Restorative

So exhausted, but made my way to Sunday morning yoga class with Sarah. I found it hard to climb the stairs to the studio and was then elated to discover it was a restorative class.

The last class of every month is restorative, but for some reason I thought the month had ended and was expecting standing poses.

Today's the last day of the month of June.

And what a month!  Reorg at work and lots of transitions. On the personal front: yoga/music camp weekend, book club AGM, an Epitourist feast, the first sail of the season, wonders in the garden. Healthwise: a root canal, a second visit to the dentist for more pain, invasive (but routine) medical procedures, a trip to urgent care, allergies and a bad cough that has my lymph system at high alert.

So this restorative... truly restorative.

Book Club AGM

Niki graciously hosted the AGM again this year, so we were able to enjoy an extended meeting in Haliburton. Debra and I drove up Saturday morning. Also attending this year were: Nicolette, Miriam, Virginia and Sheila.

Of course we ate well! Lunch with Louise and Linda, and later a marvelous dinner.  I made the grilled radiccihio salad with sherry dressing, Virginia a carrot curry salad, Niki a delicious porkloin and Debra lemon sole. Miriam's margaritas, Sheila's snacks, and Nicolette brought cheese cake. Food really does play an important role at our book club and others, too... the significance of a shared meal helps to smooth over any differences of opinion during the discussion.

The book club is in some flux right now with changing members. Sheila is new to the group as of last September, and Laura and Pat announced their departures in early June.

We've now been meeting for sixteen years for the long-standing members. That's a lot of books, a lot of meals, and a lot of shared discussions. Not sure how many AGMs, but I really do value this annual tradition and know others do as well, so deep gratitude to Niki for hosting.

Book list for 2019-2020 was selected:

Sept 2019- Diane: The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison

Oct 2019- Virginia: Bay of Hope, 5 Years in Newfoundland by David Ward

Nov 2019- Nicolette: Empty Planet, The Shock of Global Population Decline by John Ibbitson

Dec 2019 - Nicki: All We Leave Behind by Carol Off

No January

Feb. 2020- Sheila: Stay with Me by Ayobami Adeboyo

Mar. 2020- Liz & Christina: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

April 2020- Debra: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

May 6 2020- Miriam: The Power by Naomi Alderman

May 29/30- AGM Wenona Lake , Louise & Linda: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

June garden

I spent hours and hours this past month enjoying the garden. Planting (some jack-in-the-pulpits and bergamot; monkshood and dogwood on the ravine slope ). Potting (herbs, and roses, and petunias). Transplanting. 

One of my favourite places to sit is in the corner of the yard, where the branches of a tree have arched to create a shady green room. The perfect place for a tall glass of chilled water on a hot day.

I find much of the work in the back garden is simply creating some space between the notes, otherwise known as weeding. Some weeds are serendipity, like the buttercups that found their way through the stone. Other weeds are perennials I purposefully planted that have overgrown or blown into new territory.

Griskit enjoying the light

the iris quadrupled 

The peonies were all too brief this year - less than a week of bloom.

Rodgersia in bloom

green room

cool nights by the fire

Salad Days

Summer solstice. The longest day of the year. The first day of summer! Technically speaking, the summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or 23.5 degrees north latitude. At  exactly 11:54 am Eastern on Friday the 21st.

I chose this date and time for hosting the Epitourist lunch, with the theme of Salad Days. In the culinary sense, not the literary: fresh, colourful, appealing, healthy, with a touch of ease and an element of surprise.

Home made sour dough foccacia fresh from the oven! Fresh burrata with grilled grapes! Fresh chevre with basil! Grilled cheese!

Caroline and Kaarina co-creators on the feast.

Our meal was stretched over 6 hours, with courses that were light and fresh and full of greens and herbs. The most important ingredient overall: deliciousness.

Summer solstice. Light is at its peak with the longest day. Time for gratitude. From here to Dec 21, the days get shorter and shorter. Reason enough to get the most out of every summer's day.

For my course I prepared a grilled radicchio salad with sherry mustard dressing from Bon Appetit that had captured my interest. I tested it out with my family first, and although they initially scoffed at the idea of grilled lettuce, they enjoyed the mix of flavours.  Kaarina and Caroline appreciated how heat had ramped up the flavours and brought a nutty taste to the plate. Served alongside grilled scallops with a miso glaze. The course was paired with Garden Booch, (1.8 oz of Seedlip garden topped with ginger kombucha, on the rocks, garnished with fresh lemon verbena).

