Music and a monsoon.

I've spent a week in New Mexico, mostly for the Santa Fe Opera but also visiting family in Albuquerque.  Somebody asked whether we were making a left turn, and I shared this photo from the place we ate breakfast:

I was too busy enjoying events, family, friends, and driving to take photos, but I made sure to snap one of the set for Madama Butterfly, because it really took advantage of the scenery:

And I took a yoga class, which was at the top of our hotel in the Bell Tower Lounge:

Some knitting happened, but no yarn acquisition, in part because of timing (I worked days and then spent the evening at the opera), in part because I haven't used all the yarn I purchased last year, and in part because DFW Fiber Fest occurs the coming weekend and I know I'll buy yarn there!

As for the monsoon: the first opera we were seeing had just begun when lightning flashed in the distance.  We watched the ominous clouds with trepidation.  On the one hand, New Mexico has been extremely dry and they desperately need water.  On the other hand, the Crosby Theater is open to the elements, as the photo of Madama Butterfly's set shows.

The performance continued, and the sky darkened with more than just dusk.  Then the lightning came closer, and thunder rolled, and we had a sprinkle - followed quickly by a deluge.  People pulled on jackets, then scrambled to more sheltered areas because the rain was blowing horizontally through the theater.  My mother and I stayed put, because she doesn't walk well and cannot do stairs, so we would have to cross an open and now-dangerous plaza.  I noticed a couple people across the aisle had umbrellas open, but kept low.  I looked around and we were the only people in our part of the section, except for one couple behind us and over a few seats, who were under an umbrella.  I pulled out one of ours, and my mother and I - now bundled in the sweatshirts we'd brought for the late-night chill, plus a wool shawl I happened to bring - huddled under it.  To their credit and our amazement, the orchestra and performers continued.  We saw some black-clad stage crew crawl onstage between scenes with towels to mop.

By the end of the act, the rains had slackened enough that staff came out with push brooms to move water off the walkways, and towels to dry seats.  Eventually other patrons returned.  The opera wound to its conclusion, with standing ovations and cheers to the performers and orchestra for persevering.*  We went to the hotel with the car seat heaters engaged, spread wet clothing everywhere in the room, had hot showers and cocoa (tea for me) and got into our dry pajamas and warm beds.

Luckily the other nights were drier (just some sprinkles, one of them, and another had rains beginning as we left) so we enjoyed the performances without peering around the edge of an umbrella.

*We later learned that they had almost cancelled the performance due to air quality because of the smoke from wildfires, but the storm cleaned the air quite well and it wasn't an issue the rest of the week.

Her first opera.

Early this week, just a few days before I went to Texas, a friend posted about the Opera Arlington performances of "Carmen", for which he'd designed the lighting.  So we did a quick rearrangement of our plans so that I could see it, accompanied by a friend who had never seen opera before.  The production was updated to the 1920's and instead of bullfighters, they had soccer (futbol) stars, in part as a tribute to the upcoming FIFA World Cup events.  While the set was minimal and the costumes sometimes sketchy, the voices were amazing and I was very glad we had the opportunity to attend.

The next day we did a double header of "Laura" (with fun guessing the murderer among all the red herrings) and "Home, I'm Darling" which had a cute set and nice costumes but an unsatisfactory script and direction.  Well, it was a rare dud in our many weekends of seeing shows.

I got to see friends and do some catching-up with people.  I also finished a baby blanket, with just a very few feet of the pink yarn left, just barely winning at what is called "yarn chicken":

One of the boring ones.

Mostly because this is a placeholder - I am traveling, which means I cannot upload photos.  My watercolour seems to have stalled the middle of last week, because I was busy and felt overwhelmed and underinspired.  I do have ideas, but wasn't confident of creating them.  I'll get back to it - I brought the pad and some paints on the trip, but have had zero time to focus on them.

Whiling away the hours between when I arrived for my
originally-schedule departure flight, and the time of my
rescheduled departure, caused by some impressive weather
in other parts of the country, which I was now avoiding.

After some travel-fu (a very early connecting flight rescheduled to a very late one due to weather and other delays, and a very kind person at the check-in counter who moved me to an earlier pair that would avoid the kerfluffle although get me to ABQ a few hours later than planned), and a visit with an elderly relative that involved some very yummy Mexican food and a bit of sightseeing, I joined the tour group I'm with for the Santa Fe opera.  And some other adventures.

And a few of my own.  I'll report more about all of this next week, when I can add photos (such as the one above, added after my return).  I might slip one in here later, as an update; maybe the shawl I started on Saturday while waiting for the flights.

Baseball and Opera and Books.

I love libraries.  I may have gotten my library card before my driving license during the latest move, and if not, it was close.  I've used many services over the years, taken out (and returned!) many books, and with the online options I attend events and watch videos and I'm borrowing an e-book (because my library doesn't have hardcopy) of a book to read before my next overseas trip.  So I'm always up for celebrating National Library Week, and hope that you support your local libraries also.

