Career

Since my junior year in high school (1973-74) at the Interlochen Arts Academy, I knew that professionally I wanted nothing other than to teach choral music at the college level. I put in the requisite training - a Bachelor of Arts degree (1979) in music history and literature from St. Olaf College (which was excellent preparation for graduate school), a Master of Music degree (1982) in choral conducting from the University of Michigan, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (1988) in choral conducting from Michigan State University, and then I secured a teaching position at Michigan's Olivet College, and was doing precisely what I had wanted to for decades. But my severe 1993 automobile accident, with my consequent inability to speak or sing, ended that.

After mostly floudering around during the 14-plus years since my accident, a couple of years ago I became aware of what seemed like a good possibility for me. Medical transcriptionists take audio recordings of physicians and turn them into written reports which become part of the patient's permanent record. In our increasingly medically oriented society, and with my good ear and good verbal and keyboard skills, this seemed right up my alley. So I've been training (self-paced) for this through At-Home Professions. I've been delayed beyond what I had expected, and am now trying to finish the training ASAP. I have to wonder if, at age 50, this isn't a foolish and quixotic venture - but I'm too young to sit and do nothing!

Giving blood

I was very happy yesterday to be able successfully to give blood again (for the 92nd time). My friend Doug kindly ran me over to the donor center after our traditional Friday lunch. At one point, he referred to "Allen's Livery Service," and, while this amused me, I also thought, "At least it's better than 'Allen's Liver Service'!"

When the nurse noticed how much I had given, she told me, "I was amazed recently to send it a request for a donor for a 23-gallon pin!" I am working on my 12th gallon, and told her that my lifetime goal is 30 gallons. She grinned and said, "You have a ways to go!" Then I typed out, "Yes, but my grandmothers were 102 and 93, so I think I have a chance." She read this, and her eyes opened wider and wider and then she said, "I think you have a very good chance!"

Becoming a father-in-law

My daughter Christy became engaged earlier this year to a young man of whom I am very fond. I have wonderful memories of meeting Reggie when I visited Christy in Colorado in March 2006, and he picked me up at the Denver airport. When I came off the plane, he was waiting, smiling, and saying, "You must be Dr. Borton!" They created a website about their relationship:

Game over

It greatly saddens me, but I am grappling with the difficult realization that I will not make the goal I had set of reaching 200 pounds by my birthday (March 17). I have been losing 5 pounds/month ever since late April, reaching 214 on Dec. 1, and was on target to make it. But this past weekend, I ran 8 miles on Saturday morning, reaching a new low of 209.5 ... and then, although I felt fine at the time, I developed a problem with the hamstring in my left leg. The back of that thigh has been tight since that time, preventing me from running, and my weight has begun to go back up. I hope to hold the line as well as possible, and get back to exercising as soon as I can, but know that if I rush it and try to run prematurely I could be looking at a very long period of healing.

The body - NOT a perfect machine

I have been running steadily all this year, and have logged over 930 miles so far. My runs have been increasing in length in recent weeks. 3 days ago (Saturday morning), I ran 8 miles at Bally - and felt good doing so. But I evidently overdid; the next day I had to stop after 2 miles, as the back of my left thigh was tightening up rather severely. Yesterday I did not try to run at all, as I was experiencing discomfort, and I'm going to take today off, too (giving me consecutive days off for the first time in my memory since resuming running last April). I hope to be back to it tomorrow, as I do feel some improved ... but, we'll see.

Giving blood

Yesterday I gave blood succesfully for the 91st time, putting me almost halfway from 11 to 12 gallons in pursuit of my self-proclaimed lifetime goal of 30 gallons. This was particularly gratifying after I had been turned away the previous day because they had a shortage of nurses and so weren't accepting walk-in donors, only appointments. A friend of mine who works there at the Red Cross Donor Center commended me for returning, saying that most people wouldn't. But as I replied to her, I feel almost compelled to, lemming-like. Now I'm next eligible to donate on December 21, and look forward to that, as they always emphasize how their needs increase around the holidays.

