Glory

It was pure serendipity that we visited "First Friday" in Oxford on June 6. We were going to see local troubadour Charlie Zahm perform at Oxford Friends Meeting, and we arrived in town early to get something to eat. What a surprise: downtown Oxford was packed! There was live music; the shops, galleries and second-hand stores were open; and nonprofits and churches were publicizing their activities. There was even a troupe of belly dancers performing.
We walked up and down the main street, ate some ice cream, and then settled in at the meeting house for Charlie Zahm's concert of Revolutionary War and Civil War songs, including "Yankee Doodle," "Chester," "Goober Peas," "Shenandoah," and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." It was poignant that we were listening to these songs of war and loss and love of country on the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Charlie performed along with fiddler Tad Marks, and the good-natured banter between the two of them was amusing. They recently returned from a trip to Qatar, where they performed for American military personnel.