Once we got to the Okanagan, we spent a week with my sister and her family. Her little one, age two, shadowed Everett closely while we were there.

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Thinking they’d enjoy it and that it would be a nice opportunity to spend some leisure time together, I told my mother and sister that they would be welcome to join the little singing group I went to on Thursday, if they don’t wait too long. “Does the group sing harmonies?” they wondered, and when I said no, not so far anyway and I don’t know if we will, they both pronounced that terribly boring and not for them. They turned up their little noses. This sort of thing could not possibly interest them, for what would be the point of it?

I know exactly where they’re coming from, as I was thinking the same thing when I spoke to the instructor beforehand -- that it wouldn’t be much of a challenge without four-part harmony, and would be far less satisfying than my previous experience with musical theatre.

However, that was not how I felt once we’d run through a couple songs on Thursday night. It was such a pleasure to sing and to hear the piano that not having the minor challenge of harmonies -- and I say minor because I don’t find them a challenge, but quite natural -- was far from my mind. Singing just felt plain good.

Not to say that four-part harmony would not be wonderful fun and that I wouldn’t prefer it, but that plain melody feels equally satisfying to sing, if not to listen to. Since I couldn’t care less about having an audience and prefer not to have one -- unlike my mother and sister, who seem to feel that singing without an audience is hardly worth their while (hiding that bright light under a bushel) -- I am more than happy to be learning some new “old” songs and exercising my vocal chords again in a slightly structured way. Oh, and picking up a few tips about singing can’t hurt.

My own mother and sister, singing snobs! Tsk!

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We’ve spent the day cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, and starting a batch of bread. Now it’s time to get out into the sunshine and see what can be seen.

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