My Home Among the Hills; and other lesser things

My Home Among The Hills

I commented yesterday to Pastor Josh Patty that I wouldn’t walk across the street to attend the Presidential Inauguration. Which is still the case. Josh mentioned that he and a choral group in which he sings, Vocal Tapestry, was singing at the West Virginia Inauguration, which was held today. I wondered idly what they would sing, assumed frankly that it would be something even more schmaltzy than even I would come up with, and forgot about it.

As I trudged up the “grand staircase” of No. 3 after lunch, I heard Chief Justice Benjamin administering oaths to the newly elected justices on JC’s TV, and so remembered that this was going on in Charleston. I turned on the TV in my room for the first time in months. (I had to find the cable and reconnect it.) Just as I did, Josh’s group began to sing my favorite song associated with Mother West Virginia, My Home Among the Hills. Some months ago, I posted a sound file. There is a beautiful descant at the end, and I thought I recognized the voice. This evening, I called Josh, and I was right – it was Susan Woods Coffindaffer, who I knew at Fairmont State and who was in my class at WVU College of Law. She is a really good property lawyer. She and I started work for Furbee Amos the summer following our first year, and she worked there for a time after she graduated.

I don’t know a hell of a lot about music. My voice is trained the same way Jethro Bodine’s mind was: It done graduated the 3rd grade. I can sight-read a little music. So I don’t know the lingo. There is, however, a quality of voice that I call “pure.” I don’t know what musicians call it. People like Olivia & Enya have it. Kim Carnes has the antithesis. Anyway, Susan has the purest voice I can imagine, and the performance was just haunting.

And then my friend Governor Manchin took the oath and made a short, upbeat and pithy speech, and No. 3 returned to its normal programming.


Justice Staggers On

My third trial in two months is tomorrow.


A Good Floor Sweeper

The fawning upon President-elect Obama before he’s done one damn thing is stupid. The season starts tomorrow.

There was a personal appearance/photo op on CNN today that did impress me. He was talking to a bunch of young kids in some sort of job program, and they were sweeping floors. He talked about the dignity of work and the need for those who sweep floors to be good floor sweepers. I really hope that he believes the dignity part. If so, maybe there will be a splinter of change. If not, not a big deal, situation normal.

Pippa passes.

R