Wow! Another great weekend! This year is shaping up to be one of the best on record! I have lost a ton of weight, I have met some pretty amazing people, and I am doing stuff!!! Not just the normal stuff like going out on the town with friends, but things like outdoor activities, traveling, etc. It is great so far and I hope that this continues!!!
This weekend I did something that, until recently, I had been afraid to do: White-water rafting. A few weeks back, Bonnie brought up that we should all go to the Ocoee to white-water raft. Everyone really seemed excited about it, so we decided to go! We left early on Saturday morning and got to the place at a little after 11:00 am eastern time. Before, I was too afraid to do something like this. I have not been the outdoorsy type. I don’t like to be hot, I don’t like to fall, and I don’t like to be in a situation that is too dangerous… so I never did anything… Well after going this weekend, I can tell you that my fears were all imaginary. I loved every second of it!!! I loved the out of control feeling of the raft barreling toward a 10 foot dip in the water. I loved not knowing if I would make it through the next set of rapids without falling out of the boat. I loved not knowing what would happen next… and I loved the water. Of course, I already know that I love water, but this was different. It was not like a pool. This was real. It was cold, and it was powerful.
The adventure started at the top of the middle section of the Ocoee. I can’t remember what the place was called, but it had some cool name and it made me feel all connected to the land and what not. Anywho, our group was 7 people, so we had to split up into smaller groups. The boys, me, Eric, Brian, and Medardo, all stuck together and the girls, Bonnie, Sarah, and Heather, went on another boat with three other girls. :) We got to our raft and met our guide. Each boat gets a guide, and that person essentially sets the tone for your trip down the river. Our guide was an older guy, maybe in his forties, by the name of Tyler. It is actually kind of funny how we ended up with Tyler as our guide. When the person announcing who gets whom told us that we would have to split up, we did not originally go all boys and all girls. We did not have a plan… but when we found out that we had to split into a group of three and a group of four, and that the group of four’s guide’s name was Tyler, all of us boys looked at each other and decided that we would all go with Tyler… see, Tyler is a hot name… so we were hoping that Tyler would be some hot guy… 
Well, we got to the starting point and met our guide. Tyler was not who I imagined in my head, and I am VERY glad that he wasn’t. Tyler was an experienced guide of fourteen years with long hair and a hippie kind of vibe. Tyler gave us our crash course in rafting and we were on our way.
We were actually quite lucky to get Tyler. He was open to whatever we wanted to do, yet still had control. He knew everything about the river, rafting, and what to look for from the other boats. Even when things got a little scary, I felt safe because he just seemed like nothing surprised him, and that alone illustrates how much he knew and how much he could handle. He was calm but urgent when needed, he gave good directions, although most times Medardo could not follow them 
, and he was just all around great to ride with.
We went over several sections of rapids. The first person to fall out of the boat was Medardo (go figure :p) and after we got him back in the boat, he just could not stop talking about how fun and exciting it was. After a little bit longer, both he and I fell out… but we did not fall at a good place this time… we actually fell at one of the more dangerous places of the river. It was class 3 or 4 rapids only a few feet deep with quite a bit of force and rock. What happened was that we hit a rapid and it through Medardo into the air. As he came down, he hit me and we both fell in. After I fell in, I struggled to get to the surface, but finally got there, but I was moving so fast. That water was NOT kidding!!! It really is powerful and it really does move you fast. I was about what seemed like 30 to 40 feet away from any boat, and I could not really tell which way I was going. Then, when I started to get my bearings straight, and I could start to hear Tyler yelling directions at me, my legs started hitting rock after rock. Finally, I looked up and realized that I was in quite the predicament. I had no control, no way of stopping, and the rocks were not getting and softer. I finally got my head wrapped around the situation in time for me to hear Tyler scream “Right!!! Swim right!!! NOW!!!” And so I followed directions as best I could. I swam and swam but went nowhere. The rapids were too forceful. Suddenly, I saw a raft near me, so I got to that one and they pulled me in! The amazing part, though, is that throughout the entire time, I had my paddle! I had like a kung-fu death grip on that thing! As I looked up, I saw that my raft had stopped up-river and only Brian and Eric, as well as Tyler, remained. Medardo was nowhere to be found. So we all had to keep going. For the next few minutes, we tried to get to my original raft, and finally we made it… and got stuck. 
