Wooster

In a few days, Anthony and I will be heading off to the Ohio Light Opera where he will be singing for the fourth summer.   I am finding myself looking forward to the quaintness of the quiet town.  A few summers ago when I first arrived in Wooster I thought that the town was rundown and dying.  Now I have been to Binghamton and understand that Wooster is still in excellent shape.  There are still new developments being built in the area and it is still attracting new commerce.  Honestly I am not sure if it is attracting any new industries, but hope still has a presence in the small – all American town.   Spending time in a town where hope has not died will be a wonderful thing after the time we have had in New York (not the city). 

Last weekend we stayed a couple of nights in Wooster – to take a few things down and for an audition in Dayton.  By the time we had been there just a few hours Anthony was acting more like his energetic – excited – motivated self than I had seen him act in several months.  I also found my spirits lifted – people there had nice things to say and were interested in having short, but very human sorts of conversations.  The clerk at the hotel recognized Anthony and me from last summer.  It is a small thing, but makes a difference and is so nice.  I am not sure what I will be doing for employment for the summer, but nonetheless I am finding myself looking forward to our few months in the humid, warm, green, hopeful paradise that is Wooster, Ohio. 

Blog

One of the reasons I started a blog is so that I could keep people up to date on our adventures.  I have found it to be a difficult task.  I don’t want to say too much that is negative.  I prefer being positive.  I want to tell everyone everything that is happening, but not much is happening.  It ends up that the life of a young opera singer and his wife is not all that exciting.  I go to work every day – and try to be there by 8:00 AM.  I take a lunch starting somewhere between 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM.  I leave work at 5:00 PM.  I arrive home between 5:15 and 5:20.  Anthony generally has at least a few hours during the day at home with not much scheduled, so the dishes are always done and dinner is frequently already on the stove or in the oven.  We sit down and have dinner and a bit of conversation and maybe play a game.  Then, Anthony frequently leaves in the evening for some sort of rehearsal. 

Honestly, it almost feels like it did a few years ago, before I  went back to school and Anthony spent his evenings doing community theatre.  It is a little uncanny.  This time though, I know it is furthering opera opportunities – well, at least we hope it is.

Eyes

A few weeks ago Anthony and I went and had eye exams.  It was not such a big thing, until we went to pay… Holy Cow!  Expensive!  I just hope that my new glasses (once I get them) last six years like my current ones have, although comparatively, the frames were not too expensive.   Those darned lenses… too bad they are the part that Anthony and I need to actually see.  

Speaking of seeing, I was not expecting to have to have my eyes dilated… well it happened, and boy, my pupils got nearly as big as my irises.   It looked like I was possessed or something as I was looking in the mirror at possible frames.  I am not even sure what some of them looked like because all I could really focus on was how crazy my eyes looked.  It is a good thing that we went back later to look at glasses again, otherwise who knows what I would have chosen.  Scary thought.  The other problem with having my eyes dilated is that I had to wear those stupid plastic inserts you put between your face and your glasses to block some of the light.  Apparently, the inserts were not made for people like me – they rested about an inch above the glasses and refused to rest straight up and down, but instead rested just below my lower eyelids, causing me to blink way too often.  Not only that, but the drops made me nauseous and a little sleepy.  I don’t know about you, but excessive blinking plus tired while driving is not a good combination.  Oh, well. The nausea passed and I stayed awake the rest of the day at work and nobody died as a result of my driving.  In addition to that, in about a week I will have a new pair of glasses.  Nobody will recognize me – I will look so different.  Not only that, I will see them better too.

Spring

It seems like lately I just want to talk about the weather. It is not true... well at least not quite. In Binghamton the birds have started singing, it gets up to above 40 degrees fahrenheit almost every day and it is sunny about every third day. You would think that spring would definitely be here. The town is still gray and dead. There aren't any leaves that have started to explode out of their cozy little buds. It is a bit depressing to have it be a few days into april and have almost no green around. You would think that the grass would be really green, but living downtown in a city with little designated green-space that is not along the rivers that run through the area it is difficult to know if the grass indeed is green yet. The houses and apartment buildings that surround the large grey building we live in do not have anything growing around them - it seems that grass doesn't grow in the thick mud that lines the thin strip of unpaved land that is between the sidewalk (which the buildings are frequently built right up against) and the road. I am not sure what to make of it. I am used to the snow melting in the spring to expose a fine carpet of green sprouts that are pushing their way up around the dead yellow grass from the previous season. I have yet to see more than a tiny clump of weeds that is green, which surprisingly made me smile. I hope the green of spring finds Binghamton soon.

Snow in Binghamton

When I moved here I figured that I was moving to New York and that it snows every year several times during the winter season.  It has snowed several times, but more often than it has snowed there have been "winter storm" warnings issued on the local radio stations.  The result has been somewhat baffling to me.  

