Dear Nancy Bea

Dear Nancy Bea Hefley - Organist for the Los Angeles Dodgers,

So I took a tour of the stadium yesterday.  It was pretty spectacular.  We went up to the press box. 

Here's my view if the Times wants to give me a job as a sports writer.

We went to the luxury suites and choked when our tour guide told us they cost $4000-$6000 per game.  Incidentally, our tour guide had the most obnoxious laugh.  Camille and I like to play a game called "The Most Obnoxious Laugh" where we try to top each other with fake laughs.  It's hysterical fun.  Seriously, try it, you'll be in a fit within 30 seconds.  Our tour guide would win in a landslide.

Anyway, back to the tour.  We walked the halls and saw all sorts of cool memorabilia - including some World Series trophies.

There's me in the dug out.  Yep, the one where the players hang out. 

This picture makes me think of the first time I was at Dodger Stadium.  It was a day game and I was 7 or 8 and all I can remember from it is green grass and blue skies and sunshine and palm trees.  Heaven.

We also sat in the fancy club seats where Tommy Lasorda sits (also Frank McCourt.  Had I been chewing on gum I would have left it on his seat.)  And walked along the warning track.  We couldn't walk on the grass (no worries, I've done it before) but we could take all the pictures we wanted.

Here's a fun one. 

It's me sitting at your organ!  Dream come true!  When we started the tour I just wanted to do two things - go to the dug out and sit at your organ.  Check and check!  I didn't know we couldn't sit on the bench nor did I know we couldn't touch the organ, both of which I did.  I hope you don't mind. I was very respectful.  I'm showing you this picture because I want to let you know I'm gunning for your job.  My qualifications are:  10+ years as an organist at church and my unwavering love of baseball and the Dodgers.  Also, I can knit, which I was told you do to pass the time when you're not playing.  So, work as long as you want.  Retire when you're 80.  But just know that when you're out, I'm in.  

With love from a fellow organist,

Rachel

P.S. I've always wanted your job but finding out that one of the perks is all you can eat nachos and Dodger Dogs makes me wish you would retire tomorrow.

Hey Upland 1st Ward, I'm Back! And I'm at the Organ!!!!

One of the things I really missed while away was church.  We had church in Tunisia.  There were 6 adults and 4 kids.  We met at home.  It was lovely but it lacked all the fun bells and whistles of a ward.  So I went back today and dived right in.  Head first.  Without my floaties.

The organist wasn't there as of 5 minutes to the start of the meeting so Kyle asked if I would step in.  Gladly.  Now, it is well documented here that the hardest song in the hymnal, the one I have officially refused to play but still end up playing every blessed time I step in on the organ, is True to the Faith, so as I walked up to the organ Kyle says to me, "Thanks.  And at least you know it's not True to the Faith."  That was the first thing I checked before I agreed.  So you can imagine the look on mine and Kyle's faces when it is announced that our opening song is TRUE TO THE FAITH!!!!!!!!  It was, quite possibly, the funniest moment of my life.  And never before has an introduction been as botched as the one I played because I was trying to stop myself from hysterical laughter.  I massacred that intro.  You would not believe the carnage I left behind.  Half the people in the ward don't know me because the Sunday before I left our ward boundaries were realigned so there are new people everywhere.  Well, they probably know me now. 

Fanfares

A few days ago the ward organist asked if I would sub for her in church tomorrow and yesterday she sent a text with the hymn numbers. I saw 255 and instantly panicked because I thought it was True to the Faith. You all are familiar with the long and passionate grudge I have against that hymn. I spent the half hour before I could get to a hymnal mentally writing letters to our ward music director and bishopric that started with "Are you KIDDING me?!" and "Is this some kind of JOKE!" and "Why?" and "How?" and "Do you hate me THAT MUCH!!?!??!!!"

But it turns out True to the Faith is hymn 254. Crisis averted. 255 is Carry On which is still a tough song but it has one redeeming quality: it has a little fanfare in the middle. I have found that organists are split on their opinions of fanfares. Some love them and some feel silly playing them. But I grew up in a ward where fanfares were celebrated. My piano teacher was our ward organist and she always told me that when it comes to playing fanfares you go big or go home. And our music director never conducted any song with anything less than unabashed gusto. So I kind of love playing fanfares. And if I can manage it, I'll turn the volume up a little during them just to make sure the congregation is alive.