Morning to Evening...

Tuesday, February 6th, started way too early for supposedly retired people. Bluegrass Tomorrow was having their Annual Awards Breakfast at the Marriott in Lexington. Claude was being installed as the President for 2018. Soooo, we hopped in the Jeep early and headed to Lexington for a breakfast meeting. Sadieville purchased a table so we sat with lots of friends and that is always good. Sitting at the table next to us was Judge Lusby and Barbara. Claude nominated Judge Lusby for the 2017 Bluegrass Legacy Award. I really like Judge Lusby. He has been Scott County Judge Executive for 26 years. He has decided not to run this year. Breaks my heart. He has kept our county solvent with a good financial reserve. He drives the county roads every week in northern Scott County to see how everything is going. He doesn't just sit in an office and make decrees. I like that a lot. It was a nice morning. Here are a few pictures.

Claude had a Board Meeting with Bluegrass Tomorrow right after the breakfast. I sat my happy self down in a very uncomfortable chair (hotels decorate for style, not comfort) and read on my Kindle.

We came home and made sure our DVR was set to record the new National Geographic program about the Mayan's. There is a new thing called LiDAR that can take pictures of the surface of the earth and see what is underneath. They have done this over Guatemala and found hundreds and hundreds more ruins than they thought were there. This even includes Tikal where we went when visiting Guatemala. We did watch the program later in the week and found it fascinating. But then, I have always been fascinated with the Mayan's. 

Tuesday evening was our big date to Shen Yun. 

This again hearkens back to our travels. We visited China last year. Shen Yun is created by Chinese people who live in America. They want to preserve their history, heritage and culture. When the Communist took over China, they began destroying these things. These people create new dances and music that tell the story of China through traditional Chinese music and dance. This program cannot even be performed in China. The costuming is absolutely elegant. The athletic ability of these performers was amazing. The dance was traditional Chinese dance with moves that are now used by their gymnasts. There was a soprano and a tenor that sang solos. Due to the sound of the Chinese voice, these were not as pleasing to the ear. The people both were exceptional but my untrained American ear had a little trouble with the squeakiness of it. The traditional instruments, the 'pipa' (Chinese lute) and the 'erhu' (only has 2 strings and is capable of resembling the human voice) were part of the orchestra. All other instruments were American but the music was definitely Chinese. Excellent music. 

Claude and I were both blown away by the staging. The back of the stage was an enormous screen onto which pictures were projected to fit the piece being performed. One was about shooting arrows. The young man would stand on the ledge, draw back his bow and shoot the arrow. At exactly the right time the arrow would be part of the image on the screen at the back of the stage and land on a target that was also part of the image. Sometimes performer would jump off the ledge at the back of the stage and the water would splash at exactly the right moment in the image at the back of the stage. It was phenomenal. There were ten numbers, a 15 minute intermission followed by 10 more numbers. We were asked to dress in evening wear or a suit and tie. We were also instructed not to whistle or cheer, only to applaud. 

One other thing noted is that the performers all practice a meditation and self-improvement discipline called Falun Dafa or Falun Gong. It is rooted in China's ancient spiritual traditions. This dogma of this practice came out in the two songs. Here are the words to the song sung by the soprano, Tian Li.

THE MESSAGE

Though diverse we may be

We share in a practice with a heavenly name, Dafa.

Our life's purpose is to save the world

Most on this earth forget their divine beginnings

We await the Creator who will spare us

Humanity now takes a ruinous course

Let not modern ideas and ways take you astray

Let not God's ways be forgotten

May this song stir your soul's memories

Learning the truth offers passage to Heaven

The final salvation now unfolds 

So we now share this message.

I truly could have listened to the pianist, Jingya Mahlen, play all night long. Her hands moved with such grace and she played lots of trills and runs flawlessly. She was delightful to watch as well as listen to.

I would high recommend this to anyone interested in seeing it. Not for everyone's taste but it was a delightful change in the type of performance we often see. Broadened our horizons.

We exited the Eastern Kentucky Arts Center in Richmond, Kentucky and were very happy the ice had not arrived. We had an hour drive to get me home and Claude to a hotel in Frankfort. The weather forecast was sure of up to a half inch of ice in some spots across our part of Kentucky in the evening and overnight. Claude had all day meetings with Kentucky League of Cities on Wednesday beginning early in the morning. I didn't have to leave the house Wednesday until 3pm. We opted to get Claude a hotel room in Frankfort so he wouldn't have to drive from Sadieville on icy roads. I visited Papa at the nursing home Tuesday before time to go do Shen Yun. We left my car at the nursing home and Claude drove us to Shen Yun. We both made it back to the nursing home and headed our separate ways and made it to our destinations before the ice came. Thank heaven for that answer to prayer.