Peaches

Today I ate my first peach of the season which I purchased on Saturday at the foodie mecca, Dean and DeLuca (Madison and 85th). It wasn't that "drip down your chin" kind of peach, but almost, with just enough juice and fragrance to bring thoughts of days at the beach, backyard barbeques, and peach pie. I was ostensibly in the city to go to the exhibit at the Whitney, but after an hour, my friend and I left the museum to browse Madison Avenue. Of course, it wasn't long before I was buying bread, fruit and pastries to bring home!

The peach reminded me, too, of a favorite poem, "From Blossoms", by Li-Young Lee. It was the first poem of his that I ever read, and for years (until my wallet was stolen on a crowded subway in Brussels) I carried a verse with me.

"O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach."

Here's the link for the entire poem. To hear Lee read the poem, is joy itself.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171754

The Poetry of Flowers

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886): gardener, poet, correspondent, recluse, "Belle of Amherst".

Sometime before June 13, 2010, I plan to see the exhibit "Emily Dickinson's Garden" at the New York Botanical Garden. The exhibit has two components: inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and a "poetry walk" on the grounds surrounding the conservatory. Inside the conservatory you'll see typical garden flowers such as foxglove, delphinium, hollyhocks (could they be seven feet tall?), roses, daisies, hydrangea and more. (I use the word "typical" with more than a hint of envy since the flowers on display look nothing like the flowers I try to grow! Seriously, the foxglove must be four feet tall, ditto on the delphinium. If I only had a gardening crew...) Additionally there is a facade of the Homestead (her home) joined by a short path through a garden to the facade of her brother's home. Apparently she spent a great deal of time going back and forth. Outside the conservatory, there are shade gardens, herbs, and the most spectacular row of peonies. Nested in between all of these flowers and plants are placards with poems by Dickinson. Some are small so they fit in with low growing flowers, while the ones outside are like the oversized cards in Alice in Wonderland. I took the time to read most of the poems, though my companions were not that interested. Either way, it's all lovely.

After all that walking and Victorian culture, we drove the short distance to Arthur Avenue for a totally different cultural experience: Little Italy of the Bronx. Since we were there Sunday around 5pm, many of the shops were closed. However, several bakeries were open, including my friend's favorite- Madonia Brothers Bakery (2348 Arthur Avenue/ 718-295-5573). There I bought a puffy loaf of onion bread, ciabatta, and a variety of biscotti. When we walked out of the bakery, we must have had the look of "Where should we go for dinner?" since a couple crossing the street asked us if we would like a dinner recommendation. They raved about Enzo's, a local favorite across the street from where we stood. So, that's where we went.


http://www.nybg.org/

Banff Mountain Film Festival

Banff National Park in Canada is Canada's first national park. It encompasses 2, 564 square miles of valleys, mountains, forests, glaciers and rivers. The Banff Mountain Film Festival is hosted each year at the Banff Centre, located in the park. The festival was started in 1976 as the Banff Festival of Mountain Films. After screening all submitted films, the Banff World Tour Team chooses about 25 films each year with a range of themes and styles. The films focus on adventure sports (kayaking, climbing, skiing, BASE jumping, snowboarding, mountain biking) as well as environment and culture. Many of the films are in the "action packed, high adrenaline" category.

On Saturday, March 6, I went to a viewing of some of these films in Phoenixville, PA. The town is an old steel town being revitalized with boutiques, restaurants, and a great brewpub. I was with an old friend, who I hadn't seen in 12 years! He is a true outdoorsman and often an adventure seeker. We had enough time to explore the town, have a few beers, and get tickets for the show. After seeing the films, I was both inspired and discouraged. How does one's life compare to these individuals who push their bodies, minds and spirits beyond what seems humanly possible?

Many of the people I saw are on YouTube: Kris Holm (unicylcist), Chris Sharma (rock climber), Roz Savage (rower).

The film with Roz Savage is the one that has stayed with me. On the outside, at age 33, she had a wonderful life: townhouse in London, corporate job, husband, good health. But, she was feeling unfulfilled. So, she decided she was going to enter a competition to row across the Atlantic, alone. She trained for a year, rowing up to 16 hours a day in the month before the race. She made it, after 103 days at sea. On her website, she has a list of "Lessons Learned", which appeared in a newspaper column in the UK on April 23, 2006. Here's one I'm pondering: Be mindful of the link between present action and desired future outcome. Ask yourself: if I repeat today's actions 365 times, will I be where I want to be in a year?

