More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …
Last week began with a fire … just half a mile away … to the north.
A neighbor had been clearing his land as per CalFire directions and had a couple of men, who were supposed to be knowledgeable about fires, burning the slash in small piles. Mark had just picked me up to go out for Mexican food, since it was Cinco de Mayo, and as we went past we could see that Shasta-Trinity USFS crews were on the scene. There is no longer a local “fire company” due to lack of cooperation as well as no volunteers, so it could have been a disaster. Luck was with us because the wind was out of the south and the fire was northwest of us.
When we got home the fire was under control, had been limited to 1 acre, and most of the out-of-area help had been released leaving only an overnight mop-up crew.
Thursday morning the wind was out of the east.
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My first time back to the senior luncheons at the Weed Community Center was monday. There are changes from the last time we were there over four hundred days ago.
You have to produce your vaccination proof (the first time only) and wear a mask when entering or leaving the dining area. You can be unmasked at the table but the table is limited to four persons (used to be eight). Drinks and food are delivered to you (no more lines).
It used to be close to a hundred people at each luncheon. Now limited to forty at a session and there are two sessions, 1130 and 1230, so no time to just socialize. There were fewer than thirty at our session today.
Food was good … from the Mt Shasta Supermarket … two teriyaki meatballs (huge), two slices of buttered and cheesed sourdough, rice (interesting it wasn’t pasta but maybe to avoid a problem for GF folks or maybe rice since the meatballs were teriyaki rather than Italian), a nice serving of salad, and two small chocolate chip cookies. I brought one of the meatballs home for lunch on tuesday.
Next week food will be from the HiLo.
One really nice side event was two hugs from a young man (mid-fifties) who went to school with my middle son.
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The Granny Smith apple tree is in glorious full bloom.
It is a blessing every time I go out the back door making me think of the old song “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”. Instead of the “Last Rose of Summer”, it is doing its best to go out as the “Last Blaze of Spring”. Most of the other Springtime blossoms are past their glory days, with the exception of the Granny Smith and the front door lilac which is showing tight, dark purple buds. Another week and the apple blossoms will be over and the lilacs will be in full, fragrant bloom.
While going out to close the hens in for the night I found the crabapple in a beautiful, bright pink bloom. Maybe a good crop this year.
There are glorious greens everywhere, and still a few daffodils, but the plum and other beauties have turned their flash over to the small beginnings of fruit and seeds.
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Brace yourself … here is the current lesson for Opera 101.
The past week, leading up to Mothers’ Day, the Met’s roster of free streaming operas had a theme … Mothers and Death.
The series began with Electra (Strauss), followed by Rodelinda (Handel) then Hamlet (Thomas) and on thursday Norma (Bellini). Friday it was Wozzeck (Berg), saturday Madama Butterfly (Puccini), ending on sunday with another Handel Agrippina.
What a line up. And quite appropriate, right?
Opera is dull and difficult, right?
Well … this line up was a bit difficult, but no way could it be considered “boring”.
Electra and her brother kill their mother after the murder of their father by Mother and her lover.
Rodelinda must make a choice between a new marriage following the death of her husband, the King (her new husband is the new King) and the sacrifice of her son in order to ensure the new husband’s line will be heirs to the throne.
Hamlet is faced with unending tragedy when his mother marries his father’s brother who had murdered his father.
Norma, a Druid Priestess who has taken a vow of chastity which she broke and had two sons by a roman soldier, offers to either kill the boys or herself when she and the Roman are sentenced to death after their affair is discovered.
Wozzeck kills the mother of his bastard son after he goes mad with guilt.
Madama Butterfly kills herself after giving her bastard son to the wife of her lover.
… and finally …
Agrippina plots to have her son from a previous marriage named as her husband’s heir (her current husband is the Emperor) by promising sexual favors to two of the Emperor’s men , then betrays her son because the woman he loves is also involved with the Emperor’s chosen heir. She is then successful in having her son named Emperor-in-waiting when she reveals the love between the man previously chosen by the Emperor as his successor and the woman which somehow makes way for her son to become Emperor (a bit convoluted, even without anyone dying, but no one ever insisted Handel was straight forward).
So much for nice, gentle, fluffy, sweet mother stories.
Really boring …
I wonder what they have in store for Fathers’ Day? Probably won’t be half as interesting since operas are nearly all written by men.
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Interesting times … Winter all but over … Spring in bloom … general chaos of changing times.
Don’t hesitate … just jump and build your wings on the way down.
So ‘til next week