Dessert was simple and refreshing, with a choice of Coupe colonel (zesty lemon sorbetto with a splash of Ciroc) or affogato (bourbon vanilla bean gelato drowned in espresso). We decided to try both.

Carmina Burana

Wow! The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, The Toronto Youth Choir, The Toronto Children's Choir, the TSO, and opera singers Sunnyboy Dladla (tenor), Norman Garret (baritone), and Nicole Haslett (soprano).

An amazing performance with three curtain calls. Of course, there was no encore performed in spite of the audience appreciation.

Fantastic!! At one point the conductor became so enthusiastic his baton flew out of his hand and into the audience. It was graciously offered back via the tenor.

The lyrics to this 1936 composition originate from the 12th and 13th centuries; uncovered in a Bavarian monastery in 1803. The verses are "earthy" and include more than 200 drinking songs, love songs, and bawdy texts. It is speculated they were penned by defrocked priests and wandering scholars.  Orff chose 24 of the poems to create this 60 minute opus. The most famous, O Fortuna, majesticallly begins and ends the symphony.

translated:

Fortune, Empress of the World

O Fortune,
like the moon you are changeable,
ever waxing and waning;
hateful life first oppresses
and then soothes as fancy takes it;
poverty and power
it melts them like ice.

Fate - monstrous and empty,
you whirling wheel, you are malevolent,
well-being is vain and always fades to nothing,
shadowed and veiled you plague me too;
now through the game I bring my bare back
to your villainy.

Fate is against me in health and virtue,
driven on and weighted down, always enslaved.
So at this hour, without delay
pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate strikes down the strong man,
everyone weep with me!

Heliconian 2018-2019

This year's Heliconian was a great mix of authors known and unknown to me.

I continue to get there early enough to nab front row seats for the author talk. Sometimes having read the book beforehand and other times just arriving with the best of intentions.

I do enjoy hearing about the writers' process for getting words on paper. The imagining of ancestors' lives (Linda Spalding and Kim Thuy); a collaborative theatre-based approach (Catherine Hernandez); lived experience (Sileika); bringing characters to life based on current events (MacIntyre); passionately advocating for social change (Talaga).

And I do love Toronto! And to see it central to the plots and unfolding of several novels, unapologetically itself (The Only Cafe, The Barefoot Bingo Caller, Scarborough).

October: Michelle Winters, I am A Truck

November: Tanya Talaga, Seven Fallen Feathers

December: Linda Spalding, The Reckoning

January: Linden MacIntyre, The Only Cafe

February: Antanas Sileika, The Barefoot Bingo Caller 

April: Kim Thuy, VI

May: Sharon Bala, The Boat People

May: Catherine Hernandez, Scarborough

June:  Suanne Kelman speaking about Min Jin Lee's Pachinko

Mead Moon in June

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967).  Cornhuskers.  1918.

84. Moonset

LEAVES of poplars pick Japanese prints against the west. Moon sand on the canal doubles the changing pictures.       The moon’s good-by ends pictures. The west is empty. All else is empty. No moon-talk at all now.       Only dark listening to dark.

The Next Full Moon is the Strawberry Moon, Mead Moon, Honey Moon, Rose Moon.

June 17, 2019, appearing "opposite" the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 4:31 AM EDT.

The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Saturday night through Tuesday morning.

Music Yoga Camp!

Back to Beau Soleil Island in Georgian Bay, to Queen Elizabeth Y Camp, this time with music added to the yoga mix. Very rejuvenating. Every day it was sunny and the skies were blue. A bit cool, but that didn’t stop some from jumping in the lake while I enjoyed the view from the rocks.

I had driven up on my own and met Liz, Anita and Chris at the camp. Over the next few days we would share meals and create some happy memories. One of the highlights was a smudging, kindly offered to us by Sonia, one of the volunteer yoga teachers. She disclosed that although not native herself, she had studied with an elder. The ceremony was held outside in the afternoon sun and seemed a fitting way to celebrate and strengthen bonds between us, and to the island, honouring the four directions and elements.

Every morning started with qigong and meditation on the rocks, right next to the lake, and hearing the birds and seeing the ripples from fish on the surface of the water. I would show up in my pajamas with my meditation cushion and loved every moment. Feeling the chi inside myself and sensing its embrace all around me. I’ve taken some of the gentle movements back into my home practice.

