birds — Page 32

Sunday, Sweet Sunday & Goodbye to Anastasia

March 31, 2019 at 10:45 am by Claudia

“Sunday, sweet Sunday, with nothing to do…” That’s a lyric from Flower Drum Song, and it fits this particular Sunday. Nothing to do, except putter around, which is my favorite thing to do. It’s a rainy, drizzly day, so nothing is going to be accomplished outdoors. But I can play around with the stone on my dollhouse, and read, and listen to music.

I saw this guy outside the kitchen window yesterday and scrambled for my camera:

According to my bird books, he’s a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.

Gorgeous. He didn’t do a lot of pecking, but he did do some preening.

Thank you, little guy, for stopping for a spell on this maple right outside the house.

The fern had to go outside yesterday. I had been noticing large ants on the kitchen table and finally figured out that they were attracted to the Boston fern after doing some quick internet research that said there’s something in the plant that can attract ants. So. Out it went. I will have to bring in inside at night for the next three nights because it’s going down below freezing, but it will go back outside during the day.

The yellow footed compote and the vase of tulips have now moved to the kitchen table.

__________________________________________

Just want to say a word about Anastasia, which is closing today. I have been involved with this show since its beginnings at Hartford Stage three years ago. I fell in love with the glorious music by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and the direction and staging of Darko Tresnjak. Peggy Hickey’s choreography was the icing on the cake, as well as the costumes by Linda Cho, set design of Alexander Dodge, and projections of Aaron Rhyne. Getting to work with Bonnie Panson, one of the best Production Stage Managers I have ever had the privilege to know, has been nothing but wonderful.

Most important to me was, and is, the cast of superb actors, singers, and dancers that have made this show come to life. Everyone has been a joy to work with. Everyone.

But Christy Altomare, as Anastasia, has my heart. Besides being unbelievably talented, an actress/singer who has direct access to her heart and emotions, whose voice soars during Journey to the Past and brings down the house every performance, she is one of the kindest, most gracious people I have come to know. I adore her. I can’t imagine not hearing her sing that song on the stage of the Broadhurst ever again. Christy is humble. She has time for everyone and patiently stands outside the stage door every night signing programs and posing for pictures. She is the real deal. Working with her and getting to know her (we’ve had many long talks) has been one of the great joys of my life.

I know this is a tough day for everyone involved with the show. Saying goodbye to this magical production will be hard, especially for Christy and John Bolton, the two leads who have been in the show since the beginning, as well as at least 5 or 6 ensemble members who have also been a part of the cast since Hartford.

We always refer to the three words that Christy sings in Journey to the Past:

Home. Love. Family.

That’s how I feel about the cast of Anastasia. You’ve had a great two-year run. Bless you always.

Happy Sunday.

Patience Needed

March 17, 2019 at 11:14 am by Claudia

Breezy, a bit cold, wind chimes doing their thing. In short, a morning in March.

But it’s sunny. So I’m okay with it.

We’ve had a fairly low-key weekend. I didn’t end up going to Michael’s yesterday. But I was restless. What for, I’m not sure. I think it mostly has to do with the fact that winter is getting ready to depart, yet I can’t really do anything outside. I’m in a sort of limbo. I imagine I’m no different from many of you. So, I just have to patient. I usually am, but yesterday? I wasn’t.

I did finish Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and loved it. I’m still thinking about it today. I remember the NYC of the eighties, the NYC in which 85 year old Lillian takes her walk. As someone who is in the city fairly frequently, I also know how the landscape of the city at that time would change during the next thirty years. The old National Biscuit Company factory, where squatters live in the novel, would become Chelsea Market. The Twin Towers would collapse on 9/11. The areas of the city that were dangerous at night would become much safer. I found the story fascinating on so many levels.

I’m about to start In Miniature – How Small Things Illuminate the World and I’m also about to review (tomorrow) How to Know the Birds, published by the National Geographic Society.

We’ve recently changed our diet and have cut way down on sweets, too much cooking oil and fat, as well as salt. We feel good about making that change.

But, Don was also restless yesterday. We were both a bit down. We strayed a bit from our diet, which, I think, is fine as long as it happens rarely. We drove a mile to one our of local orchards and bought one of their apple pies. After all, it was Pi day last week and we missed it, so we had to atone, right? But I’m already thinking I might have one more piece today and then leave it. Or I might not have that piece. I feel better without sugar in my system.

Now, to get some exercise. This week, I’m going to start hitting our rail trail again. We need to walk, something that is not easy to do around here in the winter.

Music, reading, watching films, listening to Don play his guitar and ukulele, dreaming of my gardens. It’s all good.

Happy Sunday.

Shaft of Sunlight

March 14, 2019 at 10:30 am by Claudia

Morning sunlight.

Goodness, do I hear lots of bird song this morning! So beautiful. Such a harbinger of Spring.

When I hear it, my shoulders drop. I smile. I feel like I’m being let out of prison. I’m not exaggerating. Though I love being in my house, the absence of bird song, of working outdoors (other than shoveling snow), of the kind of connection I feel when both indoors and outdoors are part of my life, really wears me down. I feel hopeful again.

Spring means more to me with each passing year. Yes, I know that it will rain a lot. The ground will be muddy. I don’t care. I’ll begin to see the rebirth of my gardens and of our woods. I’ll be able to walk around, noting signs of life. I’ll start to get my porch back together for another three seasons of outdoor living. No seed sowing until May 1st, but I’ll be planting my impatiens and my hanging pots in the meantime.

Oh, it will be heaven.

This is that strange time in our landscape when there are big swaths of brown – and even green – grass showing. When the garden is no longer covered in snow. At the same time, there are big piles of snow along the driveway and in all those spots which became deposit zones for freshly shoveled snow. It’s a graphic display of season-straddling.

I have some errands to run today and some chores to do inside. But I can open the windows and air out the house while I’m doing them.

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?

Happy Thursday.

Sunday, Sweet Sunday & Goodbye to Anastasia

Patience Needed

Shaft of Sunlight

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives