at the cloisters with lucia and tsameret

 our friends have been visiting from ann arbor, michigan. they are on their way to athens for an isadora duncan dance workshop and fly out of jfk this evening. they arrived early tuesday morning (after traveling all night on the bus from ann arbor!) and have been enjoying visiting old haunts and old friends as they lived in the east village up until about six years ago. korrina, morgana and chanda have babysat for them at various times in the past . . when all the girls were younger . . and chanda, greg and i visited them in pittsburgh (before their move to michigan) when on our way to san francisco in 2017 (you can see that post here).

 we always like to bring our sandwiches and then have tea and pound cake . . however we had to settle on chocolate chip cookies today as they no longer stock pound cake . . i might have to begin bringing that too, now, and just get the tea.

 we had egg salad sandwiches on black bread and sprouted onion/dill bagels. the little sparrows were very busy begging for crumbs.

 a plant in the medieval herb garden . . 

 st. jerome in his study, crafted in brussels in 1520.

lucia really enjoyed this visit and i'm glad i made sure we got there.

saying good-bye to morgana . . their plane took off at 11 pm this evening. they have a long flight ahead of them, with a transfer in london.

a magical night: morgana's play

beth, or william shakespeare's macbeth, adapted and arranged by morgana, (who also goes by morgan and the pronoun "they" - i will be taking turns with both names and pronouns in all future blog posts) opened this evening on a very rainy day. the day was so grey and rainy that barbek (morgan's lead actor) suggested morgan pick up several umbrellas in case the skies opened up during the performance. the wet trees and damp air made for a perfectly wonderful and dismal setting for macbeth. (for this production morgan rearranged several scenes, included scenes that are often omitted, and omitted scenes that are always included, and also wrote a monologue for lady macbeth at the end.)

these are the only photos and movies i have of the production, and they are so poor that i'm not sure you can get a good sense of the cohesive energy and ensemble work of the actors. morgan did a wonderful job bringing everyone together, and i thought the casting choices were innovative and impeccable. i think the age range of the show went from eight years to forty five years. it was fun having our young friends in it.

i filmed this section at the very end, when the skies finally opened and a fine drizzle grew into a steady rain. everyone watching opened their umbrellas and the patter of the drops blended in with the gentle pounding of the drums and the last words of the actors. as our friend steven said, it was a magical night and the best performance of macbeth he had ever seen.

brava, morgan - director, scene designer, lighting designer, props master, writer, stage manager and . . actor! (on the last minute morgan had to step in as lady macduff).

 pics from wednesday's final rehearsal (waiting for the moms to pick up the younger actors) with (from left to right) lucia, hudson, anika, charlotte, morgan and jenny, morgan's girlfriend. it was so nice that jenny could be here for the rehearsals before returning to london. she was in the states for a maths conference in ann arbor, michigan, and visited with us for almost two weeks.

 i think they were discussing aspects of the rehearsal in the courtyard . . 

while having a little bit of ice cream i found in the freezer.

the assistant director and dance instructor/choreographer, amelia.

thirty three years together

arriving at river park on 29th street and fdr drive . .

for an anniversary meal hosted, cooked and plated by our dear korrina. we were so well taken care of  - everyone there made sure we didn't want for anything. it was a very special night.

braised carrot that korrina had picked from the garden just a little before we arrived, and graced by a sweet violet.

 octopus with blue cornflowers, heirloom beans, ramps and spring onions.

spring greens: heirloom radish, sugar snap peas and asparagus.

sweetbreads with artichoke, dandelion greens and cipollini.

roasted scallops with green chickpeas, rhubarb, radishes, sheep sorrel and yogurt.

dessert! three kinds: gelato (chocolate and peach) with biscotti, strawberry rhubarb cobbler with vanilla ice cream, and a chocolate volcano . . (did i get that right?)

what an amazing evening and delicious meal. thank you so much korrina. we're in awe of your accomplishments, and proud of all the hard work you've put in to create such delicious meals and to be the wonderful chef that you are.