Still life in a church corridor

When we arrived at the church for our concert we were shown to a side chapel (not this photo) to store our bags. And change. For half a century I have taken over men's loos and for over a decade I have slept in mixed-dorm hostels, including one in which it was just me and a man I didn't know, but today was a first: 20 men and women - choir leaders and choir members - taking off trousers and tops, exposing clothing and bits of bodies that strangers are not 'supposed' to see, and putting on our more formal wear. In a church. So different from the churches in Sicily where you can't go in if you expose the bits of bodies that God didn't make, such as shoulders and knees. If it ever comes to a contest, I'm on the Dutch side.

The concert went better than in any of our rehearsals and at the end Mark (Leiden Youth Orchestra leader) made a speech about the many years of collaboration with Markus (Bonn Youth Choir leader). and presented him with a retirement gift. Markus always has his antennae out for anything that needs pre-empting or doing but was completely thrown. And quite a few of the rest of us teared up too. We're going to miss him badly. 

(One of my early encounters with Markus - text.)