druringopyp-blog

[druringopyp-blog]

-druringo

[druringopyp-blog]

best laid plants of.

Music + plants. Good stuff. Beautiful.  Right? Let's see.

Concierto para el Bioceno

This is at the Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu. After weeks/months of it being closed to the public because of the COVID19 pandemic, they decided to celebrate the lifting of certain restrictions by arranging this special performance for an audience that is less susceptible to infection than the regular crowd that attends events at the theater.  Avoiding audiences an opportunity to  probable exposure to a deadly disease is definitely a good thing! And the arts, people know they're good; necessary for a good existence, some would say.  Of course there would be some that would risk exposure for a good night out of  good art. I mean, it's been a bad few months.Only the performers and 2,292 plants (!!! ((how many theater staff members did it take to safely arrange all of those plants without breaking social distancing regulations ?)) . The performers also seem to be at least six feet away from each other. Good. Which takes me to another good (thing). How good must it feel for this quartet to be sitting together, face to face, doing what they do best. Who knows what each one of these talented artists must have faced during quarantine. A loss of income? Loss of sleep? Loss of a loved one?Yet now they're here, performing. But to no audience? Still good?They're creating. They're performing.  That's enough. To look back on a memory of a past performance and know you participated in something that for that instant brought you joy, that's good. Those memories can be enough to fuel you thru some difficult times. But not only that, this was live streamed. They knew an audience at home was getting some respite from they're mundane existence.  Truly appreciating their craft.  I watched it during work, with intermittent pauses throughout. Bad.  And what about the piece they performed, Puccini's "Crisantemi"?Good? Bad?It’s a gorgeous quartet, performed beautifully. But, does the piece make you feel a little forlorn? Our ol’ buddy Pucci wrote this in response to the death of a friend of one of his buddies.So if your feeling sad, then Pucci did his job right!So is it . . . Good? Well, the outcome is good art, but the origin? Bad, right? The man probably lost sleep, overwhelmed with grief. But maybe the creation of this art is what allowed him to cope? And now we have four musicians, presenting his grief to a deaf audience that cannot relate.  But those of us at home, streaming, listening, we can relate. Maybe even some of us have lost loved ones during these forlorn times. Maybe this performance is exactly what that one person needs to address his or her own grief and release it. Maybe this is what they need to be inspired to express his or her grief in a way that will produce art, be it good or bad, and inspire future generations of sad, isolated, plant loving individuals to click on the fifth most eye catching headline on that future days news feed.  That would make this all worth it, right?  I mean, setting up this performance wasn’t cheap I’m sure. Maybe it would have been good enough to take that money and buy the nearest hospital workers some dinner?  The plants were all gifted to health care workers after the performance. Those are good people. They have sacrificed for the good of others. They have suffered for the sake of neighbor. Many have done this at their own risk. And because they need food on the table. And money for Clorox wipes. Now they’ll bring this gifted plant home, where it will grow, and it will hopefully grant that health care hero some calm and respite from these strange times. Because plants do that.  And music does that. And performance does that.  And caring does that.  And hopefully they’ll remember to water it. Take good care of it.Because if they don’t it will wither and die.And that’s bad. For the plant, for sure.  So, good or bad? “It does not belong to man who is walking to direct his step,” says Jeremiah 10:23.He steps, and walks, and really tries not to trip. But he trips. And trips. But , it seems, that he tries. And it seems that some walk in the right direction. Grasping for the good, hoping that they’ve stumbled on it. And hopefully one day each in individual in the collective they will take a second before misstepping and sit and ask the right individual the right question. Should I take this step? Is it a good decision? What is good and what is bad? And who has the right to decide? We all seem to chime in about it, and the vast majority seem to collectively agree on a basic sense of what is each. But who has the authority to decree? That’s a good question.  And the answer loves plants. And loves music. And is good.

[druringopyp-blog]

“Tired lady” -druringo 

[druringopyp-blog]

Lemon/Rinds

You squeeze a lemon once,  you know what it's like the next time. You slice it open, look inside. 

Nothing much has changed.

More, or less, little seeds.  Consistently, you'll get some juice out of it.  Especially if you use a nice squeezer. But, would you ever willingly hold on to a rind to see if tomorrow you'll get some new juice?

Nope.

Yet, here we are. Four months in, no new lemons.  Same ol' rind. Every day used to be a new lemon. Maybe even a bag full of them.  Some days I'd squeeze out enough to make lemonade. Some days, enough for a couple of tart drops.  New lemon.  Or lemons. Fresh squeeze. Everyday.

Now?

  Rinds aplenty. From the last bag in March. Dry squeeze. I keep them all in a mason jar.

Alas, not all in vain!

Fruit flies for days.

🍋💀🐛