J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach has been my favorite composer ever since 1973, when, at the age of 16, I began my studies at the Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan as a high school junior. Thus it was with great joy that I heard a concert of Bach's music today. This was presented at the Olivet Congregational Church, as a part of a course on Bach being taught by Dr. Linda Jo Scott, my former faculty colleague at Olivet College. Included was both keyboard and violin music, and a lecture presentation on performance considerations for Bach's music. An altogether enjoyable experience!

Another 5K

Under absolutely ideal conditions (perfect weather - sunny and temperate, and a magnificent course, uphill in the first half, then flat for a while, and then downhill to the finish), I ran another 5K (3.1 mile) race today - my third one of the year (following June 3 and July 4) - and punched a nice hole in my old Personal Record for a 5K (34:52 on July 4), finishing in 33:02. It was a great experience, but I found one thing curious. An emotion I felt was mild envy at friends running together who could talk to one another. (Grin) This race was named the Big House Big Heart, so named because it ended at Michigan Stadium, home of the Wolverines, which is affectionately known nationwide as the Big House (a nickname bestowed on it by legendary and renowned ABC telecaster Keith Jackson) for its massive seating capacity (well over 100,000 - the largest in America). We runners ran through the tunnel which the football team uses, to emerge onto the field, and then finished by crossing the 50-yard line, while being shown on the Jumbotron scoreboard.

More running

I have continued the running routine I established this spring and summer, and am currently doing 4 miles most every day, with occasional longer runs of 10K (6.2 miles). It is a lot of work, but it is successfully helping me to control and manage my weight ... a weighty goal for me (pardon the pun). On September 30 I am running a 5K called the "Big House Big Heart" run - it ends at Michigan Stadium, affectionately nicknamed the Big House, where participants will conclude by running through the tunnel into the stadium and then crossing the 50 yard line while being shown on the Jumbotron big screen TV scoreboards. I'm running as part of Team Hope from our church, collecting pledges to benefit Hope Clinic, a local nonprofit that ministers to persons on the lower end of the economic spectrum.

Driving

From May 2006 until late August this year, my driver's license was restricted (due to having accumulated too many points from speeding), so that I could only drive to, from, and at work. I consider myself very fortunate that Ann Arbor has a good bus system. However, in addition to being highly inconvenient, given the way our society is structured, this restriction was especially distressing to me because my highest ambition is to serve God and glorify Him with my life, and I realize that my behavior was completely at odds with this. However, the restrictions have now ended, and it is not only glorious to be able to drive freely again, but it is my earnest prayer that my driving henceforward will remain safe and legal.

Marianne

Tomorrow (August 31) is the birthday of my younger sister. (I do not think it would be prudent, though, to mention the age of a woman born in 1961.) Even though she lives in Georgia, we are close, and it delights me that she signs her emails to me YLS (Your Little Sister), and I respond with YBB.

Giving blood

Today I successfully gave blood for my 90th time, putting me 3/8 of the way to my lifetime goal of 30 gallons. At age 50, it might seem an unlikely goal, but from the time I began giving at age 17, until I restarted after my release from the hospital after my accident, I was not at all diligent about doing it. Now that I am going as often as allowable by the Red Cross, I think it is realistic.

Changing family news

This week, my half-sister from my Dad's first marriage, Joanne (Borton) Terry, died. She would have been 72 next week. I enjoyed visits with her sons, Jeff and Jack, with whom I was close when we were growing up, being roughly the same age. Last night was Joanne's visitation, and today the service at the cemetery - Oak Grove in Morenci, where my Dad is also buried. Before Joanne's service, Mom and I went to Dad's grave, as well as that of his parents - my namesake, Allen Borton (1872-1934) and my Grandmother Libbie (Fuller) Borton (1873-1966), whose lap I can remember sitting on as I read to her while still a young boy.

Long-ago medical news

I remember very distinctly one of my doctors telling me, a few months after my accident, that "speech is a very complex phenomenon ... and in your case, just about everything that CAN go wrong HAS gone wrong." I remember thinking, wryly, "Gee, thanks, Doc!" But surely he was right.

