Good Friday

I have very fond memories of Easter weekend as a child. I went to a private Christian school up through junior high, so we never had classes on Good Friday. Where I grew up it doesn't rain. (OK it does, but not much. 5 inches a year compared with our 32 inches here). But it always seemed to be rainy on Good Friday. It was such a great day. We would stay inside and start cooking and decorating the eggs as a symbol of new life and the Resurrection that would happen in three days.

Well, today is anything but rainy, cloudy, and cold. I feel a little cloudy since I feel terrible, but the sun and sky are as gorgeous as ever. When we woke up this morning I rolled over an poked the Duke saying "This is what the sky should look like on Easter, not rain and clouds"....sigh. The forecast calls for two cold fronts to pass through in the next 48 hours. And as soon as everyone is up and dressed. I am off to look for sweaters and tights to match the girls' outfits.

My thoughts right now are completely about my voice and solo tonight. How will it respond after all the coughing? I was still able to sing yesterday, but have not tried to vocalize yet this morning. I already have a hard time getting through the piece. The words and notes are piercing in a most dreadful way. I have a hard time singing the last line without choking up.

To leave you with a Good Friday thought, I am posting the words to the piece I am singing tonight. May you have a blessed Easter!

The Crucifixion
-Samuel Barber

At the cry of the first bird, they began to crucify Thee. O swan!
Never shall lament cease because of that.
It was like the parting of day from night.
Ah sore was the suffering borne by the body of Mary's Son.
But sorer still to Him was the grief which, for His sake,
came upon His mother.