In Salt Lake, life would continue as normal without much interruption to anyone's schedule... the biggest difference is that people might leave for work 15 minutes early, but not much else.  Last year, there was a snow storm that dropped about a foot of snow between 5 AM and Noon.  I walked to work at the University of Utah, where I was bombarded with telephone calls from students and faculty who could not make it up the hill. The University didn't announce a closure until it had stopped snowing, the roads were clear and was actually sunny outside.  They closed, not directly because of the snow, but because there was a problem with the heating system and 1/3 of campus was going to be out of heat.  

In Binghamton, as soon as anyone says the word "snow" all of the schools announce that they are going to have a delay, close early or just not happen at all. 

 

The first time I really noticed this phenomenon was a day when there was a "winter storm" warning for that night from about 8 PM until midnight.  My co-workers all got phone calls letting them know that their children would be out of school at 1:30 PM because of the storm.  It wasn't raining.  It wasn't snowing.  People just said the word "storm".  That night it started to rain at about 7 PM.  I have to admit, walking outside was a little slippery, but the roads were fine.  I know this because I went out with Anthony to run some errands.  At one of our stops, a friendly cashier asked how the ice storm was going.  I almost laughed at her.  Ice storms are one of the things I have feared about New York Winters... I had no idea that the cold, but gentle rain was a dreaded ice storm.  I had imagined that in an ice storm ice cicles would come down from the sky as if being thrown by Zeus - if he threw ice cicles instead of lightning.  I knew it would not be that dramatic, but also really expected the rain to turn into ice more immediately upon hitting the ground, it just became a nice thick slush.  The next day, my ever so helpful co-workers were able to confirm my suspicions that it was not a very bad ice storm the previous night.  The funny thing is: school was delayed by two hours that morning.   The weather was fine the rest of the week, but someone somewhere had said the word "snow" or "winter storm" so apparently the schools had to be postponed for at least one hour every day the rest of that week.

Since I first noticed the school closure phenomenon, it has continued and every time it happens I have told another person about how baffling it is to me.  I finally said something to someone from this area who was able to clear it all up for me... it is the school's way of not having to pay for crazy insurance for their busses and a way to avoid law suits that would inevitably happen if a bus was in accident as a result of the snow and ice.  I was glad someone was able to clear that up for me.  

It just started raining and it is supposed to turn to snow.  I wonder how long school will be delayed tomorrow... wouldn't it be nice if work was delayed too?

Four Holidays and a Funeral

December 21st marks the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.  For centuries people have celebrated this day because it is the shortest day of the year.  That means less time at the office, right?  It actually means that the year, which has been continually "dying" as the days get shorter and shorter, will now start to be "reborn" as the days get longer and longer.  In other words, the sun comes back and keeps us all from freezing and starving to death.  The celebration is called "Winter Solstice."  And I'm sure all of you know this already.  The idea I want to draw out is this- it is a celebration of the natural world.  Even without being pagan, I think most of us can see the value of honoring the natural world around us and learning from its lessons.

Coincidentally, this year Hanukkah started at on the Solstice.  Even though I'm not Jewish, I love Hanukkah.  I think it's a really neat holiday.  Hanukkah is a celebration of a miracle that happened in Israel around the year 175 BC.  While the temple was under siege by Syrian armies, they ran out of oil for the sacred lamps that must always be kept burning.  Miraculously, oil for one day lasted for eight days, which is exactly enough time for new oil to be pressed.  This explains why the celebration lasts for eight days and why candles and lights are such an important part of the festival.  Each family is encouraged to light candles in their own homes to remind them of how the Divine interceded in the world of the natural.  In other words, contrasted with the Solstice, a fully natural celebration, Hanukkah celebrates the intervention of the Divine in the natural.

This brings me to the funeral.  On December 23rd this year, I attended the funeral of our stake president.  For those of you who don't speak Mormon, a stake president presides over a group of congregations in much the same way that a Catholic bishop presides over all the parishes in a diocese.  He had struggled with cancer for a short time, but it was very difficult.  His strength and health left him very quickly and were replaced with a great deal of pain.  However, he didn't wish to be released from his duties.  He served for nearly a year with his disease, right up to the time of his death.  He continued to speak at meetings where it was his duty to do so and continued to work for the members of the church in his area.  At his funeral, the message of Christ and of Christmas was everywhere.  Not only did those who spoke remind us of Jesus' teachings of comfort and joy, but they also reminded us of the miracle of the resurrection and Christ's triumph over death.  This man who died was not scared.  He knew that his natural life would be joined to the Divine when he died.