Giving blood

I gave blood successfully again this past week, on July 6 (for my 89th time), as I did also and mentioned in a post on April 26. Still marching steadily along toward my lofty goal of 30 gallons lifetime ... I am now begun on my 12th gallon, which I should complete late in 2008, I believe.

Robert Loyle Borton - Century Day

My Dad was born on July 4, 1907, and would thus be 100 years old today. My own theory is that, due to the patriotic connotations of the holiday, his parents decided to give him the middle name of Loyal. But, being relatively uneducated farmers, they misspelled it. I never got to inquire about this, though. Grandpa Allen (my namesake) died over 20 years before my birth (1872-1934). And although I can remember sitting on the lap of Grandma Libbie (1873-1966) as a young boy, and reading to her, I was hardly asking genealogical questions at the time!

Running in Dad's honor today, I did another 5K, the Tortoise and Hare race through downtown Ann Arbor. On the flat, fast course, under cloudy, humid skies, I was trying for a good time, and was happy to finish in a PR (personal record) of 34:52. (Previously, I had done one last August in 35:15.) Before my accident, I could have run 5K in under 25 minutes ... but it's a whole new world now!

Life Day

Recently (June 30) I was pleased to find in our home an item that I thought we had lost long ago ... the picture, from the Jackson (MI) newspaper, of my car from the edition of May 23, 1993 ... the day after my accident. Witnesses have deposed that another driver forced me off the highway, and when my car hit the shoulder, it tumbled, throwing me out the window and onto my head. It's kind of an eerie feeling to see my flipped Geo Metro and know that in a flash, my entire life changed then ... and also to see me being loaded onto the stretcher in the background, since I have no memories whatsoever from a few hours before the accident until I emerged from coma in late July. Since the doctor told my wife (but then fiancee) Michelle that I would not live the night, we now observe each May 22 as "Life Day," in glee at his incorrect prognosis!

Best time of the day

My Dad, Robert Loyle Borton (July 4, 1907 - January 7, 1993 ... so this Independence Day would have been a MOMENTOUS time in his life!) was born and raised on a farm, and used to early rising for chores. He used to tell us frequently that "morning is the best time of the day." Evidently I internalized this early. In high school, when my mother was seriously injured in a car accident, I rose early for quite some time to do housework. At boarding school (Interlochen Arts Academy, 1973-75), college (St. Olaf, 1975-79) and graduate school (University of Michigan, 1981-82 and Michigan State University, 1985-87) this pattern continued ... as it did on into my teaching career at Olivet College, where I used to rise regularly at 4 AM in order to prepare lectures. But my accident has pushed it to a whole new level ... I have been unable to sleep soundly since that 1993 event, and am usually up now between, say, 1:30 and 3 AM (give or take a little on both ends), and then up for the day by 5. It's a bit out of the ordinary ... but it IS, I must say, a highly peaceful and productive time!

More running

After not running from my accident in 1993 until early 2006, and then being unable to run once again due to foot pain in late December 2006, all of January through March, and most of April, I have been able to settle back into a routine of doing 4 miles a day (at roughly a 12 minute pace), and it's getting more comfortable day by day. This is an achievement about which I feel pretty good. But I hope I am not done yet. Several years ago, a good friend recommended the books of Clive Cussler to me, and I've come to enjoy them greatly. One main character is Admiral James Sandecker, a feisty septuagenarian who keeps fit by running 10K (6.2 miles) per day. I feel that if he can do it at his age, then I should be able to, also, so I've made that my goal. (Never mind that in the books, it's fiction.) I've jokingly told my daughter that I'll probably only run until I'm 90, and then cut back to walking. But how joking IS this?

Gas prices

It seems quite astonishing nowadays, but when I began driving (on a permit in 1972, and then with my license beginning March 17, 1973), gas price wars had its cost at around 30 cents a gallon. When I tell my kids this, I think they can hardly believe me ... and I don't blame them, given the way prices have soared in recent years.

