24 October …
Another couple of mileposts …
Last Friday would have been our 66th wedding anniversary.
And last sunday marked eleven months.
Friends and family saw me through it.
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Neera, a neighbor and a friend, went with me to the HD opera showing of “Sanson et Delila” last saturday. The show began at 1255 EDT so we had to be at the theatre by 0945PDT. That meant we had to leave home by 0730.
It was worth it.
We got there a bit early and found a neat little 50s style diner (Punky’s – complete with aluminum walls and pictures of street Chebbies and the Fonze) where we had a good breakfast of egg, bacon, and toast and were in our theatre seats in plenty of time.
The opera was good. Garanča sang Delila (as I’ve said before … mezzos should be leads … rather than coloraturas) and the staging was interesting.
Now we are thinking about doing it again in December to see Traviata.
One interesting thing … I had always pronounced Garanča hard like a “k”. Neera (who is Austrian) pronounced it as “ch”. And Susan Graham (who was doing the backstage interviews during intermissions) pronounced it soft like an “s”. Makes me wonder how Garanča herself says it.
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Our weather is autumnal. Nice.
On my way home from town one day last week, this was Springhill.
Not as many colours as some other places because we are mainly evergreen, but nice.
The last of the maple …
and catalpa leaves are falling …
The birch and cherry are still quite yellow and the apricot in the courtyard is a wonder
(the blurring is due to the tremor).
In addition, this area is doing its best by the Monarchs with lots of milkweed.
We were supposed to have showers yesterday, but no such luck.
Clouds but no precip.
Next chance is late next weekend.
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The radio club is winding down for the winter. Only upcoming event of any interest will be the potluck in December.
But, looking ahead, some of us are already beginning to plan for next summer’s events. OCD?
Which reminds me of a post I saw saying if the writer were a ghost they would go around to the homes of those with OCD and move all pictures on the walls slightly off kilter.
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I go for my annual physical next friday. I don’t expect any surprises.
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The issue over water rights seems to have settled. The one who started it all will not be receiving ANY water, our flow will remain essentially the same (weather allowing), but the flow will be diverted to the east after it leaves our property. Seems the county and the sheriff were also involved in the situation over the downsteam flow because, over time, it had cut its own way onto land that had not been paying a water fee (since they weren’t supposed to have any water) and that the Sheriff had been watching because of what he called an “illegal” marijuana grow.
So all Mark has to do is change the flow on the neighbors’ property (they are okay with that) and repair our hydro line.
In addition, we are getting ready to add a solar array since with climate change the hydro is becoming less and less reliable. The first array will be added to George’s solar out in the meadow. Later, after reroofing, we will put another array up there. That should carry us another decade or so.
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My reading has been diverse this last week. I read the next of the Louise Penny books and am trying to read a collection of poetry by “New Poets of Native Nations”. I am finding the poetry hard for a couple of reasons … I am not Native and so have little or no knowledge of the culture birthing the poetry, and a couple of the poets are so angry they are difficult to read.
I recommend Penny if you enjoy mysteries, but I do not recommend the poetry unless you are willing to spend the time.
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Our Spinzilla team came in seventh overall. Not bad in an international event.
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This afternoon will be my second taiko lesson.
And to end this week, an admonition …
Live your life as though nothing is a miracle or as though everything is a miracle.
-Albert Einstein
So … ‘til next week …