At Christmas we talk a lot about Baby Jesus.  This year, I thought a lot about the triumphant Jesus who became "natural" at his birth, but who shattered the sorrows of the natural world by virtue of his Divinity.  And not only did He do it for Himself, but for each of us.  Christmas is more than a celebration of the natural, or of the Divine interceding in the natural.  It is a celebration of the natural becoming Divine.  Christ made his natural life Divine and offers us the same promise if we follow Him.

Today is New Year's Eve.  As we watch another year die, we can rejoice in the Divine gift of Jesus Christ and resolve to join ourselves to Him more resolutely in the next one.

Good old fashioned update

ATB: Hey Desiree.  What's up?

DB: Not much, How about you?

ATB: Oh, just writing a blog with you!

DB: Really?  What else has been going on lately?

ATB: Funny you should ask!  That leads us right to the title of the blog: "Good old fashioned update."  Well I guess the biggest news for me centers around the opera company here.  I got to sing a really great role in "Rigoletto" a couple of weeks ago.  It went pretty darn well.

DB: Yeah.  It did.  I should know.  I was there.  You sang the role of The Duke (sleazy guy that he is) really well.  Even if meant you had to make out with a couple of women. :)

ATB: I can't believe you told everyone that!  Don't worry everyone.  It was only onstage.  I got to sing lots of high notes and wear tights.  And have my hair curled.  And wear makeup.  This sounds worse and worse.  But really, it was fun and went really well.  And what do you mean by "I was there," Desiree?

DB: How nice of you to ask.  I had a great time being a "Super" (a person in an opera that does not sing).  There was a big party scene, and you can't have a party without women, and Verdi did not write any music for a women's chorus.  The result:  I wore a really pretty dress and makeup and flirted with a bunch of gay men (most of whom were twice my age) wearing makeup and tights.  It was a lot of fun to be onstage instead of backstage.  I think I might just try it again sometime.  What else has been happening for you, Anthony?

ATB: Well, now I'm rehearsing the Christmas opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors."  Some of you may remember when I directed it in 2006.  Now I'm singing Kaspar.  It's a nice role and more along the lines of things I'm used to singing.  Too bad you're not in this one too, Desiree.

DB: It will be a little weird not to be in this one too.  It was fun seeing you back stage and stuff.  It is nice to have my evenings available though.  After all, I have an 8-5 job.

ATB: An 8 2 5 job?  Why, whatever do you mean?

DB: I technically work for Kelly Services (temp agency) but I have been working every day at a place called STCR - stands for Southern Tier Cash Register.  Did you know Binghamton is in the "Southern Tier"?  Apparently it is what they call the part of New York that is not "The City" and not "Upstate".  Anyway, I am doing the billing for maintenance the company provides to its clients - independent grocery stores.

ATB: That's very informative!  But I wouldn't understand any of that.  I just sing high and try to look pretty.

DB:  Well, that is what you went to school for.

ATB:  Except for the looking pretty part.

DB: Yep.  You did not need school for that.  It just came naturally.  But I get the feeling that people don't want to hear us have a conversation like that (I am inserting that for Anneke's benefit.)  So, how about them Senators?

ATB: And by Senators, you mean the local hockey team?  I have no idea.  I still don't follow sports.  But speaking of things: Maybe we could tell people about our "Thanksgiving- Round 1" event.

DB: OK.  Here's the scoop.  We have a bunch of friends here that are a little bit like family, but the thing is- most of them are going to be with people that don't live in this area for the holiday.  So I thought we should have a dinner for all of us to just get together and have a nice time.

ATB: So you made a lemon meringue pie, a chocolate cream pie, an apple pie and a pumpkin pie.  Oh yeah, there was turkey and stuffing too.

DB: And all of our friends made things that are traditional for their Thanksgivings too.  Now I know how to make "Ellen Potatoes".  Ellen is one of our friends who thinks that if it involves the microwave it is cooking... I am so proud of her - she learned how to use a vegetable peeler and a hand mixer all in the same day.  And the potatoes were delicious.

ATB: So true.  So let's see... work, opera, friends... oh church!  Since we both voted Democratic for the presidential election, are we still allowed to go to church?

DB:  Silly, Anthony.  We have gone to church since then... and they even gave us callings too!  I am now on the activities committee and you teach sunday school for the 14 and 15 year olds.

ATB:  Well, it sounds like we're doing pretty well.

DB: I think so.  I think we both miss people in Salt Lake though.

ATB:  Yeah.  That's true.  But who knows where we will land next year.  I do have an audition with Utah Opera again this year!

DB: And with several other companies.  I am sure people don't want to hear about all the places that want to hear you sing.  How about we just tell them where you are going when we find out in February... or March... or April?

ATB: Fair enough.  Let's call this blog "good enough."

DB:  Ok.  Thanks for encouraging me to send everyone an update and even helping me make it happen.

ATB:  You bet.  It's only because I love you.