Hello again on the last day of spring!
After 100+ days of quarantine, local restaurants opened for outside dining and you can now go into stores. Some churches will reopen this weekend but many will continue to worship online or host outdoor gatherings because of crowd limitations. Today, for the first time since March 13, I took a short drive to get gas although I still had a quarter of a tank. I stopped at a red light and saw about 20 teens and their moms hugging each other, taking selfies, arms draped over each other’s shoulders, looking at their phones. Nobody had a mask. I only see masks inside Walgreen’s, on two dog walkers in the early morning and on people going into the supermarket. It’s not happening. Maybe you heard what Bruce S. said about masks the other day.
Andrew Cuomo gave his 111th and final daily briefing today. He’s been an inspiration and a masterful communicator. His parting words, “Wear a mask…that is your social responsibility in the middle of this overall pandemic. When we talk about New Yorkers and the spirit of unity and how people are helping one another and how tough and smart and disciplined we are, and how we love one other? Show it. You know how you show love? By wearing a mask.”
Life and art go on. Enjoy these.
What to watch: “Small Island,” London’s National Theatre — free for one week until June 25
The epic production traces the stories of three people against the history of Jamaica and the UK through WWII to 1948.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pac-Furijsw
Interview with the star, Leah Harvey:
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jun/16/leah-harvey-on-small-islan…
Heartwarming
I loved this clip, so to speak, about sheep in Maine. Not all the photos load properly so tap on the gray squares.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/travel/lens-sheep-island-maine.html
New art: An argument for public art amid a Pandemic
At LaGuardia Airport, of all places
This sculpture, called “Shorter than the Day,” after a line from Emily Dickinson, is by Sarah Sze.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/arts/design/laguardia-terminal-b-arti…
In France (in a former submarine base!)
If you’re been to the Carrières de Lumières in Provence here is this year’s immersive walk “in” the work of Gustav Klimt’s art, projected in 360°.
>
Life after lockdown in Bordeaux: Les Bassins de Lumières
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/jun/11/life-after-lockdown-in-bo…
(There’s a great instagram site, too.)
Need to return your library books?
The Nashville Public Library made a hip-hop video to promote curbside pickup of books.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnk4qeu9WZY&feature=youtu.be&campaign_id…
Happy Father’s Day!
Diego, a 100-year-old giant tortoise, has been returned to his native island in the Galápagos to “retire,” after breeding in captivity for several decades. He’s considered a “super male” for helping to save his species from extinction and fathered more than 900 offspring.
https://www.sciencealert.com/diego-a-stud-of-a-giant-tortoise-is-finally…
Music
The opera house in Barcelona will perform a concert for an audience of plants, filling its 2,292 seats, on Monday, June 22. The plants will be given to health care workers after the concert.
Watch via livestream on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70bpxG2tq6w&feature=emb_title>
11:00 AM ET
Longest day of the year: Paul Winter’s concert — Get up early! Saturday, June 20. 4:30 AM ET
Paul Winter’s Summer and Winter Solstice Celebrations are usually held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC but the 25th annual concert will be held in his cathedral-like barn. He’ll be accompanied by large chime tubes tuned by our friend Garry Kvistad of Woodstock Chimes.
https://www.solsticeconcert.com
A man and his (24) dogs
He won the Iditarod in March, but the pandemic stranded him in Alaska for three months.
https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice/status/1272342006212280321?s=21
Tennis
Interestingly, the US Open will play from August 24-September 13. Federer won’t be here as he had knee surgery and took himself out. Only Serena and John Isner have signed up so far. Maybe they’ll play each other. No fans, qualifying or junior tournaments, mixed doubles or wheelchair tennis either. It doesn’t sound like much fun.
Roger did send congratulations to Rafa’s tennis academy students:
https://twitter.com/rafaelnadal/status/1270452519991459848?s=21
Geminis
It was sweet that so many of you wanted to see what my brother Stephen and niece Margaret look like now that they’re grown up. Same eyes as their younger days, no?
Donations
I am donating to several local food pantries and will include a link to yours if you’d like.
Feeding Our Neighbors:
https://www.grbwomensinitiative.org/new-blog/2020/5/10/feeding-our-neigh…
August Wilson
The last play I saw before everything shut down was August Wilson’s “Radio Golf,” the tenth and last of the plays in his Century Cycle. He was a marvelous playwright and had a jam packed life. He said that his grandmother walked from North Carolina to Pittsburgh in search of a better life. He died when he was only 60. This great line of his sums it up for me at the moment:
“I got a heart that beats here and it beats just as loud as the next fellow’s.”
- August Wilson, “The Piano Lesson”
Have a great weekend.
Mary
Add comment