Zoo Opera

Over the weekend I had a chance to play bass clarinet for an exciting new opera company, On Site Opera.  Their concept is that opera can be performed in non-traditional places and doesn't always have to be in a "stuffy" opera house.  I was able to be a part of their very first production, The Tale of the Silly Baby Mouse.  It is a very short (about 13 minutes) opera by Shostakovich about a little baby mouse who won't go to sleep.  It was performed by a small group of singers with animal puppets and 7 instruments for the orchestra.  We played 4 performances over the weekend at the Bronx Zoo in a little outdoor space.  Each performance was filled with children, in full attention (which I now know is a rare thing!).  In a day where the arts are having such a hard time, it's nice to see a company thinking outside the box and reaching audiences in new and creative ways.  Here is a picture from the show. Clink on it to go read the great review we got in the New York Times today!

Market Madness

Last weekend it just wasn't hot enough in the upper 90's, so we went down to the farmers market to heat things up a bit.  Peppers, anyone?

No thanks.... not my style.  But I did come home with some yummy sweet corn.  I love sweet corn in the summer.   I always think of buying it off the back of a pick-up truck by the roadside in WV.  I can't do that now, but the farmers market is the next best thing.  I see the workers bringing in huge new bundles of corn throughout the day - straight from the farm.

It's fun to walk around the market and check out the different things available.  They have plants, meat, fruits, veggies, and other stuff, like honey, bread, jam and yarn all from local farms.  Especially if you get there early, the options are endless.  Find a little  inspiration and plan a good fresh dinner!  Yeah!

HEATWAVE!

Woah!  It got HOT!  It was hot yesterday and it is hotter today and it's supposed to be hot again tomorrow.
This was our temperature today:

The humidity on top of that made it feel like 112 or something insane.  To me once it's that hot it's all the same.
 I went out for a little bit today, but I am perfectly happy spending the rest of the day eating ice cream in front of my air conditioner.

Summer Eats

Sometimes in the summer I feel like it is harder to find things to cook at home. The main reason is because it is so hot! All I want to do is eat ice cream! My apartment, as most New York apartments, does not have central AC. I have a window unit in my bedroom and there is one in the living room, but the kitchen stays pretty hot. Plus it is a small kitchen so the last thing I want to do is have a hot oven roasting something for hours. That just won't work in the summer!

Tonight I was having one of those "ugh...what am I going to eat" moments. I scanned the kitchen to see what I had and was able to throw together a really nice dinner salad. I broiled a salmon fillet which uses heat, but only for a short time, so that worked well. I had been to Trader Joe's grocery store earlier today and bought a salad mix I really like there. Mixed with baby spinach, topped with sliced mushrooms and raisins for some sweetness and we're on the way to something nice! I also bought a can of Tuscan bean salad from Trader Joe's. It looked interesting and I thought I would try it for a side dish, but I got inspired and added it to my salad. It is a mixture of kidney beans and chickpeas with herbs in lemon juice and olive oil. Drizzled over the greens and topped with the salmon fillet. A little balsamic vinaigrette and I'm in business!

beastly sightings

One thing that we saw quite a few of in Yellowstone Park was Bison (aka Buffalo). The first one that we saw happened to be strolling down the main road through the park. Yes, the bison was the one strolling down the road. Cars pulled over, out of the way, and he walked right on past. He didn't seem to mind the people at all. He knew it was his territory and I think it probably gave him a little ego boost to feel like he was being attacked by the paparazzi. Shutters were snapping left and right. Here he comes:

And there he goes:

These are pretty massive animals, as you can see in comparison to the cars. The park even supplied us with a flier warning that "Many visitors have been gored by buffalo. They can weigh 2000 pounds and sprint 30 mph." I had that in mind as I took those pictures from INSIDE that car. Karen, on the other hand, who was a runner back in the day, took her chances and got some great pictures from outside the vehicle.
Here is another buffalo that we saw. He was not such an attention hog. He stayed a bit away from the road and snacked on some grass. Nice buffalo, he was.

Good Eats in Williamsburg

Luckily while I was in Richmond I was able to put that pesky kidney infection aside long enough to go out and enjoy some good food! Uncle John and I went to downtown Williamsburg for some lunch. This neat little area filling the streets by Colonial Williamsburg is packed with interesting specialty shops and restaurants. We decided to try out Berret's Seafood Restaurant. We started with a large plate full of calamari with soy ginger dipping sauce, which was DELICIOUS! Then we both ordered the crab broil sandwich: pan-fried crabcake on a toasted English muffin, Surry bacon, tomato, melted Swiss cheese....YUMM.
And look how those fries are served on the side! Even a girl with a kickin' kidney can enjoy a meal like that - especially served outdoors on a beautiful day in September.

After the meal we walked around Colonial Williamsburg as much as we could without paying the entrance fee. Here are a few interesting photos I snapped:

White Water Rafting

Well - I have discovered that I am already getting in trouble for not posting enough on my blog! There is no rest around here! So I am taking this opportunity (during a practice break) to write a little bit about my summer. I guess this is a good time to reflect on the summer since it is also the last day of August and I always associate the start of September as the beginning of fall (regardless of the ACTUAL start of fall... of course, the hot temperatures around here show no signs of fall..hmmm...)
Anyway, I really had a great summer. I was fortunate to be able to travel to several places around the country, including California and Alaska. I was able to visit new places and see new things. Have new adventures, I could say.

One adventure I had this summer was something that I have been around my whole life and it happens practically in my backyard, but I never ever imagined myself doing it. Yes - I went white water rafting on the New River! I was sort of talked into it, and sort of volunteered to go. I was horrified when I learned I had been misled and the Lower New was not the floating family cruise that I thought, but filled with Category 5 rapids!!! And when I was told how the water would suck me under when I fell out of the raft - I didn't know about this after all. BUT - I gathered up my nerves, grabbed a life vest, a paddle, and a helmet and in I went!And you know what... I loved it! I held on for dear life over those rapids and screamed a few times, but I had fun! With all that adrenaline going I even jumped off a rock. Girl gone wild for sure!