Saturday in Greenville, MS

Well,  we all had quite the day Saturday.  We left Jackson around 8 am heading to Greenville, MS. Christel and friend Kate were among those asked to join the Delta Symphony Orchestra. They had 4 rehearsal blocks before the concert that night so Kinsley and I took advantage of the time and went exploring.

During the first rehearsal we went back to Indionola, MS and skimmed through the new BB King museum (http://www.bbkingmuseum.org/). It is very well done and worth alot more than the 30 minutes we got to spend there.

We dashed back to Greenville, catching Christel just towards the end of their break. For the next rehearsal we took a pedestrian tour through Greenville — as one person we met said “We saw you walking downtown with your child and we knew you weren’t from around here.” Greenville was obviously a thriving commerce center in the earlier 20th century but many of the downtown buildings now are either torn down or abandoned. There’s a nice park along the lake between 2 of the casinos though, and I’m sure walking along the levee would be pleasant.

After lunch Kinsley and I headed out to the Winterville Mounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterville_Site).  They were having “Indian Days” including an archery stand and someone teaching kids Stick Ball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lacrosse — but the World Stick Ball Championship is held each year during the MS Choctaw fair).  One kindly older visitor to the mounds commented to Kinsley “Now you didn’t just climb the mountain?!” … the mountain, of course, being the 50ft temple mound.

Back to the rehearsal hall for a quick snack for Kinsley and then spent the last rehearsal block exploring the E.E. Bass center — a junior high school building build in 1929 and now being converted to house and provide a performance venue for various arms of the Geenville Arts Council (Delta Symphony, an art gallery, a theatre company, a dance studio and several other as well I believe).

One of the other interesting things housed in the E.E. Bass building is the Delta Children’s Museum featuring the Armitage herschel Carousel (http://greenville-arts-council.com/Armitage_Herschel_Carousel/Carousel.html) built in 1901, it’s one of the oldest operating carousels in America. Somehow Kinsley was more interested in chewing on the no doubt completely sanitary bridle … go figure.

A quick supper then back to the hall for the performance. Kinsley and I heard most of the the first piece from back stage but ended up needing to go all the way around the outside of the building to get in the back without walking through the main hall. We were situated in the balcony by the time they started the Vivace from Beethoven’s 7th symphony. Kinsley was utterly captivated for the whole 10 minute piece. He continued to stare through out the remaining 2 pieces of the first half and only fell asleep into the second number after intermission (King Christian Suite by Sibelius). The cymbals of the fourth movement made him jump in his sleep but he didn’t wake up until the climax of the fifth movement.

Hanging out backstage before the concert.

Photo-op with Ted Wiltsie, conductor and David Crispin, oboe soloist.

Friend Kate and … oooh, fun toy!

After hobnobbing at the reception after the concert and some minor drama that involved looking for Mr. Giraffe and finding him still lying on the sidewalk, arriving back home felt wonderful – even if it 12:30.

… We should really post a token minority picture that deliberately excludes Kinsley just so he has plausible deniability if he’s ever accused of monopolizing this blog.