The world of opera, part II

I mentioned in a recent post how I was affiliated last week with Arbor Opera Theater's production of Verdi's "La Traviata." Now, even though the final performance was on Sunday, I continue to have the music running through my head (particularly passages from the memorable instrumental prelude, and some of the big ensemble finale numbers). I suppose this is understandable, after hearing it on 6 consecutive days (rehearsals Tuesday and Wednesday, and performances Thursday through Sunday). But this is certainly a nice "problem" to have, as it is absolutely glorious music.

Opus Borton

When I began this blog back in March, the friend who suggested it (Doug Tidd) said, "You should name it something cool like 'Opus Borton.' " (Several concerts of my music have been held in the past, and that is the title we have used, 'Opus' being Latin for 'work'). And so I took his suggestion.

The world of opera

This week our local opera company, Arbor Opera Theater, has engaged me to project supertitles for their production of Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata." (Supertitles are the translations, projected on the space above the stage.) I also did it for them last June, with Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme," but that was a different proposition, as I knew the show. This one is unfamiliar ground to me ... though it's a very standard piece of the opera repertoire, my knowledge of opera is pitifully weak. Anyway, though, it's fun, and a nice way of using my musical background.

Roller coasters

A few years ago, a good friend dubbed me "Iron-Guts Borton" due to my delight in repeatedly riding demanding roller coasters. We are fortunate to live fairly near to the Ohio amusement park Cedar Point, which is known as "America's Roller Coast," due to its having the most spectacular collection of coasters anywhere. I have been going there since the mid-sixties, but may not get there in 2007 ... a pity! But my son is a great roller coaster fan, and he will be going with my wife Michelle as a chaperone on June 14, when she makes her annual pilgrimage there, taking students from her school. (This is ironic, because she does not like coasters ... at all!)

Running the 5K

Here is a picture of me (5450) running the 5K on June 3 mentioned a few posts back. Ah, the wonders of the digital world!

June 6

I realized this morning that it was 32 years ago this very day, on June 6, 1975, that I graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy. It seems in many ways as if my life up until my accident was an unbroken succession of accomplishments; since then, I've had to become accustomed to quite a different set of circumstances! I was particularly proud of graduating as Valedictorian from such an esteemed institution as Interlochen. I can recall standing on the large stage of Kresge Auditorium, giving my Valedictory address, and having no idea where out in that large mass of humanity my family was sitting. But then I heard my Dad clear his throat -- an unmistakable sound to me -- and I smiled and knew where they were.

Running just to catch myself

I was glad to run a 5K this morning, associated with the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run. I used to run before my accident, but then did not for 13 years, until resuming in 2006. I did marathons in 1984 and 1991, finishing in about 3:32:45 each time. I ran two 5K races last summer, finishing in about 36 and 35 minutes. Today, I finished just shy of 37 minutes, but my disappointment in that time was mitigated by the large number of runners, that prevented me from even beginning a slow jog until a good minute after the gun. I had hoped to run the 10K this year, but could not run from December 18 - April 28 due to foot pain, and the long layoff cost me. Hoping to get a good night’s sleep last night, I turned in a bit past 10:00 … but, even though I slept soundly at first, plagued by my usual insomnia, I was awake from 1:30 on (though I forced myself to stay in bed the vast majority of the time until 6:00 AM). So, even though I was far from at full strength, I was glad to be able to do it.
After Michelle dropped me off, as I waited for the race to begin, I mused on the nature of disability. She and I playfully refer to me as 'Blindo' due to my inability to see even what should be obvious; and, of course, being without my glasses merely exacerbated that. And for the last few days, my hearing has been plugged, too, so that she pleaded with me, "Oh, don't go deaf! That wouldn't be a pretty picture." Of course, my muteness left me in the position, as I told her later, of "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

Pool Bum

The last several years, at the apartment where we first lived, and now at our condominium, I have tried to spend a couple of hours a day outside at the pool all summer reading. This pastime has caused my wife to nickname me "Pool Bum." I will wade into the water on occasion to cool off, but not to swim. I grew up on a lake and was always a very comfortable swimmer (I can still remember -- BARELY -- taking swimming lessons at the appropriately named Allen Lake when I was 5), but my accident caused me to be unable to hold my breath in the water. So, other than an easy backstroke, swimming itself is now out. But I still do love being in and around the water. At the apartment, I would, every few minutes, walk in, off the deck, at the deep end, sink to the bottom, and slowly rise and backstroke to the shallow end. This continued until my wife chastised me ... "you'll SCARE people!"