Last week was busy.  In addition to work (and the madness of our fiscal year ending on March 31st, which meant that the next days were catch-up on the carryover work plus anything that wasn't urgent and got postponed until after April 1st) it was NC Opera weekend, and my parents were hosting the guest speaker.  So in addition to two operas (I skipped the dress rehearsal because of my library's Science Fiction Book Club meeting) and the Sunday afterparty, I went to a ballgame on Thursday evening, and did other activities with parents and guest on Saturday, when not participating in the Knit For Food A Thon.

Sadly, the Durham Bulls lost to the Sugarland Space Cowboys,
but we had fun, weather was perfect, and they didn't get shut
out thanks to their designated hitter in the bottom of the 9th inning.

I started a hat during the ball game (which meant I had to restart it several times, even though it's a basic and easy pattern, because I kept getting off-count on the first row - stitch markers to the rescue!) and I finished a scarf that had been too big to take to the game.

I picked up some library swag at the game:

I asked if I needed to show my library card (of course it was with me) to get a sticker, and the library staff said no, and let me take one of everything that was still there.  I didn't need info about their Library Fest activities - I'm already signed up for ones I can do, and wish I could do more!

Butterfly Garden

Last weekend I saw a spectacular production of a rare opera in Spanish; of the romance languages, French and Italian are the ones where you find most opera.  Florencia en el Amazones has a minimal cast (one comment at the afterparty was that there are the same number as on The Minnow) and is more than a little fantastical which this production embraced.  I am sorry there were only two performances.

Seed packets were given out at the cast party.

I managed to finish the Science Fiction Book Club's assignment before Wednesday's meeting and definitely am enjoying this group.  A wide range of ages and viewpoints and the discussion is lively.

This also means I have completed seven books and according to the tracker I am six books ahead of schedule, and 39% finished with my challenge reading of eighteen books.  I already have the one for next month, and the month following, so should remain well ahead on this year's challenge.

I am rather proud of this week's cheese soufflé:

Busy (and COLD) week.

I went to Chicago for a conference, and the temperature was around 18°F one day and not quite to freezing the next, so combined with the inevitable windchill it felt like -15°F.  Unlike last year, when it was warm enough to go out without a coat, this year I decided to stay in the hotel for the duration and not look at the lights or go to the Art Institute on Thursday evening.

It was a good conference but work was crazy-busy, so staying in my room and working was the best answer in the evening.  I enjoyed seeing people in person and my parents where thrilled to receive a bit of Garrett Mix as a gift when I returned.

I took a "pocket hat" to work on, and also some yarn for a gift but struggled with the pattern, so I am going to pull it out and try something else.  When I got home I returned to the "Christmas-Channukah Advent Shawl" as I'm ten days behind and need to focus and catch up if possible.  Because it's a bit bulky and has a stitch pattern, I started another "pocket hat" to take to the opera today.

"The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson"

I call these "pocket hats" because they are small enough to carry in a pocket (or purse) when being made, and of course fit well into a pocket once finished.

Top left: shawl, almost ready for Day 6 to begin.
Bottom:  Almost-at-decreases hat.
Top right:  Newly-started hat, ribbing completed.

I finished a book and started another, but haven't made much progress.  Yesterday was my usual day at my parents', this time helping my father clean out and organize his closet.  Luckily we're mostly done in the garage as it was cold here (but quite a bit warmer than Chicago!) and we didn't want to work out there.  Then I ran errands, including picking up a load of towels at a local shop (sale, discount coupon, store credit) because a church backed out of getting items for a group of senior citizens for the holidays, and a local community group stepped in.  Within 48 hours people had pulled together a huge carload of gifts of the kinds wanted: hats and gloves and scarves, blankets and towels.

"We will only have peace when....."

It's been a week, in many ways.

This quotation from Golda Meir is striking to many of us right now:

In non-political news, work has been busy and I am getting ready to go to a conference that begins next Sunday, and then I drop by to see a friend in a play in North Texas on the way home, going on a Thursday evening so I can be here for the North Carolina Opera's season opener.

    

Tonight finished the local play where I'd done props and set dressing - not much needed of either:

I haven't finished the blanket I started last week, but it's close.  I am at the chaining-up phase.  One reason I didn't finish is that I realized in putting the cakes together that I would end up with a very wide band of the dark brown, and I didn't like it.  So I took out a bunch by making a blanket piece for Warm Up, America!  Since it would be a solid colour, I wanted to do some definite texture, and decided to practice the looping-up technique.  Stitch counts all made up by me on the fly:

Just before pulling the loops through each other.

I am REALLY not sure how this happened.

Finished block, with a border because it was
a bit smaller than the standard size.

Because I needed something small to carry around, I started a cowl.  Four times.  I am still having issues with getting the stitch count correct for the initial band.  But persevering!

