Singin' in the rain

This weekend was our choir retreat in Gotemba, in the foothills near Mt Fuji. Every year about this time, the choir takes a pleasant get-away to the YMCA facility for a bit of fellowship and to work on a presentation for "Choir Sunday" in early December.

This year's piece is "Stella Natalis" by Karl Jenkins. This is our second time to try one of his compositions and they are quite a challenge, though once I work my way through the discordant parts, it begins to grow on me. Unfortunately, I was the only tenor able to attend this year so it will be even more of a challenge to hold the section together.

We drove up on Friday evening and this was the view from our fourth floor room Saturday morning.

Rather a good thing I got this picture because, within an hour, Fuji-san had disappeared into the clouds.

The rain began soon after, and though not heavy, it had been rather persistent throughout the weekend.

Many groups within the church are in constant flux, and though members come and go, it is likely that the choir contains the largest group of long-term members and dedicates the largest amount of time with mid-week rehearsals as well as Sunday practice and singing. It is a joy to be part of this group.

I didn't have any big take-along work, but grabbed my container of one-inch scraps and put together six four-inch squares. I have a plan of a pattern to try. I have made it once from three inch blocks and thought I might try it again a bit larger.

After getting this far, I decided this might be a bit wasteful because I have more light scraps that any other and only four in each block are light. I'll have to think how many of these I need to make a small piece like a table runner.
My plan was just to try out a star pattern in my sketchbook.

The rain fell lightly all Saturday night and on through Sunday, and I returned home without an umbrella but not all that wet until I got to the front of our house.

Ever since my neighbor's house and garden were ripped out and two houses were begun in that place, there is no where for the water to go when it rains

From the corner where I am standing to the far end of the street, side to side, is several inches of muddy water. The soil around the construction site has washed into this swamp and when it stops raining, we get a veneer mud, turning to cracked chunks of dirt. (Which then comes into the house on the feet of people and dogs).

Earlier this year, the city tore up and repaved the street, installing this drain.

A lot of good that drain is doing. It is way too high to drain off any water until the water reaches ankle depth. Rather than running toward the drain, the slope of the street goes straight for the neighbor's wall and the puddle fills sections of the street in the other direction to the left.

I wonder if it would do any good to complain to the city? I tend to think this was better when it was just a gravel path.

I guess this may become the new normal. Time to buy a new pair of rain boots!