So I'll play catch-up a bit.
Saturday, Ellen took in several events in the Brattleboro Literary Festival, which she discovered is really an amazing event which she wishes she had known of earlier. She got to hear some outstanding authors and readings. I stayed home and worked on bringing in wood from the trees that were cut down earlier when we took down the shed.
Saturday evening Ellen went to see the movie Martian and I picked her up and got to see the final 15 minutes or so.
Sunday we went to church at Guilford - the first time since earlier in June - and sang in the choir. A wonderful service with great music choices by Peter Amidon.
After church, we went to Amherst to attend an opera performance by Ellen's friend Susan Narucki. The opera was Quatro Corridos, a "chamber opera" with Susan as solo soprano and three instruments: guitar, piano and percussion. The subject of the opera was four Mexican women scarred by human trafficking, and was based on true events. There were four movements, each by a different composer, but one author, Jorge Volpi, wrote the entire libretto. It was preceded by a panel discussion on "The Reality of Human Trafficking." This whole issue is a huge world-wide phenomenon, and the whole experience was both powerful and disturbing. Katie Tolles joined us for the opera and the reception afterward where Ellen had a chance to talk a bit with Susan. We also met a couple of Susan's high school friends, who were very interesting.
The setting for Quatro Corridos
Susan Narucki meeting Katie at the reception
The opera was held in Bowker Auditorium on the U Mass campus. It is in an older building that was the old Ag School. When I walked into the men's room, I felt I had walked back a hundred years, and was so struck by the odd beauty of it that I had to take a picture (after waiting a few minutes for it to clear out ):
The men's room in the old Ag Building at U Mass.
More to tell, but it will have to wait.
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