I went to the Soviet Union & some neighboring countries, when I was 16, with a peacenik singing group. Visited to Estonia (just after it declared independence), Ukraine (2-3 months before it declared independence), and parts of the actual Soviet Union. Took a ferry from Finland. Sang at a 50,000 person choral fest.
Had some Estonian songs in our repertoire that they literally had been forbidden from singing by the Soviets, so (when other people sang them), they stood up silently, instead. At this point, they kept standing, but also sang. (With tears.)
About half of us took a tour of a decommissioned Orthodox church, later in the trip. Powerful place. We knew a piece of sacred choral music, and we had the director with us, so we somehow spontaneously started singing it. Chills.
Recently/locally, there's the Wheaton Farm conservation area, about a mile from my house. I moved to Easton in August, and I'm enjoying getting to know the area. This is a nice walk; there's a pond that's part of the Easton water supply (so it's protected, obviously), and a bunch of birds hang out there. Good sunsets.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2019-02-22 06:46 pm (UTC)I went to the Soviet Union & some neighboring countries, when I was 16, with a peacenik singing group. Visited to Estonia (just after it declared independence), Ukraine (2-3 months before it declared independence), and parts of the actual Soviet Union. Took a ferry from Finland. Sang at a 50,000 person choral fest.
Had some Estonian songs in our repertoire that they literally had been forbidden from singing by the Soviets, so (when other people sang them), they stood up silently, instead. At this point, they kept standing, but also sang. (With tears.)
About half of us took a tour of a decommissioned Orthodox church, later in the trip. Powerful place. We knew a piece of sacred choral music, and we had the director with us, so we somehow spontaneously started singing it. Chills.
Recently/locally, there's the Wheaton Farm conservation area, about a mile from my house. I moved to Easton in August, and I'm enjoying getting to know the area. This is a nice walk; there's a pond that's part of the Easton water supply (so it's protected, obviously), and a bunch of birds hang out there. Good sunsets.