Monday, March 25th .....

Thankfully, the sun is shining again today.  The Rotary Club was involved yesterday in a Charity Bike Race and my instructions were to be at a particular corner at 8.30 to direct the riders to turn right.  It seems simple enough but ... it was pouring!!  As I was leaving the caravan, Marilyn rolled over and snuggled into the doona, saying, Try not to get too wet.  That would rank among the least useful pieces of advice I’ve ever had.

The first riders came through at about 8.45, as bedraggled a group of athletes as I’ve ever seen.  I don’t think lycra is any good at keeping out the water.  One girl sailed past me, calling out, ‘I’m glad I put on my waterproof mascara.’  A policeman arrived at about 10 to help me direct traffic.  He complained that, if he hadn’t been on duty, he would have been riding with them.  Obviously, he knew a lot of the riders and, after a few minutes, he shot off to talk to them at the water stop, leaving me in sole charge of the corner.

During the morning, a 1940’s sedan came past, with a sign saying ‘Paris to Peking’.  He came back a little later going in the other direction.  I think the sign gave it away ... he was lost!  Anyway, I stood there until about 11.30 and then sploshed off home.  To her credit, Marilyn brought me a cup of coffee and a cheese toastie mid-morning, and it was very welcome.

On Saturday, we went to an Olde Time Music Hall which was being performed in the Little Theatre.  We went last year as well and it was appalling.  I think I described it in a previous post.  This year, Marilyn and I were invited to take part and that gave us the clue that they had decided to improve the quality.  Sadly, we were away for the first few rehearsals and had to miss out but, as it transpired, we weren’t needed.  Of course, the singing of the old songs is a bore but the side acts were excellent, with one or two exceptions.  One fellow sang Old Man River, very well, but he had the words pinned to the back of a cardboard tree so he wouldn’t get lost.  He also changed an important word, saying ‘get a little sick’ rather than ‘get a little drunk’.  It reminded me of the spoof where they change the words to be more politically correct.  We heard it most recently on Robyn's disk of her cruise on the Sea Princess ... ‘Elderly Person River.’

The best act, by far, was Tamsyn Stock-Stafford, a local soprano who gave up a professional career as an opera singer in Paris to have children.  Paris to Mole Creek is quite a change.  She sang Song to the Moon by Dvorak, in Czechoslovakian; not an easy piece by any means but absolutely beautiful.  The last note is very high and I wondered whether she would reach it but she simply rearranged her mouth and voice box and hit it pure and clear.  Great stuff!

The pianist was playing ‘In a Persian Market’ at interval.  This was Marilyn’s party piece for years when she was young and she knows every note and every trap to watch out for.  Sitting beside her, I could feel her tensing when the pianist’s fingers let him down and, at one point, I felt her physically shudder.