlanta on Thursday, stopping in one city along the way. It feels like the beginning of the end.

Our first concert was at Emerald Place, a memory care facility. They were one of the most welcoming places we've ever sung. There was a sign on the desk in the lobby...

...and a table of treats for us outside...

...and a sign to welcome us that had hand-written thank you notes from everyone on the staff.

It would be hard to overstate the extent to which the staff at Emerald Place went to welcome us. When I talked to the activities director, she told me they had been preparing for about a month. The residents were very excited we were coming, asking every day if it was the day the choir was coming--so much that she wound up making a countdown calendar so everyone could see how long until we arrived.

The concert was outside, where it was sunny and bright. It wasn't oppressively hot, but it was certainly warm. Because of that, we didn't visit outside. They moved some of the audience up in front of the choir for a group picture.

Then they took the residents inside, and we came in to visit with them there. I had a first on this visit when one of the residents asked if our tshirts were for sale or if they were just uniforms. I said they are just uniforms, but would she like to have one? She said yes, so I went out to the bus and got one in her size (I keep a small supply of extra shirts just in case of some culinary calamity!). I put it on her shoulder and said, "I guess you're one of us now!" Jaime (activities) told me she used to be in her church choir, as did a number of their residents, so the concert, and having one of our shirts, meant a lot to her.

I didn't get in to take a picture until we were on our way out the door, but this room was full of delightful conversation, and the youth commented on how much they enjoyed the experience.

After the concert, we boarded the bus and headed for our second concert of the day, several hours down the road. We stopped for lunch in the middle of somewhere, and I went to McDonald's. I'm not too proud to admit that I like McDonald's. I know that's a hot take, and yes, I know it's bad for me. I fit right in with this motley crew.

Also worth noting: the coca cola at McDonald's is amazing, and while I do not drink any kind of soda most of the time, I do drink coke with meals while on tour...and it was delicious.

Our second concert was at the Indiana United Methodist Children's Home. We weren't able to take pictures because of restrictions, but we sang in their chapel for youth who were basically the age of the older kids in our choir. That made this concert hit a little bit differently.

It also created some cognitive dissonance for me that I think I'll be struggling with for a good while...certainly as I start to plan our next adventure. We are highly privileged, singing for an audience that is decidedly not, and as a result some of the lyrics just didn't land well to me. I think they enjoyed the concert. Perry (the chaplain and our host) enjoyed it and asked us to return if we find ourselves up this way again. Reading back over this paragraph, I'm struggling to get into words how I'm feeling, so I apologize for the lack of clarity. I'm going to need some time to process it. We did have a family member come to the concert, so as is our tradition, family makes the blog!

After the concert we headed to the hotel to check in before walking a couple of blocks to our senior night dinner.

Senior night dinner frequently winds up being Italian food for one reason or another. I really liked the location: Buca di Beppo. It's a chain, but it's a cool concept. And they had a space for 63 of us to come in and eat. I forgot to get pictures of everyone at their tables or the room itself. Womp womp. But I did get someone to take pictures while we celebrated our seniors.

These guys leave a big hole in the group as they move into the next chapter of their lives. I've said before that one of the few things I don't like about my job is exactly this moment: the moment they move on. I spend years cultivating relationships with them, building friendships. Every year I have to say goodbye to a handful of people who have become good friends over a period of years. It was especially hard this year because one of those seniors is mine, and our relationship has covered a whole lot of ground over the last 18 (almost 19 now) years!

We also said thank you to our driver, Mark. He's been driving me on these trips for 10 years now...almost half my trips! He's great at driving the bus, but he does a lot behind the scenes that you wouldn't think of. Most importantly, he cares about our kids and takes good care of us all the time.

I mentioned our chaperones before, and I gave them a shoutout last night as well. There's never been a better group of adults working hard to make this trip go. We truly couldn't do it without them.

And, of course, Leanne. Leanne is the very best. It would be hard to overstate her importance to our group. Her professionalism and abilities are second to none, and her care for the youth shows every day. It's a joy to make music and build community with her.

Finally, our juniors (rising seniors) announced the destination for next year: Florida. I'm not sure what that's going to look like just yet, but I'm looking forward to figuring it out!

