W: 7 Quick Takes Friday - A Week of Wanderings

 

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This is my last Quick Takes post to take place during the A to Z Blogging Challenge! That means the theme of this post will correspond with my letter of the day, which is W. This week I undertook a lot of extra activities, so I am going to report here on my Week of Wanderings! (Note: I haven't posted "V" yet! So this is out of order, and a day early, but I will post V later tonight - it actually isn't officially "late" yet!)

  

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Weekend Wayfaring: This weekend held two firsts for me.

 

1) The Farmer's Market! Believe it or not, I did not buy any vegetables at the farmer's market - only meat (red snapper, ground buffalo beef, and pork steak), lye soap (that smells heavenly!), honey (Mennonite-made), and, well, a buffalo horn (because it was cool!).

 

There were a lot of great booths, including an organic soup booth which I somehow missed but will make sure I hit up on my next visit! Also, a lady made these bird feeders with actual little herb gardens on top - awesome!

 

 

There was live music, of a bluegrassy variety (I don't know the band's name, sorry).

 

And aren't these carrots pretty??!!

 

 

I love the farmer's market. It is my new favorite thing!

 

 

2) Rock'n Ribs! This is an annual fundraising event for local children's organizations, including the one for which I work. Held at the local fairgrounds, it features a popular BBQ contest complete with samples for attendees...

 

No one gonna argue this ain't award-winning BBQ!

...a ton of beer vendors, t-shirts for the event, live (rock) music...

 

...rock wall climbing, jousting, and, yes, sumo wresting...

 

 

...and a special guest appearance (who knew the Queen was a band groupie?)! 

 

 

I got off work and went to the farmer's market, so I slept for a little while before heading to Rock'n Ribs. The unfortunate consequence of sleeping is that I missed not only the motorcycle show, but also the free BBQ samples! :( Next year I must go earlier.

 

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Welcome Back: My brother Sam moved back to Missouri from Ohio this week! Don't tell him I said this, but I missed him. I've lived here since August 2002. Sam was here Summer 2009 and moved here in August 2010, but he moved back to Ohio this January. Pastor Steve Finney at Oasis Church of Joplin offered him a pastoral position at the church, though, so he moved back this week. I think it will be a great opportunity for him...and did I mention I'm glad he's back?! So, I took him to breakfast at Ihop Tuesday morning and then drug him to the farmer's market in the rain. Then I went to bed and he went to Joplin.

 

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Women Preachers: Last Thursday after my homiletics class my professor asked me if I like going to hear famous women preachers. I said, "Sure." So she asked me to go hear one in Branson with her on Tuesday night. She, another friend, and I went to Chateau on the Lake to the ICFM 35th Annual Convention and heard Margaret Court from Australia. Evidently this church whose convention we attended is part of the Word of Faith movement, of which we are not a part. But she was an interesting speaker and the atmosphere during the worship was wonderful! I love it that she had such a professional background in tennis. She is 70, and she currently pastors a church of over 5000 people. She did not look 70!! She had a very calm style of speaking. Because I was with my homiletics professor, we of course talked about the sermon style. It was by no means a three-pointer, nor did it really have any kind of structure...but she did wrap all she had said together nicely with a relevant Scripture at the end. She shared her heart, and it was good.

 



 

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Wednesday: I went to a Bob Dylan concert!!! I would estimate there were somewhere between 4000 and 5000 people there, in the John Q. Hammons Arena. It seems his music has appealed to several generations, and people from different walks of life. Just a few rows in front of me I noticed a guy in a business suit sitting beside a guy in full biker apparel, braided ponytail included. There were people my age who looked like they stepped out of the 60s and people who I would bet probably looked like that IN the 60s! I saw 'fros and beards and bandanas aplenty. I love old hippies!

 

The band consisted of Dylan and 5 other men - all dressed in suits and hats. It was dark, but Dylan himself appeared to be wearing a black tuxedo jacket, buttoned with large gold buttons over a white dress shirt, with dress jeans, an off-white hat, and white and black wing-tipped shoes. He looked really good, actually. All of the music involved the drums and anywhere from two to four guitars, with various tunes also including a cello, a banjo, and a steel guitar. Dylan played a babygrand piano for at least half the songs, and occasionally even pulled out his harmonica! Everyone cheered whenever the famous harmonica came out. He sang two songs I knew: "Blind Willie McTell" and "Tangled Up in Blue". His entire style seems to have mellowed into a bluesy sound, but that was fine with me because I love that sound, and it suits him and his voice well.

 

All in all, it was a great concert and worth the price of the ticket to get to see a legend live. I bought a t-shirt and took a couple pictures with my phone (even though we weren't supposed to).

 

It was late and I was looking a little rough,
but cool t-shirt, eh?!

Dylan's back is to the camera here - he is at the piano.

I also have to tell you there was a street preacher outside the main door to the arena. I listened to him for a second to see what he was saying. Surprise! He was saying God was mad at us. Hmmm...I'm pretty sure God doesn't hate Bob Dylan enough to hate me, too, for going to see him. That sounds more like a personal vendetta to me.

 

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Wellness Efforts: This week I have been participating in the 7-Day Green Smoothie Challenge! (I started a day late, but will just finish a day later than everyone else.) Basically, it is just a fun challenge to participate in with other bloggers and promote health by adding one green smoothie to your diet every day for seven days. My first was okay (Pinapple & Kale) but the second was better (Blueberry & Spinach). I have been trying to make most of my meals healthy, too. I am going to start this summer off right!! Finally, today I tried a Pina Colada (Kale) Smoothie. It came out tasting great, but I didn't add anything to make for a "smoothie" texture (like a banana or yogurt or cottage cheese...) so it was runny :/. Next time I'll know not to skip that part!

 

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Wow Factor: Dawes was the opening act for Bob Dylan. They were great! Here is my favorite song they played, called "A Little Bit of Everything":

 

 

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary!