I started last Saturday off with a felt-good fourteen-mile run. My boss, Jim, joined me for much of the run, so it was a sociable time.
Once I got home and got showered, Mer and I headed south to Aunt Mary’s to visit with the family. We headed out to lunch at a Canton landmark, John’s Bar. I had never been, and it was a fine place to eat and chat. The food was good, and the inevitable televisions were muted, so they were not particularly distracting. After lunch, we went back to Aunt Mary’s, where we continued our visit for a bit. Mer and I headed back home, but I gave in to a whim (not unheard of), and we stopped at Handel’s ice cream stand in Green for a little dessert (actually a fairly good-sized dessert).
In the evening, Mer and I headed into Ellet, a section of eastern Akron, to Grace Brethren Church, where our friends Nate and Rachel attend church. Nate had agreed to host and to run sound for Heather Dale for a concert for the evening, and we wanted to go. Readers of ye olde blog may remember that I have had Heather and her partner/guitarist Ben over to our house for a house concert three times over the last couple of years, and we are big fans of her music.
Heather had just released a new CD inspired by fairy tales, and so we were looking forward to hearing new songs. Ben and Heather greeted us warmly, and it was great to see Nate and Rachel, whom we had not seen in a few months. The church was set up to seat about 120 people, but sadly we only ended up with about twelve or fifteen people in the audience, despite a Facebook event, my e-mailing the CVCA staff, the event being on WKSU’s folk calendar, and it being on Heather’s website. I felt bad for Heather and Ben, and they even had brought along an excellent drummer. They took it in stride and still gave an excellent concert. Nate managed the soundboard, and the sound was excellent. Ben commented what a great venue it was, and indicated a willingness to come back in the late fall for a holiday/Christmas concert (and even strongly hinted that he may call on Mer to be a backup singer, which would be really exciting). Heather sounded great, and it was wonderful that we got to hear her play a real piano since the church had one. It was a good concert, and maybe we can get more people out in the fall. As an added bonus, we had a couple of students show up, Katie and her brother Thomas, and their mother came along as well. It was fun to see them.
Mer is ever a time optimist, and so after the concert we sprinted over to a late graduation party. We made it, but most of the real food was gone or cold, so I had a piece of cake. We watched the students put on an impromptu and chaotic whiffleball game, and we stayed for about half an hour. Since I was fairly hungry still, I drove home a way that took us past Five Guys Burgers and Fries. We got there just before closing, and we were delighted to see one of our former students, Jackson, working there. Jackson is a born performer, and he is always “on,” so we had a great time interacting with him.
On Sunday, Mer was going to Florida with her parents to help them prepare for their upcoming move back to Ohio. She was going to be gone though Friday, and so I drove her to Aunt Mary’s, where we met up with everyone, and then we headed back to the airport (a three-mile drive). I stayed with Mer and Dale and Carlene through the check-in process and walked them as far as security. I stayed until they cleared the checkpoint, and then I headed home to my temporary bachelor pad.