Quick walk back to the hotel, where we got on the bus for senior speeches. Then we went to bed. Thursday nights are usually pretty late. Door checks take a while on the last night. Early morning for me on Friday as I take a couple of guys to the airport. Then we'll head home.

Wednesday: Cloud Gate, or The Bean. But not just that.

We began our day at the Chicago Temple, which is the First UMC of Chicago. Well, you know it actually began with a waffle, and in this case a cinnamon waffle. Which was just as delicious as you're thinking it was, if not maybe even more so. But then. Then we got on the bus and headed down into Chicago.

This was on the wall in the lobby. It's like they knew we were coming and what our program was! But I'm not sure how they got the bronze done so quickly...

In the spirit of full disclosure, this stop was maybe the one I was most looing forward to. I've been to Chicago with choirs two times before. Both times I wanted to go to this church and go to the chapel in the sky. It didn't work out either time. But as they say, the third time is the charm. First you take the elevator to the 22nd floor. Then you get off the elevator and start up about 170 steps.

Just below the chapel, you go through this little parlor, complete with this interesting little door. What do you think is behind the door?

I'm not sure what I was expecting when we got to the chapel. Maybe something bigger? Capacity for the chapel is 40 (we exceeded that slightly). They have 3 Easter Sunrise services each year...now I'm going to have to put one of those on my bucket list. So it's small, but it's rich with symbolism.

Also, while this is not the highest place to worship above sea level, it is in act the highest worship space above ground level in the world. It did somehow feel closer to God.

The altar contains a carving that mirrors one in the sanctuary on the ground floor. It's based on Luke 19:41-44, where Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. On the ground floor, the carving depicts Jesus and Jerusalem. In the chapel in the sky, the carving depicts Jesus weeping over Chicago with the skyline as it existed at the time of the carving. Most of that skyline still exists today, albeit obscured by newer, taller buildings.

The director of music, Erik Nussbaum, took us on the tour. He's awesome. He was so kind to us for our entire visit. He explained much of the symbolism in the chapel to us. He's a great story teller!

One of the stained glass windows opens so you can see what's outside. There are many taller buildings these days, but it's still impressive.

Heading back down the stairs, I paused to take a picture out one of the other windows.

This is the carving in the sanctuary.

Not so much a concert today; we sang as part of their daily 12:10 worship service. We didn't sing all our pieces, and there were hymns, scripture, and prayer. It is a small, intimate service, and it was a welcome sacred space in the middle of a hectic week. At least for me. It's a beautiful space.

Oh look! It's Lauren and Mary Lynne trying to sneak up on us.

After the service, we went to lunch. And look, I do love all these kids. But some of them sometimes make poor choices. So, when I saw Will with...a Pepsi. I just...well, I realized I had never talked to him about the evils and dangers of an inferior soft drink. I feel like I failed him.

This was our lunch crew at a little food court a couple of blocks down from the church.

It was fun getting to know them and chatting over a burger and a very good donut.

After lunch we went down to Cloud Gate. Some of the youth insist it's called the bean. Absolutely. Not.

This is basically the same picture as the one above, just taken with the youth facing the bean Cloud Gate instead. It's an interesting sculpture, the way it distorts reality. That said, I haven't actually looked to read about what it's supposed to represent or what the artist was going for.

We were unable to stop at Adler planetarium on our way into the city, so we went there after Cloud Gate to get a picture of the skyline.

What a great-looking group! While we were there, we also spent a little time at the waterfront.

After Adler we headed over to Wrigley to root root root for the home team. Well, Wesley was rooting for the A's, probably because he likes to root for sports teams that are probably going to lose. It was a pretty night. Maybe a little bit of chill in the breeze, and before the night was over many had bought blankets or long sleeved shirts.

"Well, Nuke's scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man's here. We need a live... is it a live rooster? We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose's glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present. Is that about right?"

Bravo Cadet's first baseball game was not an Atlanta Braves game. I wonder if he'll resent that when he grows up. Probably not. He was sleeping through it at this point anyway!

After the game we walked around to the front of the stadium to have a picture with the iconic neon sign. It was a challenge to get everyone in place and create this much space to get everyone  in it. But it turned out pretty good!

