Sunday, January 21, 2018. I'd like to have breakfast, but nobody's home to join me, and I have a lot of miscellaneous work to do. So, after Mass I just head home. At the church the parish's choir director tells me that if I have the guts for it, I will be invited to act as cantor and song leader for the next two weeks. The Wagners--the husband-and-wife musicians who usually conduct the choir at ten o'clock--will be away on vacation. This is rolling the dice for me, but my spirits lift when I discovered that I can rehearse to recordings of the Psalms that the church will supply. And the organist will back me up. Although I've been in choirs since fourth grade, I have never served as a cantor. I also will be allowed to select the four main hymns at each Mass. I will begin with "A Mighty Fortress. . . " a song I learned when I was in high school and like to sing. I mentally note that this hymn was composed by Martin Luther, of Lutheran fame. Well. This will be invigorating. Other than the off-and-on battle between ML's dog Bauer and the family-at-large's Susie and Barry (the barricade), it's a quiet afternoon. I take an hour-long strut around the Cool Water Ranch. I start thinking about income tax returns. (Yuck!) Then hunger swells and, after suggestions ranging from exotic (Trey Yuen) to a little too far away (Crabby's Shack) to overly familiar (The Chimes) to mildly familiar (the Acme Oyster House, where we settle in and order a half-dozen grilled oysters in the style of Drago's. ). On Sundays the Acme has an excellent cream of mushroom soup, using semi-exotic fungi (portobellas). MA particularly likes it. ML indulges in her favorite wedge salad, heavy on the blue cheese and chopped tomatoes. I make an entree out of a ten-dollar appetizer of fried oysters with a pale-orange remoulade sauce. Thus does the weekend of eating come to an end. Acme Oyster House. Covington: 1202 US 190 (Causeway Blvd). 985-246-6155.
