Spring comes to Oxfam

I don't know who the Oxfam window dresser in Stroud is, but they're great! I've chosen this shot as it was the most colourful of the day, and one is not allowed to take photographs at live streamings. 

Right now I'm in bed in the Holiday Inn Express in Cheltenham. It's Cheltenham Race week. So far, so strange, not least because CoVid is still 
rampant in the South West and we all know what happened at Cheltenham race week two years ago...

Two days ago friend D asked me if I wanted to go to the live streaming of the Met Opera's Ariadne Auf Naxos with him. His stepdaughter couldn't accompany him as her own daughter had tested positive for CoVid. I said I'd go if I could stay at the spare room in his apartment complex. That wouldn't work because D is worried about his washing machine, and the bedding has to be washed after use, so he suggested I book a hotel. It's all worked out well. The cinema is in the Brewery Quarter, where there are also restaurants, and the hotel is opposite. It's quiet here, and breakfast is included. I have space, and the feeling of being on holiday.

The opera was fantastic, I do urge you to go to a live streaming if there's an encore. I'd never heard of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, but it gave me much food for thought, and the singing blew my mind. I must try to find a recording I like on Spotify. The mezzo soprano in the Prologue was Isabel Leonard, who played the composer, to great effect. The three nymphs were mounted  on trolleys under their long skirts, giving them the effect of 17th century singing Daleks with wigs. Because their wheels couldn't be seen or heard, they were able to glide and weave about the stage. This is a performance I'll remember for a very long time. 

One thing D said to me during the interval was, 'I think I'm getting that thing, what's it called? ' a few minutes later he said triumphantly, ' Alzheimer's!' Turns out that the name of the country he'd been trying to remember was Ukraine. Quite difficult not to remember it at the moment. The Met Opera showed a recording of their orchestra and musicians on stage  playing the Ukrainian National Anthem. Incredibly moving.

We've also been out for a meal (after 9.15 pm, fancy that!) and tomorrow I plan to do a little light shopping after breakfast. My only regret is that I didn't bring my swimming cossie, as there's a pool in this hotel. 


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