Tyler got out, got us going, and we moved on down the river to meet up with the rest of our company. Medardo was still missing. At this point, Brian, Eric and I are really beginning to worry. We sat at a calm spot for a few minutes until we see Medardo about 6 rafts back just laughing and having a good time. Then, like an action movie, their raft gets close to ours and Medardo jumps over the water from their raft to ours. It was quite an impressive jump.
After that bit of excitement, we hang out for a while then get to our next big rapid. That rapid was rough, but we all stayed in the boat. The other boats, however, did not fare so well. As each one hit that particular spot, it seemed as though it was raining people. That is when Tyler said that we were going to have to go fishing!!! And we did. People kept falling, and other boats kept picking them up. It was funny and exciting. There was nothing harder, though, than trying to row against the current to get to a person who needed to be rescued. It was SO HARD!!! But we did it. We got 2 or 3 people from the water, and rescued some other people’s boat…
The remainder of the trip was less exciting in terms of people falling out and getting caught in the rapids. We stopped at a huge rock and climbed up it to jump into the river. That was a little scary because the current takes you under water twice, but it was relatively safe… then in some deep class two’s, we hopped out of the raft and floated down the rapids. Of course after that, though, we had to swim back up the river to the boat. Again… swimming up current is a bitch. :p
After all that, we got to the end, but not before we had two more good sets of rapids. Those rapids, Tyler said, were perfect for “riding the bull.” “Riding the bull” is where a person sits on the nose of the raft, hangs out for dear life, and rides out the rapids like a rodeo! Medardo went first and did okay, but Brian… Brian was the champion of this rodeo. He was awesome!!! It looked so fun… I will have to do that next time.
After that last set of rapids, we were done… we all relaxed and enjoyed the ride to the end where we got off the rafts.
We got back to the outpost and changed… and that was just about that. It was such an experience… a GOOD experience… I will be going back for sure!!! I am so mad at myself for never doing things like this before… I was too much a chicken!!! It was safe, it was fun, and I have never experienced anything like it. I felt alive… fearless… and I felt more connected to my friends than I have ever felt.
What’s next?! I can’t wait to find out!!
Wow… What A Weekend!!! :)
Posted by bretthperkins on May 17, 2010
So, this last weekend was probably one of the best on record thus far. This weekend was the first ever Nashville in Harmony “Away Game,” if you will. We were invited to be guests of a sister choir, Voices of Kentuckiana, for a concert on Saturday evening. I decided that I was going to make a mini vacation out of this trip and planned on going up a day early.
I took the day off on Friday. I don’t know about you, but I do not like to be in a hurry when I pack… I forget things that way. So I elected to work a little harder earlier in the week to get my work done at work on Thursday. I got up, I got ready, and I got packed… then headed up to Nashville to meet Linda, a fellow singer, to drive her up to Louisville. Linda is a very sweet and intelligent lady. We ate lunch at the Demos’ on Second Avenue and hit the road. Linda has been a family counselor and has a degree in psychology, so I have to say that it was very nice to talk to a counselor for the 9 hours or so we would spend together on Friday. Typically, the drive is about 3 hours long, but Friday was especially longer as there was an intense storm just north of Nashville as we were leaving, and we got stuck on I-65 for a little over an hour. Anyway, Linda and I broke out some Phase 10 cards and began to play while we waited to the situation to change. There were a few people that thought they could just turn around in the median, but as hard as it was raining, that median was nothing more than mud with a thin layer of grass. Needless to say, some people were the definition of FAIL sitting in the middle of the highway spinning out. I laughed. We got moving again, hit a Starbucks in Bowling Green, and got to Louisville around dinner time. We ate at a really cool Mexican place in downtown Louisville then I took Linda to her hotel. After that, I called up my host, Michael, and headed to his place to change and go out for the night. We all went to a bar named “Starbase Q” ( I am sure you can figure out what the Q stands for. :p ) It was Broadway Night, so that was fun. I put in my requests, you know “Defying Gravity”, “Cell Block Tango”, and something else that I can’t remember… 0:) It was fun singing and hanging out; I met a lot of new people and had a really good time. We got home a little after 2:00 (3:00 their time) and I crashed. Good Times.