Saturday morning there was a hike and we paused on our way to enjoy the pink lady slippers that were in bloom. Ed, who was leading the hike, also called out to some of the warblers in the area, using a recording of male bird-song to draw the defenders of territory into our view. We heard the tree frogs and saw a toad. Dragonflies and other bugs weren’t very numerous this year, with the speculation being that cooler temperatures were delaying the hatch.

I absolutely love the patterns of the moss and lichen, such dramatic designs.

In the afternoon there was a sing-along. It was a fun, encouraging group. I had brought along some kazoos in lieu of my ukulele, and ended up doing a kazoo solo during a Dylan song, ‘You Aint Goin Nowhere.’ My first (public) kazoo solo!

We took a sunset paddle in the war canoe, and then later in the evening, the ‘real’ musicians came out to play, and we listened to the sounds of Trio Cappuccino from Haliburton. The inside the mess hall had been transformed with fairy lights and candles, creating quite a magical vibe. Liz, Anita and I sat in the front row and we could see bats flying about in the darkness outside as we sang and swayed along with the music. One of the songs was John Denver, Take Me Home Country Roads, and when we hit the last Home it became a nice, long Om. Feeling the Om in Home with all the voices raised. Fantastic!

Also treated myself to a massage that was a bit different from my usual, it was more focused on the lymph system so there was a therapeutic light touch that released some tears and tension. Melissa, the massage therapist, showed me some techniques to use at home. Although it is definitely not the same as having a professional session it is still a good option for self-care, almost anytime and anywhere.

Once again the food was sensational. A bell would ring, and we would head to the mess for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Meal planning, preparation and clean up takes so much time and mental energy, it was great to trust others to the tasks and just savour the meal and company.

I took five yoga classes. They were gentle and easygoing, not the Iyengar style I usually practise, but still a fabulous way to get out of my head and just be on the mat, in the moment. I brought my singing bowl up and talked Linda, the yoga instructor volunteer, into a quick sound bath. She was striking and ringing her bowl as I was doing the same with mine. We both liked it so much it may become a workshop at next year’s Music/Yoga weekend.

Four days later I am still thinking of how perfect the weekend was... thankfully I will be taking a return trip in September.

Getting my fix

Seeing and hearing live music is such a privilege, it really does transport me to a different dimension.

I have been a Royal subscriber again this year, getting my fix of performances at Koerner Hall. It is such a spectacular venue that musicians regularly comment on its beauty and acoustics.

Adding some of the favourites to my playlist makes it easier to revisit the sounds and sensations. And by referencing the line-up I am able to check out some of the artists online even if I wasn't able to see them in person.

What times we live in, that we can conjure some of the world's best musicians to play at the touch of our fingertips. It is like living in a fairytale.

Hanna Dora Sturludottir accompanied by Snorri Sigfus Birgisson

My friend Irene snagged some free tickets to see this mezzo-soprano perform at Timonthy Eaton church, courtesy of the Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto. Haunting, beautiful sounds. The program combined Icelandic, Finnish and Norwegian songs with famous arias. I floated away.

Piping Hot Rematch
'Satyagraha Act III' Phillip Glass; Trois Pieces, Petit Canon Nadia Boulanger; Liebestraum n 3 Franz Liszt

At Hot Docs we watched a film about competitors in the Canadian International Organ Competition. It followed the competitors as the story arc, with their quirks and dreams, and didn't focus much on the organ music itself. It was only in the doc talk afterward when the director spoke about how every organ is different, and every church is different, so organists really need to learn how to "play the church." Fascinating concept and instrument!

This concert we saw was at St. Paul's Cathedral on Bloor. The four contestants from the film each performed two to three selections. The very first piece took me right back to my teens: Liebestraum was something my Grama would play on our organ at home. It was just plain fun to hear the William Tell Orchestra and the Ride of the Valkyries blaring in the cathedral. The organ can also be tuned to play simple bells, so there was a full range of sound. The Cathedral itself was gorgeous. At intermission I wandered up for a closer view of the alter and organ - the organ seat was so heavily worn there was an actual dip in the wooden bench.

Anoushka Shankar
The Sun Won't Set Anoushka Shankar (Norah Jones vocals); Voice of the Moon

Truly mesmerizing concert. Anoushka sat in the centre with her sitar. There was also flute, tabla,  mridangam, tanpura, piano and cello. There was a lot of eye contact and head motions which led me to believe there was a lot of improvisation happening. Anoushka herself was charming and unpretentious. Will definitely enjoy listening to these songs in the future.