John in Ole Choir

I am so proud of my son John being in the St. Olaf Choir. His mother and I were in the choir (founded in 1912) in the late seventies, and his older sister Christy was during 2004-2005. Now it's his turn, and it was our great joy to see him in concert in the Great Hall of Wharton Center for the Performing Arts at Michigan State University on February 8, 2007. But shortly after she snapped this picture, an usher came and busted my wife Michelle, confiscating her camera, so that she had to go and get it back later. (On campus, the ensemble is informally known as Ole Choir, pronounced OH-lee ... the first time my younger brother saw this, I was amused by his giving it the Mexican pronunciation of oh-LAY!)

A little Opus Borton

The link in my May 19 post takes you to an article from the St. Olaf College website. And the second paragraph of that article contains a link that takes you to an archived broadcast of the April 20 chapel service that contained my viola solo. A sliding control beneath the screen allows you to select what part of it plays, and the music begins a little over 3/8 of the way in. I am very pleased with Bridget Callahan's performance of the music.

Borton music goes WWW

Some happy news: a piece of mine was recently performed at St. Olaf College (my alma mater), as detailed in this link from St. Olaf's website:

The essential substance of life

One of my big passions is giving blood through the Red Cross. (I think this is because there are so few things I can do now to make a positive contribution to society, that this is one clear way. It's easy for me to do, and I've established a track record.) They allow you to donate every 56 days, and I try to keep to that schedule like clockwork. I missed quite a few times in the wake of my accident (unsurprisingly), but I first gave at the age of 18, and my donation today will be the 88th time (11 gallons worth). I was happy to receive my 10-gallon pin in January 2006, and I have set for myself a lifetime goal of 30 gallons and was encouraged last year one time when I asked at the Red Cross and was told they have no age limit. My daughter Christy finds it all "gross," and likes to speak of my being "poked and drained." A few years ago in email, she called it the "essential substance of life," so I've now adopted that phrase. (I think she credits me with it now and forgets that it originated with her.)

My laptop

It's funny, but before my 1993 accident I had done only very minimal work with computers. However, now the laptop by which I communicate with others is an absolutely vital and indispensable part of my life. The current one I have I got in February, after my previous one died. I've had 6 or 7 in the 14 years since my accident ... I seem to use them so incessantly that they wear out quicker than would normally be expected. Though I have had friends try to talk me into getting a PC, I am one of those Macintosh users whose loyalty is legendary. (I told one PC friend who was trying to convert me, "I'll never go over to the Dark Side!") And it is wireless, so I especially enjoy being able to sit in my La-Z-Boy at home and email, surf the Net, or update my blog like this.

Nicknames

When my younger brother John was in high school, his baseball coach hung on him the nickname JB, which stuck like glue. Nearly everyone knows him that way, even today (at the ripe old age of 48). By extension, I am 'AB.' When my son was born in 1986, my then-wife Deb and I named him after my brother, as JB and I are close. But Deb proclaimed, definitively, "He will never be 'JB.' " However, when he got old enough to choose for himself, that's what he chose, and in high school he was known as 'JB Borton.' (Though I think he has largely abandoned this now, in college). My wife Michelle has for years called John "John Bon," so now I usually address him as Bon, and he seems to like this.

Meanwhile, when my daughter Christine Elizabeth first got email back in the early nineties, she chose to use her initials in the screen name of 'cebgirl.' This reminded me of her mother, and so I called her 'Cebbie' ... and I was pleased when she said that she liked the nickname, and wanted me to continue to use it. And so I do. And not long after this, she began, out of the blue, calling me "Dadders." That also continues, and warms my heart.

