Earl Babbie PhotoJournal

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
				01	02	03 Jackson House Leoma
04	05 Ice storm	06	07 Whiffenpoofs	08	09	10
11	12	13	14	15 Blizzard	16	17
18 ASO	19	20	21	22	23 Democrats	24
25	26	27 Chamber Music	28	29	30 Mardi Gras	31

January 03

    This was a busy day. You'll recall that in December , we spent some time carrying toys downstairs
at Jackson House so that they could be distributed to needy children during the holidays. Turns out
we didn't give them all away. (Suze and I took stuffed animals to Meals on Wheels for distribution
to seniors.) So today, Suze and I, with two Jackson House friends, set about clearing toys out of the
"board room" so that business as usual can commence on Monday.

Here's the "before" picture:




And here's the after picture of the same room:

How could this have happened? Well, there was space upstairs in the toy/school-supplies
room:




Ooooops.


After leaving Jackson House, we changed into nicer clothes to head off to a surprise birthday
party.  Leoma Tate is on the board of directors at Jackson House and has volunteered there
for years. She and I share January 8th as a birthday, however she is slightly more experienced
at it than me. This early celebration was for her 90th.



All in all, 2009 is off to a good start.



January 05

    Southern winters, with or without global climate change, are weird. The temperatures go
up and down unpredictably. Today, we woke up to one of the downers. There was an ice storm
overnight.

    Although driving was pretty much of a bad idea, the storm left some beautiful views.







    [Soon, the temperature was back in the upper 60s. Then low into the 30s.]





January 07

    There is a college in New Haven, CT, that prides itself on producing such graduates as
Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham, balanced against such graduates as Bush I and Bush II.

    About the only other thing of note about this school is a 100-year-old men's chorus.
The Whiffenpoofs are on an anniversary tour this year, and tonight brought them to the
Woodlands concert hall in the Village.

    Despite the occasional joke about Harvard University (which I found in poor taste), they
sang some nice songs. <grin>



    And they dressed up nice. . .for Yalies.



January 15

    All winter, we have listened to the weather woes of family in Oregon, Michigan, and Vermont,
and I can keep silent no more. We have been suffering from the winter blizzards here in Arkansas,
too. Today, for example, we woke up to these scary scenes.







    Yes, that's our house in the middle picture, though I know you may have difficulty
recognizing it behind the snow drifts.

    I don't mean to worry you, however. We are fine, even though I had neglected to
get a snow blower. Of course, we couldn't leave the house for hours, but we were
comfortable and safe.






January 18

    Well, the snow banks and avalanches are pretty much a thing of the past in this part of
Arkansas, so we ventured out and drove to Little Rock for the Arkansas Symphony. I've raved
about the quality of the ASO in previous journals, and they are still first-rate.

    Today's program began with Brahms' Double Concerto for Violin and Cello. The featured
soloists were Giora Schmidt (violin) and Julie Albers (cello). Both were excellent, as was the
Concerto and the orchestra.

    As is his pattern, David Itkin preceded the concert with a "preview" session in which he
introduced us to the guest soloists, and the three of them offered a seminar about what we
were going to hear.




    I wrote in this journal about Giora when he was here last year. While I am no expert in
such matters, I believe he is one of the premier young violinists in the country. And he is a
charming person. We had a chance to chat with him briefly on the escalator up to the
concert hall, and I had him autograph a CD for us during the intermission. He said he
remembered Suze and me from his appearance at the Chamber Music performance earlier,
and I'm sure he meant it. More specifically, he might have said, "Oh yeah, you're the guy
who was with that gorgeous lady in the front row."



    The aforementioned gorgeous lady took our picture during the autographing.
(I'm the hair-challenged one on the left.)



January 23

    Time again for the Quarterly membership meeting of the HSV Democratic Club.
A year ago, Steve Barnes, host of Arkansas Week on Channel 2 in Little Rock (PBS),
was the scheduled keynote speaker. When a string of tornados hit Arkansas, Steve
was called away hours less than 24 hours before the Quarterly meeting. I was called
the night before and asked to fill in. I gave a rabble-rouser that seemed well-received.

    This year there was no cancellation, and the club was treated to an insightful look
into national and state politics. Equally important, he seemed like a thoroughly decent
person, very relaxed to be around.

    Our lovely, articulate President set the stage and wrapped up later.



    And our keynote speaker delighted the audience of 120 or so.









January 30

    Our Civitan Club meets on the first and third Thursday each month, but whenever there
are five Thursdays in a month, we have an additional meeting: a social gathering. Once a
year, we give that gathering a Mardi Gras flavor. This year, we decided to have the Mardi
Gras gathering on Friday evening rather than Thursday.

    The King Cake is a central element in such gatherings. Two tiny dolls are buried in the
large cinnamon-bun-like pastries: one for men, one for women. The man who gets the piece
of cake with the boy doll becomes the King for the next year, and the woman who gets the
girl doll becomes the Queen. Here are the King and Queen picked last year.



    We were able to relinquish the heavy burden of authority with the selection of our
successors, however.



    Tracy accepted the crown on behalf of her mother, who was too sick to attend. Once the
transfer of power had occured, all hell broke loose.



    I guess it was kind of like an inaugural ball, except that makes me George W. I think
I'll stick with hell breaking loose. As the photographer, I was able to maintain a sober
presence.