Last Christmas Eve (2021), I had the unusual experience of visiting the Grotto Of The Redemption at West Bend, Iowa. That is not something I would ordinarily work into my holiday festivities but then again the weather was unusually mild, and we had out-of-town visitors who wanted to do that.
As those unfamiliar with the place will be able to tell, The Grotto, as we call it locally, is a religious shrine. We were there on Christmas Eve. Almost nobody else was. That struck me as odd.
Since then, a friend, Damon Hintz, has just recklessly shared a working copy of his first musical composition in 12 years, and I have dutifully stolen it, since I have been pre-absolved, and it seems to fit nicely with my little slide show I made to commemorate the visit. Damon has not named the piece yet, and he might not even be finished with it yet, but it’s good enough for me. I might suggest “I Absolve You” as nice title, but I’ll bet that wasn’t what he had in mind.
