Feeling the pioneer spirit, I got
out early and dug in our dirt for four hours to push back the wilderness of
weeds. The only harvest was a big once-prized
tomato, spoiled on the bottom part my bug dust missed. Later I enjoyed my favorite fast-food
breakfast of cereal and milk (they never had it so easy in the “days of ‘47”.) Also unlike those days, siesta time with “Piano
Concerto No. 3 in D minor op.30” by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was
heavenly.
The highlight of the day for us was
attending, with dear friends who saved second-row seats, the free annual
concert put on by Layton City; (we thank retiring Mayor Steve Curtis.) Riders in the Sky performed in the
amphitheater to a standing-room-only crowd; (families in the overflow lounged
on the grass hill.) The group of four
talented singer-musicians absolutely captivated the audience of all ages. They performed “authentic renditions of old
classic cowboy and Western songs, as well as original works and various comedic
skits and songs.” – wikipedia.org (See tagged photos for their fun names.) The award-winning fiddler’s jazz element
pleased me more than anything – not what I expected from old cowboy singers. A favorite of everyone, it seemed, was the
little children’s impromptu performance on stage with the old-timers; it was
like a Primary chorus of 200 – so darling as the fiddler passed the mic around
for surprise solos. It was totally a
family-oriented event, including the five F-16 jet “arranged fly-overs” as the
Riders in the Sky ad-libbed, and also the fireworks afterward. At home we watched our late-night feature
film, "Jeremiah Johnson" (1972 with Robert Redford as the leading
mountain man) on VHS tape (yes, old is still good.)
The rest of the story I am preparing, about different kinds of pioneers, wants to be in a future post. Happy pioneering!