Meanwhile, when they were very young, my wife Michelle's younger siblings called her "Mimi" ... and that, too, has stuck. Christy and John refer to her almost exclusively that way.

The changing seasons

We have recently finished winter ... a curious one, which one on the whole was quite mild, and with frustratingly little snow, but had also stretches of bitterly cold weather. Now we are into the season of "spring" ... but it is not yet consistently springlike. Opening Day for the Tigers was gorgeous, with brilliant sunshine and near 70 degrees ... but since then we have had many days which were quite cold, even dipping down near freezing on occasion. And while yesterday was very pleasant (sunny and mid-sixties), today has turned colder and overcast. Oh well ... at least they say this is supposed to be a temporary downturn, and beginning tomorrow each of the next few days should get better and better. It's curious, because I used to absolutely love cold weather ... the more extreme the better ... but in the last couple of years since losing so much weight, I find my temperature preference has changed too, and now I have come back closer to the majority of humanity.

More reading

This is a follow-up on the entry I posted a few days ago. I continue to enjoy very much the books of Nicholas Sparks. But recently I have also indulged myself in a couple old favorites, from my teens. At the library recently, when I was unable to find a Sparks book I hadn't read, I fell back on science fiction (a lifetime love), and got Sphere by Michael Crichton, whose The Andromeda Strain I first enjoyed back in the early seventies. And right now I am enmeshed in Contagion by Robin Cook, a doctor turned novelist who is described as "the undisputed master of the medical thriller," and whose prophetically-titled novel Coma I read in my teens also. Ah ... variety is the spice of life!

Composing

Before my accident, I never composed (other than a few meager student exercises), never trained for it, and never thought I would. (Had I known I'd end up this way, I'd probably have paid more attention and worked harder in music theory classes!) But now that it's the best way for me to stay connected to music, I am quite avid about it. Starting basically from scratch in 1994, I've taught myself (with a bit of help from others) how to use musical notation software, and have written 581 works (as of this writing, 4/14/07). Since I was a choral director, the thing that is my highest goal is to break into choral publishing. But it's evidently a tough nut to crack ... I've not been able to interest a publisher yet, though I've written plenty of examples and sent many of them to publishers.

My kids in 1999

In 1999 this picture of my kids John and Christy was taken at their home. Later that year, my sister Marianne, who had majored in art in college, painted a portrait from it, which now hangs proudly in my home.

The passage of time

It is a Friday evening, and Michelle is gone (spending time with her mother today), so I am sitting here in my recliner chair watching the Tigers (currently tied with Toronto 1-1 in the 4th inning) while I work on my laptop. And it is a lovely, sunny spring evening ... I enjoyed a brisk walk just before the game. Tomorrow my "little" brother John (JB) turns 48, which means that I am 50, and I find it almost impossible to believe we have gotten that old! It's not that I'm distressed about it, but it hardly seems real.

Weight

Before my accident, I weighed about 190 pounds and ran. However, following that trauma, I stopped running, and got heavier and heavier. When I hit 300 pounds at the beginning of 2005, I was disgusted and decided I had to do something about it. So, that year I walked over 1050 miles, and, combined with watching my diet, was able to drop a lot of weight. I set the ambitious goal of getting down to 200, and never got that far, although in the late fall of that year I did drop to 220 for a time. In 2006 I resumed running, and continued most of the year, but haven't been able to run since December 18 due to foot pain. I've put some of the weight back on since then, and do not feel good about that, but still have my goal in my sights. I'm trying currently to get it going back in the right direction again. It was a heady feeling in 2005 to lose that much weight, and one which I want to experience again. And, as the Apostle Paul notes in Philippians 1:20-21, "According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ ..." So I want to glorify God with my body and my life, and keep it in control.

