Late Christmas Gift

Sat. we enjoyed a late Christmas treat from my son and daughter-in-law, tickets to The Macomb Center for the Performing Arts production of Fiddler On The Roof. I had seen the movie with my husband in perhaps the late 70s. There were several scenes that I remembered and even bits of dialog. I was curious if they would be in the play.

Our seats were perfect. We were in the middle left of the stage. I could see everything. I can't recall when I have had a better view. In fact, it looked like all of the seats were good. The play started with the fiddler on the roof and then Tevye, the poppa, comes out and asks how the fiddler stays on the roof. Tradition! Then they go into their superb song and dance as they introduce the characters.

The production is first class in every way. Another scene I loved was the pub where Tevye announces the engagement of his daughter. Here we are treated to Jewish dancing, Russian dancing, and both combined. The choreography was incredible. Imagine staging that scene. One other great dance scene was the wedding where men in black coats and hats balanced bottles on their heads while doing fancy footwork.

My favorite scene in the movie and in the play was the Sabbath scene. In the movie, the momma lights the candles and draws the swirls of smoke towards her. She is dressed up and the scene is so reverent. In the play, the family is center stage while on the two sides, two other candles are lit and the whole song is a prayer for the family. Lovely

Since they don't make movie musicals much anymore, I guess I'll have to be satisfied by finding returns of the old greats like Camelot. In fact, I love the stage even more because you get such a thrill when a big number ends and everyone claps. I love the immediacy and interaction.

Do you love musicals? Which is your favorite? Do you prefer the movie or stage version?

Return - to The Detroit Institute of Arts

My son, Joe, invited me to go to the Detroit Institute of Arts to see an exhibit called The Faces Of Jesus by Rembrandt. That sounded like a wonderful outing. We met at a Barnes and Noble. Due to circumstances, we had sometime to browse. I love the visual feast at that place. There were notebooks with every imaginable period of design. Then we all noticed a large shelf 0f classics where several of an authors stories were bound into one book. They were gorgeous, gilded covers with just the right pictures on front, some in color. They were a great price ($20) and I was tempted to get one. We all refrained, with long last looks.

When we got to the museum, we found that we had to wait until 4:00 to see our exhibit. That meant about 4 hours to spend in the museum. We are in the cafeteria and I got a Maurice salad. I told Joe that I hadn't had one since way back at Hudson's Department store.

We had time to visit many exhibits. I saw some Van Gogh's and a picture called The Nut Gatherers by W.A. Bouguereau. One of the girls in this picture had a face so full of joy and life. My other favorite, I don't remember the artist, had a dad in a robe, a mom in pretty lounge attire, an infant and a slightly older sibling. The parents were looking at the children. The mother had her left hand on her heart and she had gently placed her right hand against her husband's chest. It was a complete circle of love. Volumes were spoken with just a brush and some great talent and emotion.

We finally saw the Rembrandt exhibit. It had many of his pictures of his sketches. There was lots of information about him and how he decided to portray Jesus the way he did. One room was all faces - rich, dark, sensitive, beautiful. All of it was good, but the faces were what made the whole trip worthwhile.

To end the trip, we ate at the Union Street restaurant. On their special: J.L.Hudson Maurice Salad. Isn't that funny? Well, at the museum I turned down mac and cheese to get my salad. So the evening meal was mac and cheese.

Hope those of you in the Detroit area get a chance to see this exhibit. It will be well worth it.

(Please scroll down to find my comment button. I don't know what it did that.)











































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Pictures and the Pitfalls of an early Baby Boomer

I have so many busy weekends and another one comes and I don't have time to get the pictures on my camera printed. What? Yes, I said that. I truly can't understand the new thing where all the pictures one takes are on the computer and that's it. Oh, I know people get prints occasionally of the best of the best and sometimes use them in crafts or for gifts, etc. I just need to see and feel my pictures (and put names on the back and put them in an album.)

I am one of the small minority who actually puts the pictures away in an album when I get them back. Then I look at the whole thing again and enjoy. I love doing this. It's not because I'm neat but because my pictures bring me such joy. With a digital camera, I can take lots of poses and just print the ones that are good, but I often print quite a few. There is always a deal if you get thirty or more. I usually do that. I do try to be selective and only get the best of a set of poses. I do like the fact that I have all my pictures in my photo gallery on the computer. I can access them if I need them. But for the enjoyment of looking at them for fun, nothing is better than an album that I fixed up myself.
I feel the same way about books. Do you think I'm a tactile learner? I don't know. I only know that if ever books ceased to be printed I'd have to rely on the ones I have. Nothing feels better to me than a great book sitting on my lap.

I'm thinking one day soon I'll get with it and join the 21st century. For now, my blog will have to be my big adventure.

Do you still print pictures when an event is over? Tell me your story.

