"Last Voices From Heaven"

Ma isn't the only one who's gotten a CD in the mail this week. I actually paid money for this CD, which I had to order from Amazon UK since it isn't carried on Amazon USA.

I thought I was going to be getting some interesting, reasonably authentic native music from Melanesia. But what it turned out to be is a little bit of authentic music with a lot of western beat and electric guitar polish slapped all over it. It still is interesting music, but for all the missionary-bashing and glorifying of the pagan way of life in the album booklet, I was expecting something less commercialized.

Here's a link where you can listen to a few snatches of the songs on this album. Apparently there was a film documentary made about the process of collecting this music, shown at least in Australia.

A Memorial Service

This morning I left work early to attend a memorial service at church. I didn't know the deceased, but I do know her daughter and her daughter's family, so I attended to lend support to them. Her death was from Alzheimer's. I don't know that much about the disease, but I do know that it is a hard way to die, if not for the person, then at least for the family.

It was pretty heart-wrenching to hear stories of her slow demise from a vibrant school librarian to a thin and frail shell who finally stopped breathing. It was sad to hear the regret that some family members expressed at not "being there" for her enough in her last years.

May God give them all grace as they grieve and move on.

Liastris sp.

We've had a long, hot, and very dry summer, but at the state park I still found a couple wild flowers ignoring the hostile environment and blooming beautifully anyway. (Maybe this species likes it hot and dry, but even the cacti seemed to be shriveling up from lack of water.) According to my wildflower books and the internet, this is a species of Liastris, with a common name of Gay Feather.

One of these days I'm going to make an album of my best wildflower photos.