Concert and Church Bazaar announcements, and whining about being too busy

Today’s coffee: El Salvador, roasted by our friend, Tim!

Last week… was very busy, as was the week before, and the week before. I’ve gotten a lot done… put out a lot of fires… but there are still more fires to put out. As stress and work pile up, my Japanese level drops and I make lots of stupid mistakes playing the cello.

Speaking of cello, Mr. Darcy (modern cello) is currently in the shop. My next concert will be played entirely on baroque cello, with baroque, classical, and modern bows. Since we didn’t have time to put together an entirely new program, we chose pieces from our repertoire suitable for a cello with gut strings… but with short fingerboard and gently sloped neck, some of the pieces we chose are pushing things a bit. The Schubert “Arpeggione” sonata goes way off the end of the fingerboard.

For those of you for whom the last paragraph read like Japanese even though it wasn’t, let me summarize: this next concert will be a challenge. It will be a good challenge, I think, but a challenge all the same.

If anyone would like to come, the concert will be Sunday, October 12 at (I think) 1:30 p.m. at Kita Hiroshima church. (Address: 北広島市泉町1丁目2-3) Eventually there will be some sort of chirashi, I think. I’ll be playing Brahms’ e minor sonata (first movement), Schubert’s “Arpeggione” sonata, Mendelssohn’s D Major sonata (first movement), and a few surprises. Keith will be preaching for the worship service that morning.

However, before we get to the October 12 concert, there is also our church bazaar: Saturday, October 4, 11:00-2:00, at Wakaba Church. (Address: 石狩市花畔2条1丁目) Come early for best selection of cakes and cookies. People usually start lining up around 10:30. I will be playing cello outside to entertain people while they wait, weather permitting. After that, I’ll be making coffee and tea for the café corner.

As if that weren’t enough to keep me busy, we also have 2 conferences we’re going to in October… and we’re doing music for both of them. I will be spending the afternoon rewriting a song for the second of the two conferences. And then there’s the farm, which is still going strong…

I thought about writing something else, but my brain is full of… everything. Sorry for being whiny. This is the nature of missionary work: sometimes we get very busy when everything seems to pile up at once. If you are praying for us, please do pray that we will be able to get enough rest, and to complete all the stuff we have to do without worrying about it.