Stealing Hours . . . to Celebrate Spring

My Spring recess hasn't been the assigned weeks of time off, because time is never off for me. Work always is.  But in the past couple of weeks I have gleaned time to write, to listen to some great concerts, go to plays, hear poetry.  My heart is glad for these many gifts, and the company of my husband Peter who has shared in many of these experiences.

Here are some  thumbnail reviews:

Tonight will be the last night to see Rochester Community Players (RCP) The Irish Players at MuCCC  at  8 p.m. in Lennox Robinson's Is Life Worth Living? directed by Jean Gordon Ryon.
 

Rochester Community Players PRESENTS...

•Comedy

Is Life Worth Living?

By Lennox Robinson • Directed by Jean Gordon Ryon
APPROPRIATE AGE RANGE: 15 - up | APPROXIMATE RUNTIME: 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

This 1933 comical farce deals with a small seaside town in Ireland where the locals decide, innocently enough, to switch from their usual annual circus and try theater instead. Serious theater. Heavy serious theater. Strindberg. Tolstoy. Checkov. Stuff that would make even a cheeky Irishman question if life is, well, worth living.

Such a wonderful cast!  I hope they steal all the awards when they present this play in Chicago in May.
If you are free tonight.  This is a go see play!

*****

Attended several noon concerts offered this week by  The ESM Women in Music Festival.
Special thanks to Sylvie Beaudette who dedicates many hours organizing this joyous week.  I was thrilled that my work schedule allowed me to attend this year.

Today is the last session of this festival :

SATURDAY, MARCH 30

Greater Rochester Women's Philharmonic
Nancy Strelau, conductor
Bonita Boyd, flute
Timothy Lee, violin;  Emlyn Johnson & Johanna Gruskin, flute
Eastman School of Music, Kilbourn Hall, 2:00 pm


On Wednesday, March 28,2013, The Writers Forum at SUNY Brockport celebrated
Poet Katha Pollit.

Katha Pollitt has published two books of poetry, including The Mind-Body Problem, as well as several essay collections, her most recent being Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories. She is also well known for her award-winning column, "Subject to Debate," in The Nation magazine. Her visit is being promoted jointly with the Department of Women and Gender Studies.


Last time I heard Katha read was in the early 80's at Uof R.  Imagine that. Was so glad I went to her reading.  Didn't tucker out  after teaching that evening.    Cooper Hall's New York Room was bustling with
students and faculty and community.  Always so impressed with Brockport's audience.  It's always a big  and thoughtful crowd.  Anne Panning gave a warm welcome and Katha read so many fabulous poems.
She is lovely.

Here's a poem found on Poem Hunter, which she read Wednesday night:

Small Comfort

Coffee and cigarettes in a clean cafe,
forsythia lit like a damp match against
a thundery sky drunk on its own ozone,

the laundry cool and crisp and folded away
again in the lavender closet-too late to find
comfort enough in such small daily moments

of beauty, renewal, calm, too late to imagine
people would rather be happy than suffering
and inflicting suffering. We're near the end,

but O before the end, as the sparrows wing
each night to their secret nests in the elm's green dome
O let the last bus bring

love to lover, let the starveling
dog turn the corner and lope suddenly
miraculously, down its own street, home.

Katha Pollitt

I thought this poem was gorgeous.  It was such a pleasant evening.

Worth every minute.