Reading

Prior to my 1993 accident, I was an avid reader, but then for many years I did almost no reading at all. In recent years I have been working to rebuild this ability, though. Starting with the recommendation of a lifelong friend (we met in Kindergarten - 1962), I began reading the works of adventure fictionalist Clive Cussler, and read 23 of his books from late summer 2004 through early 2007. Then, in a drastic change of direction, I began reading the books of Nicholas Sparks, a contemporary novelist who deals, masterfully, with themes of love and loss. This year I have enjoyed several of his books. And most recently, I have returned to an old love, science fiction (which I have enjoyed since boyhood), most recently completing the gripping Sphere by Michael Crichton, whose early book The Andromeda Strain I first read in the early nineteen-seventies.

Baseball

The Tigers' second game of the season, on Wednesday, was a study in contrasts from Monday's Opening Day. For one thing, the weather Monday was gorgeous, while yesterday was cold (37 degrees at game time), gray, and extremely windy. And for another, the Tigers lost on Monday, but yesterday they won ... although this was by no means a sure thing! They sped out to an 8-0 lead on the strength of a big 8-run third inning, aided by a grand slam home run, and later increased it to 10-2. But, after surrendering 7 runs in a tense 8th inning, they managed ... barely ... to hang on to a 10-9 victory. Well, it's a long season -- but it's good to get that first win out of the way!

Musical tastes

For several consecutive summers in the late eighties and early nineties, I took my young daughter Christy on a Daddy-Daughter backpacking trip to S. Manitou Island, in Lake Michigan. These trips made for wonderful memories, beginning when Christy was only 5. Sadly, they were interrupted by my 1993 accident. However, in 2001, we went again, with my brother John (JB) joining us. During the several-hour road trip, having me as a captive audience, JB told me he wanted me to listen to a recording of a group he likes, Diamond Rio. Though he now disclaims all responsibility for my conversion, listening to this recording several times had the unintended consequence of turning me into a country music fan. This is especially unusual ("bizarre"!), because I have three degrees in music (BA 1979, MM 1982, DMA 1988), and served as a classical music professor for several years. Previously I disdained country music completely, but this was a judgment made out of ignorance and total unfamiliarity.

At the Tigers' Opening Day (Monday, April 2) at Comerica Park, my friend Doug and I had a GREAT time. After parking on the roof of Cobo Hall, and taking the People Mover over to the stadium, we had Standing-Room Only tickets. The weather was gloriously sunny and pleasant, so we spent the game on the "Pepsi Porch," the area in right-center field. As games go, it was a good one, although not entirely to the liking of us Detroit fans. The Tigers surrendered 3 runs to Toronto in the first inning, but then came back and eventually tied the game. However, they then gave up 2 more in the top of the 10th inning, losing 5-3. Ah, well ... it's a long season! As renowned longtime Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver said, "This ain't football! We do this every day." So now we settle in for the marathon which is the baseball season.

My son John is home from college this week on Spring Break, and we met with him and his mother tonight for dinner, along with also my mother, and the family of my brother (John's namesake). It was a tremendous joy to be able to have this time with him.

One of my great passions is baseball: specifically, the Detroit Tigers. Given the success they enjoyed in 2006 and the sky-high demand I knew would result this year, I certainly never expected to be able to get Opening Day (April 2) tickets. But when the Tigers put up a contest a few weeks ago for the opportunity to buy them, I threw my name in ... and then I was DELIGHTED recently to receive email saying I'd been selected. So I bought a pair of tickets, and am going with my good friend Doug.

Having returned from last week's mission trip to the Gulf Coast a few days ago, I still find myself staggered and haunted by the devastation we witnessed there. Our work crew of 5 worked on building a home for Mary Brooks, a sweet woman in her sixties whose octogenarian mother lives next door to her, and whose home was totally destroyed in the August 2005 storm. (Hurricane Katrina) We worked on installing drywall ... when I told one of my work colleagues about this after returning, he grinned and asked, "So you're a carpenter now, eh?" And I typed back to him quickly, "No ... but a darned good carpenter's helper!" It was very enjoyable, and now I'm pondering whether to go on the next such trip, in November. (They project that these rebuilding efforts will need to continue for 4-6 more years yet.)

