A summer evening's entertainment

I love the feeling of a summer evening. There's a softness to the air, breezes have slowed or stopped and if it's a clear night the stars are close enough to touch. To be dining outside on a summer evening is happiness. To be enjoying an evening's performance by a great performer on a soft summer night is pure bliss. Last night was such a night. I don't know if anything could have surpassed the pleasure of last night.

We were at the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids to enjoy an outdoor performance by Garrison Keillor creator and star of Minnesota Public Radio's Prairie Home Companion program.
The perfect warm evening began with standing in line for about 1.5 hours before the show to insure good placement. I know it sounds preposterous to wait that long just to get in the door, but this was important to both Marilyn and I and we wanted the best postition we could get. It's an outdoor amphitheater setting, seating is in very low beach chairs or blankets, food is allowed. Make an evening of it! We brought a picnic of breads, buschetta, salami, cheese, hummus, veggies, and shortbread cookies.

When the show started it was just about the most fun I've ever had in one evening. Garrison Keillor's road show version of his radio program Prairie Home Companion is called Summer Love Tour and included singer Sara Watkins. Together they sang bluegrass, gospel, folk, a little country. Stories were told about Lake Wobegon. There was a stellar performance by his sound effects man Fred Newman. We sang, we laughed, we applauded with enthusiasm and appreciation. By the end of the evening we had been treated to almost 3 hours of stellar unsurpassed entertainment. What an evening!