Sunny January Saturday in Seattle (say that three times fast!)

Today is a wonderful sunny day (in January no less!) which inspires seemingly endless optimism and reminds me of what a hermit I've been so here's fondly thinking back on all the things we've done since the New Year.

For the long holiday weekend we (finally!) made a trip to Vancouver, BC. Our initial plans, set for the week between Christmas and New Year, were derailed by inclement weather (Seattle doesn't do snow well). It was a gamble to plan a visit during the winter months but the city is amazing and the heavy fog parted on a few occasions affording spectacular views (photos on FB). We will just have to come back again in August!

Seattle Opera's production of Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, was not only a pleasure for our ears but our eyes as well: an enchanting fairy-tale, impeccably delivered by three principal performers along with a number of dancers effortlessly carrying through brilliant choreography against a picture-perfect stage design evoking the exotic scenery of the orient. My favorites were the scenes employing "areal technology", showing the fishermen diving and swimming across the sea (the scrim that extended from the proscenium arch to the stage floor), further enhanced by evocative lighting giving it an otherworldly atmosphere.

We enjoyed Seattle Shakespeare Company's hilarious, highly energetic, vaudeville-flavored adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's 18th century comedy The Servant of Two Masters. From the moment we read in the program notes that "water and silly string will be used on stage" we knew this would be no ordinary performance of Goldoni's deliberately convoluted tale of a double-dealing servant, his pair of preening masters, several sets of lovers, etc. It was particularly amusing to hear the actors spice up the script with topical and local references (funny jabs at Gov. Christine Gregoire, the Sonics and the Seahawks, a sexy recitation of driving directions to the Seattle Center, only to name a few). Jolly good fun indeed!

Another exciting experience was visiting Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures Of Ethiopia exhibit at the Pacific Science Center and coming face to face with Lucy, the oldest, most complete, and best preserved adult fossil of any erect-walking human ancestor. When was the last time you stood in the presence of a 3.2 million-year-old ancestor that continues to have a major impact on the scientific understanding of our human origins?

One good thing about gloomy weather is the time it affords for reading (when work is under control). I've immersed myself in W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage and have been enjoying it immensely! Cheers!