Daily Tour Diary 10

By Stan Clark

Today, the Choir and Orchestra had a free morning in New York City. I used the free time to make a pilgrimage to one of my favorite places—The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Given the upcoming Independence Day holiday happening in the U.S.A. and with my limited time, I decided to focus on seeing the paintings, sculpture, and furnishings in the museum’s American Wing.

As much as I love the many rooms in the wing, I always gravitate to the room that houses the paintings by Winslow Homer (1836-1910). My favorite Winslow Homer painting is called “The Veteran in a New Field.” Painted in 1865, it beautifully depicts a former Union soldier working his scythe in a field of golden wheat.

This afternoon and evening were spent on a different sort of field—a baseball field! The Choir had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of singing the U.S. National Anthem at the opening of the game between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Rays from center field at the very “cathedral” of baseball, Yankee Stadium.

After the performance, the Choir members changed into more appropriate clothing for a night of baseball and enjoyed the majority of the Yankees vs. Rays game from wonderful seats in the beautiful ball park. The game went into extra innings and, unfortunately, we all had to leave before the winning walk-off three-run homer in the 12th inning hit by Yankee catcher Brian McCann. Yankees won 7-5, even if we weren’t there to see it. Many thanks to the wonderful people in the New York Yankees organization who made today a dream come true for all Choir members.