Saturday… Was awesome. I slept in a little bit… Maybe until 11:00 or so, I don’t remember. We all got up around the same time and headed to a Pizza Place near Michael’s house. The food was SOOOO good, but SOOO bad for me. So I behaved. I only ate a little bit.
Then after lunch, we all headed to Michael’s house where another Michael and I decked out the deck with lights for the party and cleaned up a bit before heading to Ballard High, the concert venue, for rehearsal. We got there, met some of the folks from their choir, and then rehearsed. We went through the concert program and we all quickly noticed that one song was missing: “Why We Sing.” For those that may not know, “Why We Sing” is the signature song of our choir. We sing it at every concert… and Kristin, a fellow singer, and I shared a solo/duet on this song. So when we learned that we were not singing that song, she and I exchanged glances, as though we were both saying to one another, “WTF!?” After rehearsal concluded, she and I met up and discussed what had happened, and we both asked each other the obvious question, “Did you know we were not singing that?” Of course, both of us had the same answer: “No.” So, at an appropriate moment, I flagged down Don, the director, and asked if it was on the program for next week. (There is another performance of this joint concert in Nashville this Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 *Buy Tickets*) Don answered, with Kristin present, that we were not singing that song then either. Again, Kristin and I were surprised, but I just thought to myself, “Eh… worse things have happened.” Of course, right after that, I was a little bummed.
I have been looking forward to not only the performance with the group, but also singing that wonderful song with Kristin for our family and friends. Let’s be real, neither me nor Kristin want to take any focus off the choir, but it is human and acceptable for us to be excited about being in a special role with the choir, and to be told at the last minute that this was no longer the case felt a little bit like a punch in the gut. For me, there were many mixed emotions. I was, naturally, disappointed, but it wasn’t really a big deal. Both my mom and my dad had been able to attend concerts where Kristin and I sang it, but my friends had not, and some of them are coming this Saturday, so I was bummed about that… Kristin, on the other hand, had a more disappointing situation. Her mother planned on coming up from Florida to see her sing the solo, and of course to see the rest of the choir, but especially to see her sing the solo. We talked a little, shared some Wheat Thins, and went our separate ways to have dinner and prepare for the concert.
For dinner, I elected to just get something small and quick, so I went to a drive-thru, got something quick, and headed back to Michael’s house. I was still bummed, so I ate and took a nap on the back deck. Let me stop here and tell you about Michael’s house. It is a renovated older home in an established neighborhood. The road was quiet, the trees were tall and full, and the air was painted with the songs of birds. In the back and to the side of his house, Michael has built a massive deck. It extends roughly 15 feet back, then wraps around the side another 20 or so feet. It was beautiful. Along one side was the driveway and a garage and on the other side was a pond. So after eating, with the sound of the pond and the birds, sleep was not difficult. I had a great nap and slept off all those negative emotions that were a result of the news about our song. After I woke up, I went upstairs, got ready, and talked to the guys. In that conversation, they made note of my mood and asked if I was okay. Of course, I was, but I did tell them that I was a little disappointed about not singing “Why We Sing.” Apparently, no one else in the choir was aware that we were not singing it. The machine began. One person called another, then that person texted 2 more, then they called, then they texted… etc. From what I was able to gather, the person or two Kristin told did the same thing, and by that night, it was the topic of conversation back-stage. I, internally, began freaking out.
