Bluebeard's Castle

The more I attend opera the more I love it. Bluebeard's Castle was perfect for a blustery Sunday in November. Bravo. I'm so glad to be able to attend live performances again.

Outing: Layman Farm

Wow.

The morning at Layman Farm was really delightful, filled with an easy good time together. Vivian and I both feel most at home walking around the Land, so it's no surprise that she seemed her "old self." 

We walked the farm, rode on the hay bale truck, and navigated the corn maze. She bought a stuffed llama and a tee shirt, and made sure I took home a stuffed sheep. She made me promise to bring the sheep to our next visit so that they could play together.

She told me about wanting a ranch when she grows up, so she can have horses. Her favorite horse is a morgan, just like mine, and she wants to learn barrel racing. I said I'd take her to the rodeo the next time it's in town.

We talked about my new apartment and I showed her pictures. She loves the meditation room and said she wants to start meditating with me again. As if to prove she still knows how,  she climbed up I to the huge rocker near the hay wagon and sat in lotus. God, I love her so much.

She asked about Ian, Chris and Francie's son who is three weeks younger than she is, who usually visits at Christmastime. I told her I wasn't sure if they were going to visit this year, but that I'd find out. 

From the tetherball to the cow ride, the zip line to the bouncy mat, a good time was had by all. She said she wanted to come back again soon, and was a little sad that this was the last weekend of Fall activities. Next year we can get a season pass, I told her. We were both tired and ready for a lunch break as we walked towards the parking lot. She leaned into my hug as we parted and called, "Love you! Bye!" and climbed into the back of her dad's car.

Life is good.

Movies: The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse was a perfectly dark and psychologically weird trip for a rainy November evening. At times I wondered if the two characters were meant to be read as individuals or halves of a broken, repetitive single entity.

Black and White throughout holds the starkness, while the screen limit increases the sense of visual depth, as though there is a bit more distance than the camera would ordinarily impart. I loved these choices. Dialogue light in general, the visuals are the story.  But there are moments when Defoe delivers a soliloquy worthy of any King Lear. Simply gorgeous to behold.

Twisty without any answers, the end feels like a perfect note of finality.

Side note: The glasses have made all the difference! I can see movies again, and it was great to be back in the Grandin Theatre.