Good afternoon everyone,

Today I have had a solid day of calls. Usually this is a very stressful situation on a Friday because not only can I not write Fem Fri in a timely fashion, I also can't think about what I want to write about. NO SUCH PROBLEM TODAY THOUGH because yesterday on the train home I read about two extremely interesting Ethopian woman and that's the Fem Fri we are going to share together today.

Did your mum ever accuse you, when you were just sort of slorming around the house contributing nothing, as "lying around like the Queen of Sheba"? No, neither did mine, but the mums of some of my friends did and I sort of love it as a phrase. Wildly innacurate though as the Queen of Sheba was a pretty active lady, altho presumably with relatively little time for pointless stuff like vacuuming or wiping down the countertop, MUM:

The story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba appears in the biblical books of Kings and Chronicles: An unnamed queen from Sheba travels to Jerusalem bearing gold, jewels, and spices. A seeker of knowledge, the queen has a special interest in the reputedly wise Solomon and tests him with some “hard questions.” Solomon meets the challenge and lavishes hospitality on the queen, who reciprocates with gifts. “Never again were so many spices brought in as those the Queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2021/06/where-did-the-queen-of-sheba-rule-arabia-or-africa

The reason I am thinking about Ethiopia is because I'm still reading Sound Within Sound and have got to the Ethiopian nun, pianist and composer:

her playing evokes the delicacy and grace of early spring: a sparrow alighting on a branch, a wildflower bending toward the sun, a tiny, persistent sorrow. It’s the sort of thing—soothing, meditative, elegant—that immediately softens everyone who hears it.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/17/jerusalem-emahoy-tsegue-maryam-guebrou-music-review

Here's a YouTube of her Song of the Sea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u92RDby71_I

Love,

Alex.