Snowbirds Living in the Philippines : Celebration of Life: Macrine J. Katague via her Favorite Music (Hymns)-Part 10

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Celebration of Life: Macrine J. Katague via her Favorite Music (Hymns)-Part 10

This is Part 10 of the 14 Series on Macrine J. Katague, Celebration of Life.

Macrine loved to sing. In her younger years, she sings coloratura soprano. When she started smoking later in her forties ( during nursing school), her voice changed to mezzo soprano. Macrine and I loved singing in the choir here in Northern California. In the late 1980's, we sang in our church choir on Sunday masses in Pinole, as well as with the UP Alumni, Berkeley Chapter Choir based in El Sobrante, California.

Eleven years ago, we sang in our Church Choir here in Fair Oaks. We even sang a duet of Silent Night in Tagalog at the concert before the Christmas midnight mass. Macrine and I had also organized the Marinduque Association of the Capital Area( MACA) Christmas Caroling Group in Colesville, Maryland in the late 1990's.

Besides singing in the church Choir with me, Macrine sang a few times during a friends wedding and she got paid, so I will consider her a semi-pro. Anyway in this episode, I am posting two of her favorite hymns that we sometimes sung during Catholic masses. Make a Channel of your Peace( the Prayers of St.Francis), and On Eagle Wings..

The Prayer of St Francis song (Make me a Channel of your Peace)reminds me of our one week vacation in Rome and in the Vatican, and our visit to Assissi, Italy in 1990

On Eagle Wings reminds me of our one week vacation in Aruba, 2001

Meanwhile, while searching for the best arrangement of the above two songs, I found two renditions of Cohen's Hallelujah as follows:

Celine Dion surprises the Canadian Tenors-Oprah in the Audience

Religious Hymns reminds me of our college years and the University of the Philippines Student Catholic activities, 1951-1955.

https://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/search?q=UPSCA

Meanwhile, enjoy this photo from Chateau Du Mer, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines-our second home!!

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Joys of Retirement

I have been retired from USFDA since 2002. At first, I feel I have lost my identity as an individual or have lost my contribution to society. However, within a few weeks all these feelings were gone. It started when my wife and I started baby sitting one of our grandchildren. As some economics professor states: "Your children are your capital investments, but your grandchildren are your profits. That is why you love your grandchildren more than your children". I really agree with the statement. Retirement also gives you lots of time to do things you like to do, such as your hobbies and of course travel. In my case, I turned my hobby of gardening and landscaping into a small business in the Philippines. This endeavor was planned about five years before 2002. That year my wife and I started construction of our retirement home in Boac, Marinduque , Philippines. The next year we built a beach house, followed by a Conference Hall two years later. Needless to say, planning and executing the landscaping was a challenge and very enjoyable. With the help of local labor, I not only enjoy the time gardening and landscaping, but also help improved the economic situation of the province by providing work and jobs to the local residents. With plenty of time, I have engaged into two specific activities as follows: First, I created a website for my small business. By trial and error, I created and design the website, www.chateaudumer.com I have never been a computer nerd or expert. But with plenty of time and patience, the fruits of my labor could be enjoyed if you visit the website above. The second activity, I have not done before was to utilize on-line activities, such as shopping, paying bills ( save you stamps) and playing computer games in the Internet. I really enjoyed playing duplicate bridge on line. You play with players all over the world and can chat in between games. But be careful, you are not spending too much time in the computer. It is very addictive. With a lots of time, my wife and I devoted more time on our favorite humanitarian project. For the last 15 years, we have been involved with medical mission to the province of Marinduque. For details please visit the website: www.marinduqueinternational.org As a summary, the joy one gets on retirement is very specific for an individual. Some enjoy their free time by learning new activities, getting involved with humanitarian projects or spending more time with their grandchildren. Others hate it, since they missed their former jobs and co-workers. Others with no children still enjoy retirement by traveling, turning their hobbies into business or more community involvement. Of course those that retire and hate it, is believe to die earlier than those that enjoy their retirement years. So, plan your retirement as early as you can. The happier you are on retirement, the longer you will live.