A Prairie Home Companion in Eugene, Oregon

Happy Father's Day to any fathers who are reading this post today. Mike's father's day consists of a breakfast of his favorite Eggs Benedict cooked up for him by his lovely wife . . . that would be me. Erik is joining us too, although I don't know if Mae will be with him. She's been laid low with some back problems the past couple of weeks, poor thing.

We started our Father's Day weekend off yesterday by driving the back roads to get to Eugene, home of University of Oregon and the Oregon Ducks (Boo! Hiss! We are an Oregon State family all the way, and so you must understand that it is practically a requirement to loudly Boo the Ducks.) We attended a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. If you click on the link, you can see video excerpts from the show.

Here is what the set of the show looked like before starting. Garrison Keillor came out at 2:45 to get the audience warmed up, although we did not need warming. It was a very warm and sunny day, which is never guaranteed in Oregon prior to the 4th of July. We received our tickets to the show for making a donation to Oregon Public Broadcasting, a radio station I listen to almost daily. It never occurred to me that it would be in an outdoor amphitheater, so it's just plain dumb luck that I had my sunscreen and visor along. I am fair-skinned, and I would have been cooked.

There were several thousand people in attendance.

We had very good seats, about ten rows back.

When he came out, we started by singing the Star Spangled Banner. Given the setting, it made you proud to be an American.

Prior to the beginning of the broadcast, he made his way all through the audience, which was nice for the folks who were sitting way in the back.

He was singing and talking as he went, shaking hands with folks and generally getting cozy with the audience. We loved it. Here, you can see his white suit at the top and middle of the image. He cracked us up noting that we were faced with the problem of a "perfect day," which was a challenge to our stoicism.

Here are (from left to right) Fred Newman (the sound effects man), Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Garrison Keillor performing a special Oregon Trail version of The Lives of the Cowboys. Sue Scott was wearing black and orange, the colors of the Oregon State Beavers (YAY!). This can be dangerous in Eugene, as noted by Garrison who said it was dangerous to walk down the street in Eugene wearing black and eating an orange.

One of the musical guests was Elvin Bishop, who entertained us with some great bluegrass.

Also performing was the Portland Cello Project, six cellists who played a variety of musical genres from jazz to rock to classical. I love the sound of a good cello.

We sat for several hours in the bright sunshine, and it was very warm. Occasionally, a nice breeze would blow through and that would cool us off some. The heat didn't dampen our enthusiasm, however. It was a wonderful show, and we enjoyed it very much.

If you ever get a chance to see a live broadcast, do it! It was well worth the effort and the expense, although a donation to public broadcasting is a very worthwhile way to spend one's hard-earned cash. Getting to see the show was a great bonus.

Today I'm repotting the tomatoes into their final pots for the season, even though I repotted them less than a month ago. They are getting tall enough that they need to be staked.  Also, they are hitting the roof of the greenhouse. We can remove all the slats from the shelves in the greenhouse and set the pots on the floor so that they will have a good six feet to grow. That ought to give them plenty of room. 

I'm almost back to normal after my trip to Ireland. By tomorrow, things will seem more routine, and I'm planning to spend most of Monday in my sewing room. I have lots of bee blocks to acknowledge, and I'll be posting pictures of them. Also, I received my swap quilt from my swap partner and I want to show that to you. Lastly, I want to show you some of the items I picked up in Ireland. 

For today, I need to get things cleaned up a little so I can make Father's Day Eggs Benedict for my sweety. Have a good day!  Especially you fathers.