After the game we went back to the hotel. It was a little late, so we bypassed devotional and went straight to bed. The late hour is also why this blog is coming a few hours late today. Better late than never?

The trip is going well, though I hesitate to type that. Mostly minor snafus along the way. Tomorrow we'll watch the staple of Music Mission movies when I put on Princess Bride as we begin our return trip. A concert in the morning close to the hotel, then another in Indianapolis. And the day after that...we are homeward bound!

Tuesday: The Unclouded Day

I know by now I don't need to tell you, but...

So that was delicious. When I mentioned on the blog yesterday that we did hairdressing down in the breakfast area, I wasn't aware that was an actual ongoing thing. And yet, this morning...

Morgan and I aren't the only ones that eat breakfast, though! Sir Trots a Lot also gets hungry from time to time.

As I was looking for senior pictures for Mariann, I realized I have a picture of her with her mom nearly every year. Here's one for this year!

Our concert today was at Stonebridge of Gurnee. It's a home for lower income people with physical disabilities from ages 22 to 65 (though if they age past 65, they are still able to stay in the home). They put up a lovely sign to welcome us!

We sang outside on what was indeed an unclouded day. And it was cool, too! Very pleasant to be outside, even if it's not the best for singing.

I was proud of the choir during this concert. We contended with a number of challenges and distractions. It started with a test of the City of Gurnee emergency notification system. So we started a little late. Then the yard crew was working in our area for most of the concert. But that led to a couple of fun and interesting moments:

1. The lawn mower was producing a fairly constant B, which was in the key of one of the pieces and made an interesting pedal tone for the whole song. Music theory dorks will understand.

2. During one of our more sensitive selections, we did battle with a weed eater. About half way through, the music swells, and in all honesty the choir's sound grew enough that it drowned out the weed eater. Triumph of art over the din of daily living! 

One of our selections is Unclouded Day...and it was absolutely and unclouded day! The choir rose to the challenge and offered a great concert outside, with yard implements and airplane traffic competing. And for each song, Sir Trots-a-Lot found his way to a different shoulder to sing. It was a bit like finding Waldo.

Most of the time our visiting looks something like Meryl and Vivian here. Cheerfully chatting with our audience. Sometimes it can look more like Ben below, playing basketball with someone from the audience. He said he was a street ball basketball coach, and he was showing our guys some of his moves. Watching them play one-on-one with him was deeply moving to me. He doesn't have a lot of opportunity for that, and they were so good with him.

Is this blog dragging on? Do you wish you had something to break of the monotony of me droning on about our youth choir and how we are singing and visiting? Then allow me to give you a picture of an insanely cute baby.

After the "soda" debacle at Giordano's (where they served a ridiculous excuse for a soft drink, Pepsi, because we're in the North), it was good to be at a place that knows what a real soft drink is. Taste the feeling, indeed.

I don't have a lot of pictures of different folks. Once we turned loose in the park, I only saw people every now and then. I was riding roller coasters with some of the chaperones.

I was really proud of this picture. I don't know if it will work on the blog, but on the original picture you can zoom in on the third row from the back, far side of this image, and see Rachel and Taylor inverted together. Honestly that's a pretty good analogy for marriage sometimes? :)

Oh my gosh so cute! (And Nancy and the baby are cute too, I guess).

Camille had AI summarize our chaperone group chat today, and after it covered the logistics and what not, it said this: "The vibe here is organized chaos with genuine care--a group that moves fast, communicates clearly, and keeps things humorous even when juggling logistics." I'm actually a little mad that AI wrote that, because I don't want to admit how accurate it is. Literally could not do this without these fine folks.

We were waiting on some late arrivals at departure time, and we had set ourselves up to take a picture. So while we waited, Elle led the choir in a few tunes.

Once everyone was there, we took our picture. Such a great group! Love these guys.

I didn't realize how close we were to Wisconsin, but it was like 8 miles away! So after a bite to eat, we headed up there to check another state off the list. Greetings from Pleasant Grove, Wisconsin!

Back to the hotel for devotional time and then bed time. Not a terribly early morning tomorrow...we'll be going to sing at First UMC of Chicago for their noon service and then another action packed day on the Music Mission!