Notes on the loveliest Sunday ever

It was a gorgeous weekend in southeastern Virginia, and I had a very full day on Sunday. After church, Becca and I drove out to The Well for their 20th anniversary celebration, so we were away from home from before 10am until about 6pm. It was exhausting but exhilarating, and I decided that rather than telling the story as a narrative, I'll just pick out highlights.

• The sermon we heard yesterday was easily in the top five sermons I've ever heard, and I hope it will get posted on the church web site, so I can point you to the text. Becca was amazed by it, too, and we talked quite a bit about it on our drive to Smithfield.
• Update: The sermon has been posted on the Old Donation web site. You can find it here.
  
• At The Well, I set up my music stand in a corner of the screened porch, where I could be out of the sun but still feel the wonderful spring breezes. On the porch is a picnic table, where an artist was sitting and working, and a collection of rocking chairs, occupied by lots of different people during the afternoon.
• The offertory anthem was Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, which sent shivers down my spine.
• The music I played included familiar hymns, light classical music, a couple of folk songs, and a couple of show tunes. The ones I heard people humming or singing with were Alleluia, Sing to Jesus; O Danny Boy; the theme from the slow movement of Dvorak's New World Symphony; Shall We Gather at the River; Amazing Grace; and Rainbow Connection.
• We sang the eucharistic prayer. Becca hadn't been part of a sung eucharist, at least within her memory, and it's been years for me. Yum!
• The temperature was in the upper 70s F, with delicious breezes coming across the lake. I got many compliments on the music I'd selected, especially from ladies who sing in the choirs at their churches. I was also told that it was so lovely to walk down along the lake and hear the flute music wafting down. My daughter said that in some places, you couldn't tell if the music she heard was the breeze singing through the trees or the flute. I'm a little envious that I couldn't experience this!
• I got to meet the choir director at Old Donation in person and shake his hand. Next Thursday, I'll be joining them for rehearsals, for the first time I've sung in choir in almost six years.
• While I was playing, one of the artists sketched me with my flute in pastels. I had no idea he was doing this, and I was so flattered! He said he plans to paint it in oils, and I gave him a business card and asked him to call me if and when he finishes it. Although Becca took a photo of him holding the sketch, I'm not going to post it, as I don't own the image.
• I played until 4:30, rather than the intended 5:00. By then, both shoulders were tired and achy, my right hand was tight and painful, and my hips were ready for a rest. Despite playing 20-minute sets with 10-minute breaks between to sit and apply ice, I was completely exhausted by the end of the day. The drive home was uneventful, and I was so grateful to sink into my recliner with aleve and ice packs. But I took a hot soak at 8pm, was in bed at 8:30pm, and a little while later when the rest of the family got ready for bed, I was already asleep.