Red Herrings

I love mysteries. There is just something about solving a puzzle that I enjoy. I like the ones with lots of characters, like in the Agatha Christie books. She introduces many people quickly. I spend a bit of time getting these people in my brain. And then in the stories, I try to remember all of the events. When the book is finished, I can see where all of the information that was thrown at you fits in place. That is what usually happens.

Sometimes, the author throws in red herrings. They will have several similar unusual looking characters. Sometimes the author clears up every one of them and I feel satisfied. She got me and I feel silly I fell for that one, but it was cleverly done.

What I find too often and it truly bothers me is running themes that are never used. And if the author doesn't mention them, I feel betrayed. It's one thing to add lots of possible courses for the outcome, it's another to fail to let the reader in on how these elements fit in with the story, especially the ending. Well, I'm off my soapbox now. I will continue to read these stories, because just recently, I figured out not one, but two plot twists in a novel.

How about you? I know a lot of you are romance readers. Do unfinished plot elements bother you? Am I taking this too seriously? Or are you also a puzzle person and love all the pieces at least on the table?

Those Who Cover Me.

Over Christmas my husband bought me a new Chevy Malibu. We had talked about getting rid of my HHR and getting a bigger car. I had a small fit. The HHR seemed enormous to someone of my height (5'2".) I truly didn't want a bigger car. He had to take the backseat headrests off so I could see to back out. And, I needed to use a wedge pillow to be tall enough to see out the front.

Well, he wanted to get me something that would be heavier on the icy roads.

I explained to him how I felt. Besides, I don't like change. I just get used to one car and he wants me to get another one. I need to figure out where the wipers are, all the lights I might need, like where to turn off the inside light if it gets bumped. (That happened.) He's a car person, but I'm not.

I took the problem to the Lord. I told him how I felt. I didn't want a new car. I liked the one I had. He knew about the big car problem and the change thing. Finally, I felt that I should listen to me husband. That scripture about honoring your husband in all things sure has saved me in the past. No matter how silly his ideas seem, if they are legal and moral (of course they would be) and I have had my say, I usually come around to his way. You know what? It works great most of the time. I totally put the car, my wishes and concerns at God's feet. I told him He could do what He wanted. I asked Him to pick out the car that was right for me.

So we got the car. When I saw it, I couldn't believe this was the " big" car my husband wanted for me.
My husband insists it is bigger than the old one, but it is lower. Ah, that makes a lot of difference. I don't feel like it's going to tip over. We test drove it and I could see out the window perfectly. It has a button where you can adjust the wheel and lower it and adjust the seat and raise it. Some designer must have had a short mom.
I love my new car. It's much easier to maneuver that the old one. It's navy blue. I even got to pick out the color.
So God's word is awesome. I put my cares in His hands and He got to work for me. I honored my husband and made him happy. I'm thankful for my two "coverings." They take such good care of me.

Routines

January brings me back to watching my grandson. He was in Texas for part of vacation and he certainly had lots of excitement and fun. That was after the big time we had before they left. So Tues., I was with him again. I missed my little boy so much. We had a big day playing with all of his new toys. He put down track for his train like a pro and we watched the train go over his playland. At the end of the day, I felt good and I think he did, too. We did all of our routine things, changing from jammies to clothes, eating breakfast and lunch, taking a nap, alternating toys and books for the rest of the day. Routine can be so good. Even though he and I had a high time enjoying our Christmas celebration, it was just good to remember what we do, my boy and I.

Breaking Tradition

We had some very traditional desserts for our Christmas dinner this year. I made my famous Krispy Treats with the secret ingredient. Here's where we broke the tradition. I had to throw the last one out. The piece was hard and it was no great loss, but I tell you, that was a first.

I also made magic bars. These are layered goodies in a glass pan. We had about a forth of them left over, so my husband took two squares, put his ice cream on top and whala, an ice cream "brownie Sunday" of sorts. That was new.
I had a redo on two restaurant meals. The one New Years Eve was penne pasta with meat sauce. The sauce was a bit tart. When I used it at home, I added some sauce from the frig and yum, great dinner. The other meal was a Monte Cristo Sandwich. I first had one of these (turkey, ham, and cheese with something sweet added) at the Blue Bayou Restaurant near Pirates Of The Caribbean at Disneyland. They are so tasty. Well, the bread on mine got soggy after a day or so. I took out a lonely left-over bun from the freezer, put my saved raspberry preserves on it. Tasty? Oh, my.
The biggest change was that New Years Eve, we came home from the restaurant instead of going to a movie and watched a couple of new Poirot DVDs. We were both so sleepy that we turned the T.V. off and didn't wait for the ball at Times Square to come down. It's been over ten years or more since we missed it.
And my New Year's Resolution is the same as last year. I'm going to try to go off sugar. I made it for six months last year. We are having a redo on that one, too. And I'm excited about a book I started about grace. I want to add something this year. I'd like to add a dose of GRACE to everything I do.
Not how about you? Did you make or bread any traditions this year?