Happy New Year!

Here's how quickly my plans for New Year's Eve changed:
"Hi. I'm going to be in NY for New Year's. I have hotel points I need to use so when I checked around, NY seemed like the best option. Do you want to join me for New Year's Eve in Times Square?"
"Wow. That sounds wild. I have some tentative plans with my friend Camille though. So, I don't know..."
"Bring her along. I have a suite, so there's plenty of room for everyone to sleep."
"Let me just check with Camille and I'll get back to you. Sounds great and I think she'll be up for it. I've never been in Times Square for New Year's. Have you?"
"Not for 35 years. Call me and let me know."

So, with that invitation from my friend Steve in California, my idea for a quiet dinner and home by 11pm took a dramatic turn. Camille, a native New Yorker who had also never been to Times Square for New Year's Eve, happily agreed to the invitation.

On Thursday, Dec. 31, at 3:00, we boarded the bus to get to Port Authority. Thankfully, the traffic from the morning's bad weather and accidents had cleared and the ride was quick. We dropped our bags at the Doubletree Hilton on Broadway and 7th, and headed out. Already, the crowds were thick, barriers were in place to keep the sidewalks clear, and security was abundant. However, with our hotel passes dangling from our necks, we roamed freely for a couple of hours before returning to the hotel.

The evening's festivities began at the hotel at 8pm: champagne, dinner, dancing, comedy show, more champagne. At 11:30, we bundled up and joined the hundreds of thousands of people who had been outside in the rain for hours. Even though we couldn't see the ball from where we stood, we were near the center stage to hear Jennifer Lopez and at 11:57 a recording of "Imagine". (Maybe the words we all need right now.) If you watched the event on TV, you know what happens at midnight: pandemonium! Music, hugs and kisses, horns blowing, confetti everywhere. We tried to walk down the street, but movement was nearly impossible. Eventually, we walked around the block and headed back inside for a nightcap. By 2, we were asleep.

Before 9am the next morning, the party rooms were transformed into serene breakfast rooms. The servers who poured champagne and drinks a few hours before, now carried trays of orange juice and coffee. I wondered if they had slept at all. After breakfast, we visited all my favorite holiday spots: Rockefeller Center, the windows at Saks, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. No crowds! On the way back to the hotel to get our bags, only a few remainders of confetti on the streets hinted at the revelry that had accompanied the last night of the year.

Ocean Grove and the Great Auditorium

On Saturday, September 12, I declined a night of salsa dancing for an evening at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove to hear the NJ Opera perform Verdi's Requiem. This might seem like a rather unusual decision for someone who loves to dance, but the evening at OG seemed to be the hand of fate.

About a month ago, I drove to Ocean Grove for a day at the beach. Before setting up on the sand, I wandered around the town with my camera. I particularly wanted photos of the tent community and the Great Auditorium. When I got to the auditorium, the door was open and organ music filled the nearby green. I sat and listened, then picked up a flyer for the NJ Opera festival weekend, September 11-13. A young-ish man in shorts and a tee-shirt started to refill the flyers and after a few exchanges, introduced himself as Jason Tramm, conductor! He asked me if I wanted to see the inside of the auditorium, and of course I agreed.
A few days after that, I got an email from NJ Arts with an offer for two free tickets to Verdi's Requiem. I submitted my name and three days later was notified I had "won" two tickets. I declared "destiny", and marked my calendar.

In the introduction to the concert, the announcer told the audience that there were 150 chorus members that evening and 65 musicians in the orchestra. Joining that count were four soloists. As you might imagine, the sound was rich and captivating. However, I was completely transfixed on the speed at which each violinist moved the bow across the strings! The movement seemed faster than any I could recall and caused me once again to be amazed at the ability of human beings.

It was a great experience, though I'm eager for an opera with a story! :-)

P.S. In case you are wondering, there are 114 tents in the quaint, serene Methodist community surrounding the auditorium. There's a long wait to lease a tent, so best make other travel arrangements!

http://www.oceangrovenj.com/tour/auditorium_and_stuff.htm