Well, even though we had to sit inside on a beautiful day for 4 1/2 hours, Wagner turned out to be worth it. Die Valkerie was a gorgeous production, and all the voices were sublime. We surprised ourselves, by saying in the car on the way back that maybe there was something to this Wagner guy. When we got home it turned out our younger daughter an her boyfriend had taken the dogs to the beach, so they had not been neglected and we all went out for pizza feeling great (well, no, the dogs didn't go, but there are limits).
I called my friend last night to see if she got home okay (she was driving back alone) and she said she'd sung in the car a lot on the two day trip. I feel like I started something good, and building up her repetoire will be handy when she babysits her granddaughter. Special requests, silly versions of favorite songs, solos by the granddaughter - all very fun.
And on my email - news that a dear friend's medical condition has worsened, and yesterday news that my daughter-in-law's stepdad also has a deeply serious medical problem. All this balancing of grief and joy, of the young and the old, of creativity and destruction. Holding it all in our minds and hearts is difficult, and requires a deep compassion for the human condition as well and gratitude for being a part of it. Underneath the beautiful weather today and the song of the Valkeries swimming in my head is a cello solo of sadness. This is getting older. It's a new path, and scary and yet inevitable, comfortable like going to a new destination and recognizing it as a deja vu experience. I am not alone. We are all of us older beings feeling these same feelings. But it is not easy.
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