la grande bande, st. mary's

 in the evening i went to a concert at st. mary's church in lowertown st. paul, it was french baroque music, by la grande bande. it is an outfit based in out-state minnesota, gaylord if i am not mistaken. there were two different programs available, one of them was carols that the crowd could sing along with. this included 'angels we have heard on high', or 'gloria in excelsis deo'. nice when i am able to recognize the familiar, but most of the carols here, be it in french or english, i hadn't heard before. the subtitles were on a screen close to where the performers were, and there were some carols where it was just violins playing and no singers at all. of course, the subtitles reminded me of being at an opera. there was an organ prelude, i am thankful i showed up early enough to hear most of it. then i am not rushing to find my seat. i think i had been to this church before, for a serving of booya soup. after the concert i walked past the saints stadium, only blocks away, and it served as a reminder of another event i am doing soon. the holiday light festival at the stadium is in full swing. in the morning i did my typical chores and errand running. went to the post office but no orders to pick up. then there was dumping recycle at a bin near the capitol, and i went to an art museum. it was a small one, some art by wanda gag was there, a name i knew from visits to new ulm. there was one by grant wood there as well. i spent just under an hour there, then i went to have a sandwich at jersey mike's as it was just after midday. then i picked up some items at the nearby target, including two boxes of cereal and some egg nog. then late in the afternoon it was to aldi for groceries. i did watch some of the iowa women's basketball game, playing tennessee, in brooklyn. hawkeyes were leading when i had to leave for the concert, just past the end of the first quarter, but i found out iowa lost. too many turnovers. i had a quick dinner at a speedway gas station on the way to the concert, it was a Slurpee and a slice of pizza. late in the evening, after getting back from the concert, i went on a walk and found 3 dollars 88 cents.