Allen's FAR better half, Michelle

Allen and choir director Carolyn Thibideau after his arrangement of "Rise Up, O Men of God" was used at First Presbyterian Church, Pontiac, Michigan, on Sunday, March 4, 2007

6 AM on Saturday, March 17 (my 50th birthday)

It is cold (mid-forties) here at the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance camp where we are staying in Pearlington, Mississippi, but that doesn't matter ... my heart is warm, as we are headed for home (Michigan) this morning, planning to depart after breakfast and group devotions.

Just musing, but on this mission trip to Mississippi, working with our work crew leader Dale Bernhardt (a 58-year-old retired Ford employee, and an excellent drywall installer), and the good man-to-man friendship we have developed, reminds me of a curious fact. As my Dad was only a few weeks shy of 50 when I was born, and used to emphasize to us constantly when we were kids that "a person doesn't even BEGIN to mature until about the age of 25," the combination of these two things made me consider myself still a "boy" until well past the age of 40 (bizarre though this seems). I only then began to consider that it was OK to regard myself as a "man," and even now, in these waning days of my forties, as 50 looms very large on the horizon, I sometimes feel like an imposter. But my kids regard me as "ancient" ... and I have to admit, that I AM starting to get up there.

THE AUTHOR

Allen Loyle Borton, taken from a family photo
of December 2005

John and Christy Borton

Here are my wonderful kids, John and Christy, a few years ago.

Tuesday evening, March 13 - Today we had a very good day of work here in Pearlington, Mississippi. Our work crew of 5 continued with the home we were working on yesterday, for an older woman named Mary Brooks ... a real sweetheart. We have been putting up drywall, and see the light at the end of the tunnel on that project, as well as "mudding" it (filling the joints between sheets of drywall with a special compound). It's kind of a culture shock to be dealing with temperatures in the high seventies, after the single digits we were experiencing quite recently in Michigan! And, of course, the devastation here is staggering. We learned that the storm surge at the time of Katrina had water 17 feet deep covering Pearlington, and it didn't abate for 24 hours.

A long time ago

Allen Borton (on right), a man who turned 50 this month, with his younger brother John and his dad in front of their home at Devils Lake, Michigan, around 1965.

November 14, 2006

Allen conducting a composition of his with the Emerson Orchestra on November 14, 2006.

The Borton family, Christmas 2005

John, Allen, Michelle, and Christy Borton, December 2005

Early Tuesday mornng, March 13. I woke about 4 here in Pearlington, Mississippi, and forced myself to stay in bed until 5, but am now (5:55) ready to go at the day!

Monday night, March 12, and I am on a short-term mission trip from our church to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance camp in Pearlington, Mississippi, which we've been told was pretty much "ground zero" for Hurricane Katrina. Water was 17 feet deep here, destroying everything, so we are working at construction ... rebuilding (or, more accurately, building) homes for residents who lost everything. We are part of a larger contingent of about 120 from churches throughout the Presbytery of Detroit. There are 13 of us here from our church in Ann Arbor. It's truly staggering to witness firsthand ... this is the fourth such trip the Detroit Presbytery has done since the August 2005 hurricane, and they say they expect the need to remain for 4-6 more years. Today we spent installing drywall in a home, and mudding it (filling the seams between sheets of drywall). I was part of a small, five-person work team ... good people. As I have told a fellow missionary, "The friendships you make on trips like this have to be one of the very top benefits." We left Ann Arbor Saturday morning, arriving in Mississippi Sunday evening after two very long days of driving (well over 1000 miles), and leave to head back next Saturday morning.

Here is my first posting to my newly created blog. I'm doing this at the suggestion of a very good friend (Doug Tidd), and at first, I thought the idea of me creating a "blog" sounded kinda highfalutin' and more technically oriented that I really am. But, after I pondered it slightly more, I realized that I expend considerable effort keeping family and friends in touch with the details of my life, so that this might actually end up being MORE time-efficient. I look forward to expanding upon it later.