As If That Weren't Enough

Do you realize, I'm still finishing the story of everything that happened over the last two weekends! I have to laugh when I work on my pictures throughout the week because I say to myself, "Did we really do that much???" And the answer is always YES.

First things first. The new dining table with 6 ladder-back chairs that we bought at the thrift store for €50....

It so happens we went to the thrift store to find a CD rack to match our DVD racks. Like magic, we found one exactly like what we pictured, for €2.50. Why do I mention the price, you ask? BECAUSE WE LOVE BARGAINS! Punt uit (period!)! And because it's fun, we just happened to look around a bit when Voilà. There she stood, as though waiting for us.

It had to be refinished. Well, it didn't have to be but Astrid and I both saw the hidden potential. What you have to understand is this is Astrid's life! I have done such projects myself at different points over time and I, too, enjoy working with wood. But Astrid knows all the tricks. Did you know that you can take a piece of cut glass to scrape off all the old finish on a flat wood surface? Did you know there are electric sanders that can be hooked up to the vacuum hose to suck up the dust as you sand? Little tricks of the trade.
And four coats of boat lacquer to last a lifetime.

There was nothing wrong with our old table (lower-left corner). It never occurred to us to get a new one, to be honest. Astrid had found a solid, thick piece of wood 5 years ago by the side of the road for the dump truck and because it was a beautiful piece of wood, she grabbed it and always kept it. When she knew we'd need a table for this apartment, she worked her magic and made our dining table/desk out of it...with 4 accompanying folding chairs. I think we could have lived with it forever.

But when we saw that table at the thrift store, we put a reserved sign on it, drove back home to measure if it would fit into our limited space. Yes, it would. SEE! Just enough more space for 'easy listening!' I even show an image of the nearby rug in the living area that I brought with me from Atlanta...matching the muted burgundy of the table and the cabinet from Astrid's mom.

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Now switch gears to the Koorfestival (Choir Festival) held a week ago Saturday. Astrid was still in the throes of her sinus infection and couldn't go anywhere. So I went out on my own to scope it all out, with camera in hand...the second year of its kind here in Gorinchem.

There were 10 venues with stages for around 27 choirs who hopped from place to place. Three of the venues were in neighboring towns, but I only went to ones nearby, in walking distance. The above collage represents 4 of the choirs in 4 separate locations, two of which you might recognize from the churches of my last post. Read the collage as 4 separate choirs, each on their own row, with the choral conductor at the beginning.
That last choir (4th/bottom row) is called 4 Times a Lady. How cool is that!

Now, listen to this! In between choir performances (each choir sang for 30 minutes before switching venues), one of the ladies from the first-row choir above saw me walking elsewhere and stopped me, asking if I could by chance send them my pictures. She recognized me from when they were singing. She also told me their next venue in case I wanted to hear them again...at the Rehoboth Church (from last post). So, not shying from the recognition (HA!), I went....

This is my collage of the Mamma's & Pappa's (in Dutch, the plural for a word ending in an 'a' is an apostrophe s = 's). For them I did a photo album of 37 pictures and sent it to the lady who then forwarded it on to the other members. The things I do! (I declare.)

After all that was done--the choir hopping, that is--I headed home to share my excitement with sick Astrid. But not before snapping the following picture (click all pictures to enlarge):

Immediately, 4 boys at my elbow on the street asked if I would take their picture. My impression was they were not expecting me to say Yes but were more or less jokingly daring me. We have lots of Mid-Easterners in our city whose kids are always out-n-about having fun. So I just decided to play along...surprise, surprise (but my camera is big; you don't mess around with me)...and on the spot took these 3 pictures, ordering them around like I was a professional knowing what I was doing:

Notice the one guy who shoots the bird but never looks at the camera. The other hand gesture has no meaning to Astrid or anyone else we've asked. Who knows what it means. But I just laughed and said to myself,
"Boys will be boys!"

Then suddenly 2 of them wanted me to send them the pictures. So after they wrote down their e-mails, they asked when I would send the images? I said "By tomorrow." "That fast?" the shoot-the-bird guy asked.
"Yes," I said.

When I got home and showed the pictures to Astrid, I told her those would be the first pictures I'd process and would send them that very night. She half-kiddingly told me NOT to expect a response from either of them. "No way," she said. So in my e-mail I told the guys I now wanted them to do something nice for someone.
"You owe me big time!"

The next morning I had heard from BOTH guys, thanking me and telling me that YES, they did owe me big time. See how we need to have faith in our youth and just expect the best from them!

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One last thing before I tell you how Astrid is doing. During the early choir-hopping that Saturday, I entered the back entrance of our Grote Kerk (Great Church) because the door was standing wide open for those wanting to climb the tower. (By the way, do you see how that tower leans in the top-left image below? It really does lean like that!) To my surprise, this is what I saw:

It's an art project that has a continuing life of its own. I wish now that I had asked more about it, but as you can see, there are hundreds of fishing-line cords attached to the window that look like rays of light, gathered together near the ceiling and then dropped to just above the floor with hundreds of attached metal vials.

A lady was sitting nearby for the tower tourists, so I asked for an explanation. She said the vials are for people who want to write prayers of remembrance for their deceased parents/friends. I asked her if anyone could do it...and how much it cost? It was for anyone, of course, and without cost. So in that "eternalized" moment, I wrote my note to Mom and Dad and had her insert it and cap the vial while I took pictures. Then I cried and gave her a hug. Even now I have tears in my eyes.
I LOVE YOU, Mom and Dad!

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Astrid's 7-day antibiotic regimen finally kicked in after 5 days, so she's a brand new person once again. The marvels of medicine and the mindfulness of others! Thank you from her and me both.