The Big Hole

Easter break and craving for a dose of stressbuster, Genny, Gene and Ine took off for their much needed R & R and explored Arizona and the Grand Canyon. They were dwarfed by the enormous beauty of the scenery behind them. I can't comment on it much since I've never seen the place, but have heard how grand it is and it's in my bucket list. Gene was in awe talking to me about their trip and below is an excerpt from Genny's blog. "Just a big hole", was her friend's description of this natural wonder! I think that comment is a bit shallow.

A big hole, indeed (and I say that with outright indignation). I bet she has not seen a hole that's 277 miles long and about 18 miles wide. I'm not going to go on a litany about my experience in GC, one of the more impressive natural walking wonders of the world. I think pictures have a better way to giving importance to what I've seen and what I have learned from my trip. As the old adage says, 'A picture is worth a gazillion words...' Although, and I have told my friends and family this, pictures of the Grand Canyon does not even do justice to its glory and majesty compared to seeing it, hiking it, and staring down at its edges, I look at my pictures and still think how truly blessed I am to have the opportunity to at least try to capture and behold what true beauty is.

Truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It's a family affair

Yes, I'm still here. Carol has been complaining about my lack of updates. It has turned full circle; my generation is now looking after the next one - I'm doing what my parents did in their days, taking care of the "family needs" of the younger ones, if you can call 40's young!

The visiting nephews and nieces had kept dear Auntie real busy. Since I have a soft spot in my heart for all my "kids", I don't mind keeping the tradition going. I had them test their stunt against the New York City pavements and unforgiving crowd. There is no way they could enjoy the sights without walking the streets of the city so they just had to do as I say! Walk and you'll thank me later. No complaints heard. Good dogs!

After giving them the lay of the land, I sent them off with subway maps, emphasizing the terms "downtown" and "uptown", to enjoy what's left of the heartstoppingly beautiful NYC before everything is plowed under. You never know. There's construction going on all over Manhattan, The Plaza Hotel has already been converted to a luxury condominium.



United we eat. Of course, what would be a visit without the usual eating frenzy. Roque and I took the bus to Ped's in Jersey while the "oldies" were taken by car. Above is a picture of the Mitsuwa Japanese market display of the "untouchable" pastries. Pricey is an understatement and no pictures allowed. Na na na na na ... I stole one! Huffing and puffing as he followed Auntie sprinting, Roque did enjoy the Udon soup at the market eatery.

We were joined by George, Mel and Barb at Ped and Carol's house for lunch. Sporting a pair of red sneakers, I named Mel, Garrison Keillor, which he didn't particularly care about. Tough - I happen to like Garrison, not the best looking guy, but he's very funny!

This is part of the April madness here. Two more family members will be arriving next week! And I heard Tere has a checklist of places to visit. Yikes!

If you hate entertaining or having family over, move over, your last name is not Tinio or Reyes! More updates coming folks, patience is a virtue. It's a family affair. It's a family affair.

No Ground Zero

Amidst one of the largest financial districts in the country, stands the Trinity Church on Wall Street. This Anglican Church was built in 1697, destroyed by fire in 1776, rebuilt in 1790 and completely torn down in 1839. The third church designed in medieval Gothic fashion with beautiful stained- glass windows and heavy bronze doors, was completed and consecrated in 1846.

Trinity Church survived the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 mostly intact except for the historic pipe organ that had to be replaced due to severe damages from dust and debris from the destruction.

Pictured above is a sculpture by Steve Tobin made from the main roots of a giant century-old sycamore tree at the nearby St. Paul's Chapel churchyard, which was knocked over by debris from the collapsing World Trade Towers. The bronze sculpture with the roots as the base painstakingly preserved by Tobin, with the help of an arborist, serves as a "metaphor for our unity and strength" after the 911 events.



Blazing colors and intricate designs! The architect Richard Upjohn knew nothing about stained-glass in those days and had to commission the fine craftsmen from Germany to do the work. Each piece was finely crafted and delicately shipped from Heidelberg. Exquisite!

Surrounding the church is a churchyard with monuments from American history including a tribute to martyrs of the American Revolution, Alexander Hamilton, Robert Fulton, and many more. Lined with benches, this makes a wonderful picnic spot on warm days. The American Stock Exchange elegantly stands as a backdrop. Facing the main church door is Wall Street leading to the New York Stock Exchange. Awesome!

