Humbled by the Forces of Nature

I have featured this very pretty and peaceful park, called Marine Park, on my blog in the past. It is located in the Marine Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.  I often walk there, and have always enjoyed the views of the beautiful trees through all the seasons.

 Last weekend, while I was away in Colorado, a terrible Nor'easter storm hit the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and came with tremendous downpours of rain and winds as high as 60 to 70 miles an hour.

The storm's devastation to the park was especially hard. Half a century and older trees came tumbling down in Marine Park as if they were thin and light as matchsticks.

One by one, they fell.

Some toppled like dominoes one upon the other.

Luckily this happened during the night and no one was in the park to be injured or killed, although many cars that were parked along side the park were destroyed.

The people who live in the home across the street reported on TV that the sound of all the falling trees was deafening.

It was a reminder that no natter who we are, or what we are, life is fleeting, and we should never take a day for granted. 

The park department has been busy cutting the trees into movable pieces and then wood chipping them to recycle them.  As I approached this pile of wood chips I saw steam rising up from it as if the spirits of the trees was dissipating into the air. It was very sad and humbling to see what once was a thing of beauty reduced to a pile of wood chips.

"Give me a land of boughs in leaf,

A land of trees that stand;

Where trees are fallen there is grief;

I love no leafless land."

- A.E. Housman

But, as with all things in nature, there is rebirth!.  Many trees still remain to share their glory and the early morning geese and seagulls still find refuge in the park's grass. They were a moving carpet of life and a sign that life goes on and recovery follows

Signs of Spring were everywhere!

I hope the park's  trees will be replaced and the cycle of life and renewal will go on.

"Trees are the best monuments that a man can erect to his own memory.

They speak his praises without flattery, and they are

blessings to children yet unborn."

 Lord Orrery, 1749

I am adding this post to Outdoor Wednesday at Susan's blog "A Southern Daydreamer" Please visit Susan's blog today to see her post and links to all the blog participating.

La Boheme, Metropolitan Opera, NYC

On the evening of March 17th. my husband and I went to Lincoln Center in Manhattan to see the 1,216th Metropolitan Opera performance of Giacomo Pucini's La Boheme. (all photos will enlarge when clicked on)

Although it was a slightly hazy evening it was nice to see the opera house in the light again when we arrived,  as the days are getting longer.

A photo mosaic of the beautiful new fountain in the Josie Robertson Plaza in front of the opera house. It is a favorite gathering place for those waiting for friends, or to spend a few minutes chatting before going inside.

Because it was St. Patrick's Day we saw quite a few revelers near Lincoln Center and I couldn't resist taking a photo of this happy fellow wearing a kilt and carrying bagpipes.

Inside the opera house I stopped to admire the current vintage costumes on display. The set above and below were from the opera Carmen.  The Metropolitan Opera had put on a brand new production of Carmen this year, to much critical acclaim.

The General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb, has been changing many of the productions of favorite operas over the past few years, in an effort to "revitalize opera and connect it to a wider audience," and while we understand his desire to make the Met's productions fresh and modern, my husband and I are particularly fond of all the Franco Zeffirelli productions, and it was one of the reasons we decided to attend La Boeme this season, as we fear it's beautiful and elaborate set and staging will be retired in the near future.  It is also one of our favorite operas, as it is for many, as the tender love story of Mimi and Roldolfo is sentimental, beautiful, and filled with many exquisite arias that never fail to bring a tear to the eye.  If you've never seen an opera before this is the one I'd recommend to be your first. 

Marco Armiliato was the conductor, with soprano Anna Netrebko as Mimi, tenor Piotr Beczala as Rodolfo, and an audience favorite was coloratura soprano Ruth Ann Swenson as Musetta.  The entire synopsis of La Boheme can be read at this link.  As always the opera house responded with a long ovation at the end of this perennial gem.

If I still had music on my blog, this would be the aria from act one of La Boheme that would be playing, “Che gelida manina,” as sung by the dearly missed tenor Lucciano Pavorotti in a 1990 San Francisco production. It is in this scene that the poor poet Roldolfo and his neighbor Mimi first met, and feeling an immediate attraction to her, he tells her of his dreams.  Perhaps you'd like to listen to it for a few minutes?



I'm linking this post to Mosaic Monday on Mary's blog The Little Red House.  Please visit Mary today and see her beautiful spring flower mosaic and visit the links to other blogs participating today.  Thanks, Mary, for hosting this popular event each week!