Petal 3 Story # 5: The Bluegrass Brothers

Ten years ago I was living in Norway and it was my Dad's 70th birthday coming up, which I would have to miss because he lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and I had work to do in Norway.  I struck upon a gift idea for him.  It had to be big, because it was such a landmark birthday.  I had been talking with a new friend of mine in the orchestra about his passion for bluegrass music. He had me listen to some of the music he liked, as I recall, and I started to muse about the possibility of striking up a band with him.

As I was listening to the music, I realized I could change the words to craft a message to my dad and family.  And then there was another song that had words I could change to fit my situation about leaving Norway and saying goodbye to my church family there.

I also was able to get my roommates interested in the idea. Both were musicians too and had experience with videography and photography. This meant that we could make a music video easily. And my best friend Klaus as well was very interested.

We decided on a location for the video filming--an orchestra parking garage under construction that I stumbled upon, and though my orchestra friend couldn't join us for the second song, he helped us get access to one of the upright basses from the orchestra. To our delight, it turned out there were some heavy construction vehicles parked in the garage, which served as great scenery for the video.  We dressed down and wore some hats to look hillbilly. I jacked up my underwear and wore a wife-beater.  Kjartan played fiddle, Arnt played banjo, Rune/Ed played bass, Klaus played guitar, and I sang and danced. It all came together so quickly that I didn't have time to truly memorize the words, so I used cue cards that I made.

It was fun shooting the videos, Rune, with some occasional help from the other guys, did a great job filming, and Arnt was masterful at editing the video and making it ready for distribution. The following performance at Salem Church was a blast: a surprise to the college-aged audience, and they clapped and cheered us on throughout. I felt like it served to endear me to the church as well as draw me into closer bond with my friends who were involved.

Now that we are fast approaching the 10th anniversary, I think it's time to release the video to the general public and relive the glory!

Petal 3 Story # 4: Dog Training

When I was a middle schooler, my family's dog Moses was getting old and we were starting to think about getting another dog.  We thought Moses might like to have a companion, especially since in his previous family he had companion, an Irish Setter named Shelah. Moses was a mut who loved to chase squirrels. He was so good he even caught one once! We liked his long hair and 50-pound size, so we decided that a dog like him would be good.  My brother was campaigning for a Black Lab, and we had a friend who was training and hunting with Labs, so we considered it as an option.  But I think the friendliness and soft coat of the Golden Retrievers won us over to their cause.  Our hunting friend pointed us to a few people who knew a good breeder nearby, one that bred champion hunting trial and field trial Goldens.

So we drove down to Beloit as a family to check out his kennel. He showed us the sire, and the bitch when the puppies were newborn.  Because we were first in line for a puppy, we had first choice when it came time to choose, a few weeks later.  My parents paid something like $500 for the dog. We lined them up for a race, played around with them, trying to see which had the most pep and curiosity in us.  And we had also decided that we wanted a male pup.  I had been reading books recommended by our hunting friend in order to prepare me to choose the best puppy for hunting and companionship purposes. At seven weeks old, the recommended time for removing puppies from the litter, we took little Beauregard Topbrass Cotton home with us. We had a cage in the car ready for him, and treats for him to chew. He quickly became attached to a stuffed kuala bear that we gave him to keep him company in his cage. I became the person primarily responsible for all his training, and with the mentoring help of our hunting friend, the training was proving to be very effective.

In about a year, Beau and I won his orange ribbon for passing the Junior Hunting Test. Throughout the next few years of my high school and college life, hunting season with Beau was something we both were enthusiastic about.  Beau's breeding was superior, and together with the training I gave him, and the bond we shared, his delight as a household and hunting companion was undeniable.  The level of satisfaction with him as a pet cannot be measured. We were crushed when his body began to deteriorate due to lymphoma at age 8, long before the average life expectancy of Goldens. We will always remember him fondly, tinged with sadness at his loss.