Five blocks away on Fulton Street is the smaller St. Paul's Chapel - the Episcopalian church, Georgian Classic-Revival in style opened in 1776. Standing across from the Twin Towers site, it survived the 911 tragedy, not a single pane of glass was broken and with no damage to the historic tombstones.

Yesterday I came here for the renowned Concerts at One, held on Mondays here and on Thursdays at the Trinity Church. It was the most delightful scene and the perfect relaxation for the hard-working office workers, the neighborhood residents and tourists. What a treat!

The program consisted of a piano and flute duo and concluded with a romantic cello rendition. For a suggested contribution of $2 this was priceless.

Right smack in the middle of the business district these two beautiful churches with their churchyard and gardens are a peaceful hangout for the harried city worker, a respite from the busy workday.

Who said New York City is just all concrete and skyscrapers? Feel the connection to history without the horrific sight of the destruction at Ground Zero, visit these churches instead, even if you're not a churchgoer. It is a more meaningful experience, for me it was, anyway. It took me a few years before I finally visited the WTC destruction site.

Ah, Spring!

But where are the flowers?
The miniature icicle pansies (violas) stood tough against the harsh winter and now display potpourris of brilliant yellow and purple little flowers around the condominium grounds. Take a close look around the courtyards, you'll know where the flowers are! They're everywhere. Well, at least the beginnings of flowers are everywhere. The tulips have started to push their way up through the soil and are about 2-3 inches tall at this point. The trumpet daffodils are ready to transform the ground into a mass of blazing yellows and gold.

It was a long, icy winter here in the northeast. The irishes are fickle as so many beautiful things are. I transplanted about 300 irish rhizomes last Fall and now I see some signs of growth so I hope they'll be good to bloom in their new locations. The bulbs have survived the winter and are now on their way to producing what will be a spectacular display in May. I can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the bulbs didn't freeze or rot or become squirrel food. It's just a waiting game now till the great May payoff.

In six weeks or so the little buds on our ornamental cherry and apple trees will become beautiful blossoms. I can't wait to see the middle and our longest courtyard lined with these trees boast their masses of dazzling pink and white blossoms. A real spectacle outside of a botanical garden. Move over Brooklyn Botanic Garden we have one right at our doorsteps!

As I was writing this piece, a hailstorm went by briefly dumping loads of ice pellets at the front door and on top of all these plants that are trying to come out and be reborn. I know they are tough and will survive this squall, really one of nature's amazing wonders. Soon we will see once more an abundance of beauty and life in my garden.

Even the songbirds are chirping away at 3:00 in the morning and the bright red cardinals taking off from the beautiful old lamp posts and landing atop the trees pronouncing their territories. A sight I wake up to every morning!

Time to quit hibernating. Shake off those winter doldrums, Spring is pansy-ful!

"It's time we Met"

Metropolitan Museum of Art

A cold snap welcomed my niece Corie and her husband Roque to New York for their third visit, but that did not stop us from soaking in the city’s best, art and food (not optional!). Our first stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we viewed the special exhibition of Pierre Bonnard’s work.

It was a rich collection of Bonnard's paintings; at first glance they looked like children's work, flat in texture but colorful and generous in his use of lemon-yellow and white. Of particular interest are the drawings and sketches in pencil, some in watercolors and gouache (opaque watercolors). Check this out – encased in a glass shelf were four daybooks or pocket diaries where he scribbled down his ideas and sketches; one of them was opened to the page dated November 22, Mardi 22 - St. Cecile, my feast day. How cool is that?

We listened to an ongoing lecture and learned more about Bonnard’s work - that was a treat for us. As an untrained viewer, it was enriching just listening to the sharp-eyed connoisseurs engage in the discussions. This definitely was not Art Appreciation for Dummies, I got lost between the sharp questions and the interpretations. My eyes were not in tune as these group were.

Must See....

We then proceeded to the musical instruments collection, on display includes the oldest “extant” piano, rare violins, indigenous instruments from all regions of the world. Gourd shakers, rattles and drums were among the ones that Corie and Roque didn’t recognize. They’re too young for that.

On the way out, we passed by the Arms and Armor collection, parade armors, jeweled weapons, the finest I imagine.



Must Snap.......

One can only take in so much of the arts at the Met, a little time is enough in one collection for the untrained art lover like me. Diverse in its collection, I'd say the Met can stack up against the great museums of the world that I've visited and one must never throw out this opportunity to enjoy its fine collection - awesome! For our next visit - the Costume Institute collection.

