The Strangest Dream

I was not aware that this song was written by Ed McCurdy and has been recorded many, many times. I found a John Denver recording that I liked quite a bit, but Simon & Garfunkel is still my favorite.

Anyway. My Mary was preparing to go on a mission (yes, the Mary that just got married) and asked me to be responsible for the musical number at the Sacrament Meeting when she spoke. No problem, right?

Apparently I had a bit of a problem.

I got to church (and it was the stake center in Fremont, not my church building in Tualatin or Provo or Boston) probably half an hour before it was supposed to start and I seemed to be in a panic. I tracked down my uncle Bruce and asked him if he would be willing to sing the bass part to a song. I swore it was really easy, and he willingly agreed. I then got my brother and dad to say yes as well. Then I went and found Mitchell Grant (Mitchell Grant, currently on a mission in the Dominican Republic) and asked if he would complete the mens voices, again promising that the song was not difficult. I said hello to his mother (but didn't think to ask her, who I'm sure can also sing just fine---I actually have no idea if Mitch sings) and went off to find my women.

I ran downstairs and into the chapel, where I found my family. Megan was a yes, and I was going to sing (although I think I was accompanying too...) so that only left two more. My dad stopped me on my way to find them and pointed out that the program said I would be playing "How Far Is It to Bethlehem" as the musical number. It's true, I have played the flute accompaniment part for that choral piece, but we weren't performing that one. Plus it's a Christmas song.

I had to make copies of my one copy of the music, so I went to start that while I found two more female voices. As I headed to the car to get the music I saw Mitch McClellan out of the corner of my eye and thought, "Oh good, if I can't find anyone else, Heather's here and has heard the song before," although I'm fairly confident she's never sung it.

Of course I didn't think to ask my aunt Lisa or Jana Grant, both of whom would probably have been willing and fully capable of sight reading the music that I kept insisting was "really easy to sing." Mary's good friend Megan also does not seem to have made an appearance, although she would have been there in real life, and she has a very good voice. In any event, I'm not sure if I found four women to round out the group. It was a very stressful dream.

Oh, and the really easy to learn song? Yeah, it was this one:



I sincerely hope this wasn't some warning that I'm going to get sucked into performing this song again. I've done it three times now, and every time I thought I was going to have a heart attack. This dream almost gave me a fourth heart attack. So no, thank you.