"Pieces of Thread"

On Thursday evening I picked up my Japanese college friend, Kaho, and we drove to Friends University in Wichita.  We met our friend Kaori there.

  

Selfies

The Friends Orchestra performed the following:

      Andante Festivo by Jean Sibelius

      Oboe Concerto in d minor by Vivaldi 

            (oh how I love the sound of the oboe!)

      Ave Maria by Franz Schubert

           and

      Toy Symphony - confusion reins among scholars who really wrote this.

         Either Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang Mozart's father), 

         Michael Haydn (Joseph Haydn's brother) 

          or even  an Austrian Benedictine monk, Edmund Angerer 

Do you see the blue harpsichord?  I LOVE the sound of the harpsichord!  And being blue?  Wow!      

The main reason we went was to see our friend Chiyoko.  Friends University professor, Dan  Racer wrote a piece he named "Pieces of Threads" for the orchestra, based on his trio "Sojourning  Threads" for oboe, viola and double bass.  It is an installation art-music collaboration between our friend, who is a visual artist and this composer.  It is meant to be performed at an art gallery beside Chiyoko's installation pieces.  However, the orchestral version relies on photos of the artwork played on screen.

Chiyoko's visual art pieces is a series of four installation arts using the material of threads.  They express the relationships with people based on her experiences as a 'sojourner', from living in the space between Japan and the United States.  Kaori, Chiyoko, Kaho and I are all on that path of betweenness of our birth country of Japan and the US.

Chiyoko's art is inspired by metaphhors - in the Japanese language, the verbs related to threads such as to tie knots, to cut, and to get tangled are used idiomatically to express the conditions of relationships with people.  Each of her pieces has its own theme:

"Akari" - A sojourner's search for the relationship with herself in the past and future.
"A Thread X A Thread" - Treasuring the moment of meeting people.
"Bloom" - A Sojourner's wish for world peace over war and separation of people.
"Gift" - A Sojourner's thoughts on meeting people - people are meant to cross our path for a reason.  And I am so blessed to have crossed paths with Chiyoko, Kaori and Kaho and many other friends I have made!

We were all encouraged to take a piece of thread and attach it to her piece in the lobby.  In this way, our thread will travel and connect with other people's threads from one exhibit to another.

Chiyoko and the composer of "Pieces of Threads", Daniel Racer.

Chiyoko and her husband, Roy

 So proud of you, friend! 

"...that their hearts may be encouraged, 

being knit together in love..."

Col. 2:2 

A quick trip to Colorado

I made a quick trip to Denver this week.

A couple of girls from church were going to fly out of Denver to go to Haiti.  They needed a ride and I was available.  Plus, I thought it would be a great time to see my daughter too!

Good-byes were said.

We had a great time talking and laughing.  They were so excited to go back to Haiti.

My granddaughter and I had gone with them in Dec. 2016 to serve at Maranatha Children's Ministries.

 

 Oh, Hannah, how much you have grown since this picture was taken!

 And now Jayden and Hope were returning and taking lots of donations with them.

We got to the airport without much trouble.  But once we got there, there was a bit of a bind.  We had several tubs of donated goods, but just a couple of days earlier, there was an embargo placed on plastic tubs being sent to Haiti.  Really??  The girls had a long ordeal (like 3 hours!!) of trying to talk to the airlines people to figure out what could be done.  In the end, they had to purchase some bags to put the items in and then were not able to take the same amount of weight limit that they were originally told.  I had to return with all the tubs and 80 pounds of donated goods that we will have to ship out another time.  I finally got to my hotel close to 3AM to sleep for a few hours.

Another glitch.  Mindy started getting sick the day before and was tested to have influenza B.  

She's been doing a lot of sleeping.  You might notice that she is sleeping with a trophy.  She won the Graber Challenge March Madness Trophy.  It is her year to hold on to it and display it in a prominent spot, but right now she is proudly sleeping with it we are told.  Ha!

So, with her being sick, our time together was not going to happen.  She was going to take me to a coffee house that has cats roaming around.  You can sit on chairs/sofas and pet these cats on your lap while you drink your coffee!

It is called the Denver Cat Company and they have foster cats at their cafe that are available for adoption!  Mindy says Jason won't go but she knows how much I love cats.  How much fun that would have been!!  Next time!

I headed on back to Kansas.  Good-bye mountains!  Mindy is so lucky to be able to see them right outside her window every day!  I'd love to see the ocean right outside, but mountains are a quick 2nd!

I found a new hole-in-the-wall.  We usually stop in Colby for Starbucks and to fill up.  When I got off the road, I noticed that gas was cheaper on the north side of the road so I pulled in over there.  And attached to this gas station was this place.  Thought I'd try it out.

Oh my goodness!  I think this just may be a place we will have to come back to!  Since it was already the afternoon, and this burger SO big! this was both lunch AND supper.  The onion rings were so very, very good!!  All this from scratch, not freezer made.   I didn't get a shake this time, but definitely next time.  They serve shakes with many, many flavors!  Coffee-peanut butter- chocolate will have to be on the order!

I'd sure like to know the history behind this house.

When people think of Kansas, they often mistakenly think it is a very flat state.  It isn't flat.  Of course there are parts that are, but there ARE hills around!

Kansas isn't even in the top 5 states for flatness.  Florida is the flattest state in the nation!  Then Illinois, North Dakota, Louisiana, Minnesota and Delaware.  Kansas ranks 9th. 

And Colorado is not the most mountainous.  West Virginia holds that title!

It was a fun trip and I know that Hope and Jayden are having a wonderful time with those sweet little kiddos in Haiti!  Those children will be hugging and loving on them!