Snow and Culture

The first snow of the season came Friday night/Saturday morning.  I spent the day Friday preparing and thought we were ready for it.  It came as wet, heavy snow and by late morning power lines were going down.  We lost power before 11:00 and the automatic generator started, which powers the hog house ventilation and the well.  After lunch I went out to hook up the big PTO powered generator that runs the whole farm, and spent two hours trying to get it to run and failed.  Since we can't do chores without power, at about 5:00 my brother drove the tractor to a neighbor's farm a few miles down the road and borrowed theirs.  We had the borrowed generator running about 15 minutes when Ameren restored our power!
I was expecting the snow, but was totally surprised by the 6 degree temperature on Sunday morning!  If that isn't a record low for this time in November, it has to be close.

We quickly finished chores Saturday evening, and the old farmer cleaned up and put on his going to town clothes.  Nephew Ned was in town as he is performing with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra this season.  I really enjoyed the music selection.  The concert opened with an Overture by Verdi, then came Suite from the Firebird by Stravinsky.  The last work was a Concerto by Dvorak that featured a famous guest cellist.  Ned spent the night with us, we visited late, so it was a short one.

Sunday afternoon, we hustled over to Morton to experience the Morton Community Chorus' performance of George Frideric Handel's great oratorio, Messiah.  Both of our daughters, a son, and a son-in-law were singing with the choir.  It was an impressive, inspiring performance and was a great way to start the Christmas season.  Since first singing it in High School, it has always been my favorite choral work.  Handel composed it in 24 days in 1741, and the scriptural text is based on the King James Bible (Psalms from Book of Common Prayer).  It begins with Old Testament prophecies, continues with Christ's Nativity, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, and ends with his glorification in heaven. It is the best known and most frequently performed choral work in Western music.

After the performance, we made a quick supper stop at Culver's, then headed back to church for the Sunday evening hymn sing.  Marshall and Jan shared their story of their call to be missionaries in Mexico, and a brief synopsis of their twenty years of work there.  They shared some of the challanges, victories, and changes seen during their time in the field.  We are thankful for God's provision and protection.  We pray that God will continue to bless the church that was planted in Ixtlan.

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Revelations 19:6