On Sunday, I hiked the Michuru peak with the mountaineering expats, Esther, Martin and Lindsey. This was a tougher hike for me, the incline was steeper and terrain was rockier. I huffed and puffed my way up to the lesser peak.
On the descent, the rain caught us and we finished the hike in the steady cool, clear rain. Although all of us got soaked, it was a refreshing respite from the continuing heat here.
Don't the treetops look like broccoli crowns?
From lesser peak, Mt. Michuru, Blantyre, Malawi, December 5, 2010 |
Martin had us at his apartment for brunch, and then Esther, Davina and I went to the Christmas Concert at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Blantyre. The choir, accompanied by the orchestra of varying degrees of skill, sang some carols that I had not heard: Mary had a Baby [Negro spiritual (tho' the program called it "West Indian traditional" - my favorite!)], While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night (Nahum Tate), The Shepherds' Farewell (Hector Berlioz, from L'Enfance du Christ), Jesus Christ the Apple Tree (Elizabeth Poston), O Magnum Mysterium (Morten Lauridsen), Unto Us is Born a Son (Piae Cantiones, 1582, arr. by David Willcocks), and Good News (Jonathan Moss). Terry Callaway and I went to New York one Christmas and from under our hotel window on Christmas Eve, we heard the strains of a lone trombone wafting "Oh Come All Ye Faithful." I would like to resurrect the lost art of carolling next Christmas. Or at least join the choir.
No comments:
Post a Comment