I just knew that for each person saying that we should sing the song, there was another saying, likely, that Brett and Kristin just went whining about not getting to sing their solos. I was afraid that, in only telling two people, that the situation would turn and make me, and Kristin, look bad, or childish. I didn’t really know… it all kinda died down that night as the concert progressed, and then resurface only briefly at the After Party. But first, let me talk about the concert itself. I have droned and droned about NOT singing ONE song that I better talk about the wonderful songs that both choirs sang.
Voices sang a different program than we did, some of the same theme and some of a different theme. Our music was much more true to the theme of the night, “Songs of the British Isles,” but there music was no less wonderful. They started with Bohemian Rhapsody, sang a few more, I can’t really remember them all, and then ended with their state-song, “My Old Kentucky Home.” They sounded great, the solos were better than average, and overall, I think they did wonderfully. After they sung their state-song, we began with our state-song, “When It’s Iris Time In Tennessee.” That song is simply beautiful. We went through our catalog, culminating in our best song of the night, “Electricity.” Now, for this song… I do not know what happened, but it is like the spirit of the song ignited us, a lot like the actual lyric of the song. I had never really appreciated the beauty of that song before that performance. In one of the lines, the song reads, “And then I feel it move me, like a burning deep inside: something bursting me wide open… impossible to hide!” And I can only speak for me in terms of my feelings, but from the volume, the passion, and Don’s emotional conducting, I know that something moved us and moved Don… It was beautiful, powerful, and something that I have not felt in a choir before. I hope that this moment is re-lived on Saturday. We sang a few more songs then, at the end, performed our largest numbers: “Imagine” by John Lennon and “Love Is All You Need”, a Beatles Medley. Those two songs were simply amazing. In total, over 165 people were on stage singing or playing. The band was hot, the brass ensemble was hot, the choir was hot, and the song was amazing. And then… we forgot the words to one song in the middle.
Oh well, it was a long song, and I doubt anyone really noticed, but it is what it is. At the end of the concert, the audience gave a resounding standing ovation as we bowed and exited the stage. It was a proud moment for me and for the choir, and it was a moment that I had all but forgotten since my days at Overton. Sure, I sang at MTSU, but I never had a connection to the group. Here, in Nashville In Harmony, I have that connection, and I love it!
So, time check: When are we now? The concert is over and it is time to party! I was the first to arrive to Michaels, so I quickly changed and headed down to greet the guests as they arrived. Car after car after car poured onto his street. I talked, met more people, had a sing-off with one of their singers on some broadway song, I can’t remember which one. (I won). And, let’s see… I ate like a TON of M & M’s. MMM… so good. Over 100 people had to have been there, and it lasted until 3:00 AM, however, I was in bed WELL before then… I was beat! I headed up at like 1:00 AM and then woke up in time to have one last meal with my new friends. We tried several places, but ultimately wound up at Waffle House. It was good food and more good times. I hit the road and got back to Nashville around 7:00 PM.
I came home to a sparkling clean townhome, thank you Eric, and unpacked, did laundry, went to the store, and had dinner. While I was gone, though, Eric and his dad had been busy.
This Friday is Eric’s 25th Birthday (Yes… 25. Whatever he tells you just nod and say “OK, Eric” and rest assured that you know that in the end, he is really 25!). I’m pretty excited about it. Around 40 people are expected to come by, and the party is themed. He chose to use the TV Show “Lost” as the theme, so we now have a lot of things at the place that fit in with that theme. We are going to spend the week decorating it up and making it all come together. It will be fun! I am already settled on what I am going to wear, although I don’t know what I am going to get him for his birthday. He is hard to shop for and stay in budget!
Sheesh… this might be the lengthiest blog entry to date (2,155 words!)… Maybe I should have published it in parts!!!
Anywho… that’s all for now.
-=brett=-
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