While looking for something small and carry-around, I decided to start a baby item for the fall Arts & Crafts Collective Holiday Sale, since I have a cake of very pink yarn that wasn't used in the purples-and-pinks blanket.  After looking at patterns online and checking yardage, I decided on Bernat's Striped Crochet Coat:

After being several rows into the bodice I realized I needed to make an adjustment and increased the size of the buttonholes to accommodate the buttons I want to use.  Yes, frogging was involved.

Reading-wise, I gave up on Don't Pee on my Leg and Tell Me It's Raining, which I think would make a good essay but is much too long as a book.  Or I was too involved in that type of court when I was in private practice, and so none of what the book says is new to me.  I'm now reading Charlie Wilson's War, which is one of the suggested readings for a programme I am attending in November.  Definitely much more interesting to me.

Yep, I did.

First time voting in the new place I live.  I had to confirm that I am over 18 years old and have lived here for more than thirty days, and that I can understand the ballot.  It's the first time I have lived in a place with early voting, so there wasn't a line and it was very quick.  Also, only two questions on the ballot.

This weekend is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and when I was in Dallas I picked up a box of mooncakes.  So I have been happily eating them for breakfast this weekend.

Buying six scored a box for gifting or displaying the mooncakes.  I gave one to the friend with whom I stayed that week, ate one because I couldn't resist, so used the two open spaces to transport two of the Dragon Boat Decorations I made.

I also knitted two hats this week:

The one on the left is made of sock yarn leftovers, plus a ball of Kroy Sock that I purchased with a coupon, so inexpensively.  The other is Wool-Ease Thick & Quick.  Both patterns mostly made-up, although I based the righthand one on a pattern that came with the yarn.

Work was busy, especially the last couple of days, as it was not just monthend but end-of-quarter, and for some reason it seemed people forgot until Thursday that the last business day was Friday.  So all of a sudden, everything was escalating and documents were flying around for signatures.

So naturally on Thursday I had to attend a donor thank-you and fundraiser for the North Carolina Opera.  Luckily they had food and drink which served as dinner, and I could handle a couple easy things on my phone, then got back to work as soon as I returned home.

And the House of Representatives decided that they needed to stop their playground squabbles and agree on a budget measure to keep the government running for the next 45 days.  Rather a near thing.  Let's hope they decide to be more collaborative and get a final budget put together before time runs out.

(Virtually) Fly Me To The.........

This weekend's adventure involved a virtual trip to the moon hosted by a knitting designer and teacher, with classes by other knitting designers and teachers on topics such as:

• How to Wrap The Moon in Green Cheese: An Intro to Shawl Design
• Aliens Like to Knit Too!  Patterning with Beads (featuring an alien face design)
• Knitting a Moonscape:  Craters and Dunes (two classes)
• It's Not Rocket Science:  Math for Knitters
• Have Some Tang:  Out Of This World Stitch Patterns
• Countdown Sequence:  Three Knitted Shawls
• Moon Pie Magic:  Stitches to Accentuate Striping Yarn

Interestingly, we had an actual rocket scientist from JPL attending the weekend as one of the students.

We also had two cooking sessions: Preparing pizza dough on Friday night, letting it rest in the refrigerator until the next day (which improves the flavour), then using it to make pizza or crescent-moon-shaped calzones.  This is mine:

A slight blow-through of cheese in a vent.

Filling was onions, summer squash, and zucchini, sautéed in olive oil with some herbs, and shredded mozzarella cheese.  I sprinkled some on top and should have added it partway through the baking so it wouldn't be as toasty.  And I'd been a bit stressed trying to figure out how to bake it because I haven't yet unearthed a baking sheet, although I do have a couple Pyrex® baking pans unpacked.  Then my mind wandered to pizza stones and I remember unpacking a Pampered Chef® stone pan that I'd purchased during a friend's party thinking it might be a useful thing someday.  I pulled it out of the box (yes, never used), gave it a quick wash, put it into the oven while it preheated, and it was a perfect solution.

The final result was quite tasty and I have dough in the freezer to use later this week.  After we got the dough started on Friday we had a special lecture from Sky and Telescope's contributing editor Bob King, who told us "The Amazing Things You Never Knew About the Nearest Alien World".  OK, some of us knew at least some of what he discussed, but it was fascinating to listen to him, and if we'd had time another half-hour would definitely have been welcome.

I did not get to take all the classes 'live' due to work on Friday and going to see "Porgy and Bess" today, but they were recorded and I will catch up later.  The opera was a phenomenal production, amazing singers and staging, and there was a special callout for the lighting designer whose work really enhanced the scenes.

This week we shouldn't have torrential rains, so I hope to get out and catch up a bit on the geocaching challenges.

[Of course, I borrowed the title of this post from 'The Chairman'.  And the pizza option made me think of a song by one of his friends.  Did you think similarly?]