2011

Greetings!

The holiday season sneaked up fast, and because I was away the first week of December, I’m even further behind than usual…..sorry!!

I briefly became a tourist in my local area in March for a walking tour of the salt marshes and mudflats of Morro Bay- -which I’d always taken for granted, thinking of the marshes as just a blanket of “weeds,” and the mudflats as just “mud.” This tour is led by a professional marine biologist, (under the auspices of the State Park system). I was astonished at the many different kinds of plants that grow in the marshes and along the mudflats, each one’s relative position along the edge determined by the degree of salinity it can tolerate from the rising and falling tides. Lots of nice little “Creatures” live in the mudflats, too.

An attempt to look at “famed wildflowers” inland with a neighbor in April was a bust - the weather had not brought the flowers forth, and what’s more, a brief fluke downpour of snow  and hail crashed onto us en route as we crossed the mountains between Morro Bay and Atascadero (c.600 ft altitude). Snow almost never occurs here, so that was pretty exciting.

Further afield, the usual things to report--a few trips to San Francisco & environs, for art gallery- and museumcrawling and seeing friends, and one trip to Santa Barbara, for the same (again including an exciting polo match, the Pacific Open Final).

The June San Francisco trip was primarily to attend(and be a volunteer aet) a symposium sponsored by our Wagner Society in conjunction with the SF Opera’s  production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, as well as to attend our celebratory banquet party (with a soprano to sing for us). My arduous volunteer “duty” was fun, helping the many visitors from all over the country and from abroad find their name tags from a table at the door. It made my day when a visitor arrived named Isolde. I made a great fuss over her, enthusiastically introducing her to some of our other members nearby--”Steve! Steve! This is Isolde!”

(I had not actually attended the operas themselves from this particular San Francisco Ring cycle, except for Rheingold--which I loathed, finding its interpretation wholly inappropriate, 180º off Wagner’s directions. But some of our members apparently didn’t mind these productions, and some said the singer portraying Brunnhilde was extremely good.)

Saw the retrospective exhibit of Balenciaga fashions at the DeYoung Museum, excellent. But the art highlight on this trip was the “Stein Show” at the Museum of Modern Art. Curators had gathered together many paintings the American writer Gertrude Stein, her brothers and sister-in-law had collected while living in Paris in the early 20th century--by Picasso, Matisse, et al., before they became famous and sought after. The Stein collections had long since been dispersed among museums and other collectors, so it was quite a treat to see so many all together, and to learn a bit about the Stein family.

I was back in San Francisco in early December and enjoyed several special exhibits at the Museum of the Legion of Honor - “Pissarro’s People,” (heavy on servants and peasants, and not really as engaging as his landscapes that we’re more accustomed to, but actually I liked his lithograph portrait of Cezanne very much). The museum was also exhibiting some exquisite small sculptures (“Mourners”) from a 16th century tomb of the Burgundian Court. And, a dramatic marble bust of “Medusa” by Bernini, which was on loan from Italy. She is depicted showing fear and horror as her hair turns into snakes. You could say she was having a bad hair day, or on the other hand, a good snake day.

The timing of the December trip was arranged so I could attend another Wagner Society banquet, the annual “Cosima Birthday Party,” which is our Christmas party, since Wagner’s wife was born on Christmas day. This was again at the Marines’ Memorial Building, an elegant venue, and we had another young soprano singing some Wagnerian arias and lieder for us. (One of the Society’s ongoing projects is raising funds to help young singers with their professional training; they in turn are pleased to sing for us.)

And speaking of Wagner operas, the Metropolitan Opera (New York) HD television simulcasts are shown at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo, and I’ve attended several, which are wonderful. I loved their  productions of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Siegfried, and I’m looking forward to Götterdämmerung in the Spring!

I’ve been continuing my weekly one-on-one training sessions (which they call “one-to-one”) at the Apple Store in San Luis Obispo, still expanding my grasp of the Mac computer. I’ve especially enjoyed learning how to make letterhead stationary, notecards and business cards, with illustrations from some of the art work (sketches in pencil and watercolor) by my late father, A. Harold Knott, with text and layout by me. Challenging and fun, and I’ve had some good results.

There were some difficult times this year with two veterinary hospitalizations for my little orange cat BB (age 10), who somehow acquired a massive infection in his chest cavity. We thought it was cleared up by the end of July, but he gradually deteriorated again--having a great struggle trying to breathe--and had to be re-hospitalized in November. More drainage, more antibiotics, more and more tests, including ultrasound, which revealed that part of his lungs had collapsed. The vet says it will take some time for them to re-inflate. BB came home Dec. 13, but he’s still on long-term antibiotics and will need another X-ray in January to check progress. He feels better anyway, is happy to be home, and is eating voraciously to regain the weight he lost while sick.(He’s also re-growing the fur shaved off both sides during hospital treatment. Meanwhile his bare rib cage makes him look as if he must be cold without his jacket.)

My other feline, the black & white longhair Jazz (also age 10, is in fine form, and he has fluffed out a thicker, bushier  winter coat, thus looking like a lot more cat. He had been in a state of anxiety each time BB was away, and now he is so glad to have his adopted “bro” back home--as am I.

Nature notes--alas, no frogs again this year. I keep looking, and listening, hopefully…

Recent home front events--attended the University Women’s Christmas luncheon (which included a concert by a community college corrus to get us into the holiday spirit).

And a Stanford Alumni Club open house Christmas party at the home of one of the members, which is carefully sited part way up a mountain called Bishop’s Peak, with fabulous panoramic views on three sides. San Luis Obispo looks rather spectacular from such a height. The members brought a scrumptious array of hors d’oeuvres and desserts, and all kinds of wines and soft drinks were provided. Another good way to get into the holiday mood while increasing one’s waistline.

Sorry I’m late getting this letter and the cards done, but I hope that they’ll at least be on their way within the Twelve Days of Christmas!

Best wishes for this season and the New Year!