Vienna Boys Choir

"O Fortuna" from Carmina burana Carl Orff; Regina coeli, op 37 Johannes Brahms; Matrosenpolka Josef Strauss,  The Seal Lullabye Eric Whitacre, Edelweiss from the Sound of Music Richard Rogers

There were 24 boys singing, accompanied by the conductor on piano. Such a pure, innocent sound, it is almost heartbreaking. And the boys really are so cute, some of the best voices in the world in training, trying not to fidget, keeping their hands at their sides and occasionally giving in to scratching their noses or rubbing their stomachs or patting their hair. As the boys introduced themselves, it was interesting to hear they came from countries around the world, including South Korea, Australia, England, and Japan.

From the program: Boys have been singing at Vienna's Imperial Chapel since 1296... Joseph Haydyn and Franz Shubert were themselves choir boys. Until 1918, the boys sand exclusively for the imperial court. 

Roby Lakatos and Ensemble 

The group played a mix of jazz, classical, and gypsy Roma music. Roby Lakatos is a true virtuoso. 

In addition to the two violins and piano, there was also a cimbalom (elaborate Eastern European instrument played with special mallets). I happened to bring my binoculars and was able to check out the carving of Budapest on the wooden cabinet... a truly beautiful instrument with such a unique sound.

Alex and Penny joined us at the concert - their first time at Koerner Hall! There was a bonus performance in the lobby afterward, with the Polki Village Band - young musicians playing traditional Polish instruments and spontaneous dancing from the crowd.

I also got Alex to take a photo of Roby and I together - he is not much taller than me. Watching him on stage he makes such a big impression I was oblivious of his size until I was standing right next to him.

Farruquito

Farruquito composed all the music and did all the choreography as a way to tell his life story. It was totally absorbing to watch the male flamenco dancers embody life story: growing up, falling in love, making friends and enemies.

The dancers' feet and clapping hands were percussion to the score.

From the program: "we will capture the pure Gypsy essence present in so many real-life moments with family, at weddings, and other celebrations." 

Orchestra Toronto, Come Together: 50 Years of Abbey Road
Abbey Road

These days we listen to music playlists from various artists and hop over to another, sometimes not even bothering to let the current song finish before moving along to the next tune. To really listen, and hear the songs on the Abbey Road album performed by an orchestra was a treat; playing them in the order of the recording was a wonderful reminder about just how many fabulous hit songs there are on that last Beatles album.

This was at the North York Centre for the Arts and our friend Grace, who is a violinist with the orchestra, let us know about the event.

22nd Maple Blues Awards
Ice Queen, Sue Foley; Miles to Go, Colin James; Steve Marriner; Carlos del Junco

Spending an evening at the awards was a great way to learn more about current artists and the Canadian music scene. I got a better appreciation for what it means to try to earn a living as a musician in these times of instant download... not so easy. Many hold down two or three day jobs to afford them some kind of flexibility for gigs, and the income on residuals from downloads is based on fractions of pennies.

John Pizzarelli and Freddy Cole
The King Cole Trio album

Nat's brother Freddy is over 80 but can still rock the house!

John P. respectfully escorted Freddy on and off the stage, and whispered in the older man's ear to let him know about the standing ovation at the end of the night. It was a beautiful evening of music.

Terry Riley
A Rainbow in Curved Air, Persian Surgery Dervishes

I liked the pieces that mixed modern jazz with Indian sounds and chants the best.

Riley has an impressive body of work and has influenced modern music across the globe.

King's Singers
Born on a New Day John David; Gold Grammy nominated album; Christmas Stocking album of holiday music; Carol of the Bells

The group was founded by six choral scholars in 1968 and are named after King's College in Cambridge, England. The original members have come and gone but the group lives on. 

We saw the a capella sextet near the end of their year-long Gold 50th Anniversary and tour, enjoying the performance from (almost) front row seats. The group twice emphasized that Koerner Hall is indeed one of its favourite venues within which to perform world-wide.

Chilly Gonzales, Solo Piano

White Keys, Solo Piano

Chilly played many tunes solo but was also joined by a guitar and cello at times. A very musically eclectic evening with a bit of classical, country and even a bit of rap.