Preserving and Celebrating

What a lovely St. David's Day we've had!

We left home at 8:45 a.m., and an hour later were at Phoenix Art Restoration in Shoreline, not far from where we used to live, which has done superb work on old family photos and letters for me. I brought in 14 old photos, two tintypes from the 1870s, and a letter from my great-grandfather to his first wife to be restored.

After a mocha for me and a latte for Phil at a nearby coffee shop, we met Phil's son T at the Honey Bear Bakery for lunch, where we all enjoyed BLTA sandwiches (bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado) and good conversation.

Then Phil and I were off to the Puget Sound Welsh Association's absolutely marvelous St. David's Day celebration, where there was an embarrassment of riches this year:
-- Gifted poet, playwright, and librettist Menna Elfyn, reading her own poems in Welsh and English, and several by Dylan Thomas, honoring his centenary year;
--Brilliant mezzo-soprano Nerys Jones, who grew up near Llanfair Caereinion in Montgomeryshire and now lives in Seattle, whose performance of "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix*" from Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah left both Phil and me breathless with delight;
-- Talented Paul Kawabori, who those of us from Seattle Welsh Choir's glory days first knew as a boy soprano, and now appreciate as a tenor with a voice like silk, whether singing a Welsh folk song or one of his own compositions.

There is nothing quite like hearing in person such splendid poetry and songs in Welsh, English, and French, as well as seeing old friends and catching up on their lives! We are, as the saying goes, "blissed out" tonight.

(*My heart opens to your voice -- enjoy a wonderful performance by Jessye Norman here.)