Phannie Gets a Bath and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings to 20,000 Empty Seats

At the Salt Lake City KOA...

Well, yes, the title is a bit misleading. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra rehearse at the LDS Conference Center on Thursday evenings, and we were privileged to attend the rehearsal today (along with about a thousand other folks). The reason they were singing to 20,000 empty seats was because the conference center has 21,000 seats, and only 1,000 of them were occupied by visitors this evening.

Mike waiting to enter the LDS Conference Center

The music was, as expected, magnificent. As members (inactive, while we're traveling) of the 220-voice choir of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Sandy and I are no strangers to great choral and orchestral music, and we certainly loved this experience. Director Mack Wilberg was gracious in his remarks to the audience, and we were delighted to see the man who arranged brilliantly some of the pieces performed by our own choir and orchestra.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra

Earlier in the day, we engaged the services of Cesar, a hard-working gentleman who operates an RV washing business here in Salt Lake. Cesar came to our parking spot about mid-afternoon to give me an estimate, and I knew it wouldn't be good news when I saw him shaking his head as he told me this was one of the dirtiest coaches he had seen lately. In fact, it was about twice the amount I normally pay during our winter stays in the Rio Grande Valley. But I was desperate; poor Phannie had slogged through intermittent rainstorms in three states, and she was a pitiful-looking mess. Mae, having been dragged behind and catching all of Phannie's road spray, was almost unrecognizable. It looked like we were pulling a giant mud-colored suppository behind us. (Editor's note: Now that I re-read the last sentence, it occurs to me this might be the only time the terms "Mormon Tabernacle Choir" and "suppository" have ever appeared in the same article.) But this is blogland, isn't it?

No blog post of mine would be complete without a restaurant review, so let me tell you about Spitz SLC, a downtown eatery we found after we left the rehearsal. One certainly could not discern from its name the kind of food served, but it turned out to be Mediterranean-ish casual. We shared a good-sized wrap full of gyro meat and veggies and a side of French fries covered with gyro strips and veggies along with a wonderfully flavored tatziki sauce. It was, in two words, crazy good--so much so, that I took a bite or two out of mine before I remembered to take a photo:

One more note:

I have been in the habit of sending an email to some of my blog readers who expressed an interest in knowing when I post something. My friend Bob, in a visit the other day in Colorado Springs, asked why I didn't bring my blog into the 21st century and include a widget that would allow readers to enter their email address if they wish to be advised of postings. Well, perhaps I haven't done that because I'm still surprised that anyone would want to read this rag. Another reason might be that I didn't know about such a widget. In fact, both things could be true.

So, you will notice, near the top of the current article on the right side, a box into which you can enter your email address. If you do that, you'll automatically be notified of each new post, and you won't have to guess when they are published or be aggravated by my emails if you don't want them.

And to those follow these ramblings on a regular basis, I appreciate you a lot, but I can't help but wonder why you don't have something better to do!

Hugs to all!

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I do not appreciate it enough each day.