Tired feet ( these kids are not used to walking the 'New York walk'), and hungry for some real chow, we headed for the subways to the old standby - Chinatown. The Central Park scenery along the way was just too hard to pass up for a photo op; that was a perfect backdrop, wasn't it?

Central Park

Must Gorge......

Hearty bowl of soup and some dumplings were the quick filler-upper for the hungry tourists. And for drinks, I had bubble tea (boba tea) with tapioca pearls and for the first time. Quite popular in Chinatown, that was not bad at all, but trying to get those large pearls thru the fat straws can be a challenge! Black gelatinous tapioca pearls getting stuck in the throat doesn't look good, does it?

Imagine The Queen sipping boba tea and choking on those pearls! How gross!

Now watch Roque struggle with those chopsticks! He's lucky I didn't order a bowl of rice instead!

As usual, our eyes were larger than our tummies, we ended up with doggie bags for Lola, plus an order of sesame seed ball (butsi). All in all, it was great day, a bit cold for the young couple but surely preferable than the sand storms in Qatar.

You think this is cold, eh? Wait till you're in Calgary, Canada next week, "when that wind blows you just wanna die".

We'll keep you posted of their stay, family.

La Sonnambula

Opera goers can be rowdy, don’t be surprised. Mary Zimmerman was booed as she took a bow at curtain call of her Met production La Sonnambula two weeks ago. Which made me wonder if that same thing would have happened if she showed up at yesterday’s matinee.

Originally set in a Swiss village, La Sonnambula is simply a happy opera, no tragedy, just a silly love story beautifully written and composed by the great Bellini. Mary Zimmerman’s set was a modern-day rehearsal room where an opera company was rehearsing a production of La Sonnambula which some traditional fans found to be a turn-off.

At the restroom line during intermission, we saw a lot of head-shaking, heard a lot of tsk.. tsk.. and ranting from the less-than-pleased customers; without hesitation they expressed their disapproval of Zimmerman's staging. One lady was heard saying. “Just shoot that Peter Gelb – he took all the romantic operas and trashed them”. I don’t agree. The critics were too critical, perhaps this is part of their job. What Zimmerman was trying do was a create balance in the story between real life situation and dream time. And that showed at the very end when the cast finally were dressed in their native Swiss costumes. It mirrored what life is about during sleep and wakefulness.

It was a dream cast with the title role of the sleepwalker Amina, played by Natalie Dessay opposite the tenor Juan Diego Florez as Elvino, her fiancé. She is petite and he is of small build but both have powerful voices for Bellini’s romantic and tuneful music with lots of sustained high notes and soft singing. An absolutely stellar performance!

Doris reminded me that this is a reunion for this duet Dessay and Florez after their last season's performance of La Fille du Regiment. Doris and her husband Dick were my seatmates today, a lovely couple. Dick proudly announced how the two of them met - she was a costume designer for the Old Met about 50 years ago when the opera house was still at 39th Street. And she was not a bit critical of the set as the others were so I knew right away she must be reading into this production and making sense of it. Me? I read the reviews so I knew what to expect, that's why I was open to the change.

On the way home, we passed by this photoshoot of what appears to be the brass section of the Juilliard Orchestra. To be young and talented!

Well, that concludes the Opera season. Until the next one in September, we'll see what the Met brings to us. Unfortunately the Metropolitan Opera is also feeling the pinch that it has decided to put up its two murals by Marc Chagall "The Triumph of Music" and "The Sources of Music" as part of a collateral for a loan to finance its productions.

Like Amina, we hope to be awakened from all these economic complexities - safe and sound.

I am hopeful.

Of gnomes, nymphs and humans

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, Dvorak's Rusalka is a fairy-tale opera. Sang in Czech, it is a rare treat to listen to the internationally acclaimed Renee Fleming play the title role, especially as she sung the unforgettable "Song to the Moon".

She was in her best form even when she mimed with elegant fluidity the part where she was mute. Story has it that the water nymph Rusalka fell in love with a human Prince who visits the forest where she lives. She asked that she be transformed into a human and through the help of the witch Jezibaba she was, but she lost her power of speech which she did recover suddenly at the second act.

With Dvorak's lush scores and Fleming's voice penetrating throughout the performance, it was an afternoon of glorious opera. The visuals and costumes were topnotch and the setting at the lake life-like.