Biscuit City

Last night, the children’s choirs at our church (Manassas Baptist) did their end-of-the-year program with a rendering of Ken Medema’s “Story Tellin’ Man” involving four choirs with a total of 96 children and 18 leaders. (Full disclosure: my wife Becky directs the oldest children’s choir and coordinates the program and daughters Amy and Alyssa work with the grade 1-3 choir.) I have probably been to about 35 of these programs and the kids are always charming and amazing.  They do their music from memory and while they make mistakes here and there, they sing well and with enthusiasm.

About 130 parents and friends heard the program and responded enthusiastically to the songs. The parents bring the kids week after week and help them learn their parts. Watching their reaction is almost as good as watching the children.

The program made note that the leaders have a total of 263 years experience with children’s choirs. These dedicated people have amazing gifts for working with children which they use freely.  We are truly blessed that they do this important work of imparting the faith and giving children an important experience.

The coming of summer doesn’t mean the end of musical experiences.  There’s a state music camp at the Baptist assembly at Eagle Eyrie outside Lynchburg in late July and then our very own Music Camp the first week in August at the church. Both camps involve music but also include classes, crafts, and recreation. If you have children or grandchildren who might enjoy a camp experience, call my wife at 703-361-2146 x 291 for information. There is a charge for each camp, but it’s minimal, and scholarships are available.

The closing song last night was “Sing to the Lord.” It starts “Sing to the Lord, praise his name and shout out loud1  Sing to the Lord, for he is good!” To that and to the children in their choirs, their leaders and their parents, friends and relatives, I say, “Amen!”

Have you ever noticed that something that should be like something else is not?  I know, that’s about as obscure a statement as you could find, but let me explain.

We used to go to a restaurant and really enjoyed their food.  I won’t reveal the name except to say it included a day of the week that wasn’t Friday and it has since closed and been converted into another restaurant. The first inkling of trouble came when they changed their decor to something, well, outlandish.  We couldn’t figure why they did since the demographic of the diners seemed to be our age, which is to say not given to outlandish decor.

Soon thereafter they cranked up the volume of the music so that normal conversation was not possible.  We asked the manager every time we went if they could turn the music down.  Their response was to move us so we weren’t sitting under a speaker (didn’t) help and to say that the music was to create an attractive ambiance.  Attractive to whom?  Not to the over 50’s in the place. I wrote the headquarters and got the same answer.  We decided that if they wanted to have their ambiance they could have it without us.

The thing is, we have since been to other restaurants in this chain and the volume of the music was not enough to cause bleeding from the ears. You’d think there would be a consistent policy from place to place in the same chain but apparently not.  Someone suggested that it depends on the manager and maybe it does.  I know I drive three extra miles to go to a grocery store (name means a very large person) that is better stocked and cleaner and better staffed that the one nearer where I live.

Why these differences?  I wish I knew.  Everything does not have to be consistent–I love idiosyncratic places like Rice’s Hardware and the Klein’s Freeze on 28, but where it counts, I could use a little consistency, please.

Hi and welcome to my first personal blog.  I’ve done blogs for newspapers before, but this one is all blog all the time. I plan to write  a few hundred words each weekday about topics of interest, and hope that you will find them amusing or interesting as well.

I’m coming from three years of writing a weekly newspaper column. I parted ways with them after they sacked my editor for no good reason.  It was uncalled for.  Anyhow, my daughters have suggested I do a blog for years now, and they are intelligent and attractive young women, so why not?  Here goes!

You probably noticed the name of the blog, Biscuit City.  I chose this name for a couple of reasons.  One, I like biscuits, even if they’re not particularly good for you.  They make a fine comfort food, fresh from the oven, hot, with butter or whatever you like on them.  Frozen biscuits developed in the past several years made wonderful biscuit products.  I tried making biscuits from scratch a few years ago and succeeded in cooking up about a dozen charred lumps.  And now?  Take ’em out of the freezer, slap ’em on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees or so. Yum!

I know our friends the Brits call what we would term cookies, biscuits.  In terms of the name which means “twice baked,” that’s right. The term biscuit came in this country to be applied to unleavened bread which could be quickly cooked and served with gravy, just the thing for basic cooking implements.  Still, they take some skill to make, as I said earlier.

The rest of the blog’s name came from a little-known Gordon Lightfoot song, “Biscuit City,” which goes in part, “I’d rather be in Biscuit City with my banjo in my hands/ Than take a big vacation to some far-off land…” The song goes on to describe Biscuit City as a utopian place where everything is just as it should be, and, although the song doesn’t say so, there are a lot of hot biscuits.  With gravy.

There’s a Biscuit Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee this weekend.  Maybe some of you are going to it. I hope you can, and please bring me back a biscuit.