Dagnabit

I forgot to put the book I was reading into my bag to bring to work today, along with the last Christmas cards I'd enveloped up last night (about fifty of them), to drop in the mail.

Delia's fever is back, 101 this morning. Tonight's Fiona's concert at the Basilica, so this is not good timing.

I am up five pounds since I stopped riding my bike. I am intensely irritated about this.

Heart of the Beast - La Natividad

minnehaha very kindly arranged to give us tickets to the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater's holiday performance of "La Natividad," the gospel according to St. Matthew and St. Luke, performed in English and in Spanish. This production was based on a traditional Latino "La Posada" procession, a tradition that is practiced in many Mexican and Central American communities in the days leading up to Christmas. During that time, people walk in the streets and knock on doors as they sing in the name of heaven. A party is usually hosted in the last home where the people stopped.

( We started at the Mercado Central )

( Then we all went to be counted in the census )

( From there, we went into the Heart of the Beast theater, to see the visitation of the heavenly choir to the shepherds )

Then we trooped out into the street again to join the now larger-than-life Maria and Jose for La Posada.

La Natividad - Maria and Jose Photo by Bruce Silcox

A line of flickering luminaries marked the way down 15th Avenue. It was cold, and we stamped our feet to keep warm as we walked along, humming. ( Would no one give us shelter? )

( Then we all trooped gladly into the warmth of St. Paul's Church )

The evening ended with a feast of rice and beans and tortillas, songs in Spanish and English, and pinatas for the children. It was lovely evening, enjoyed by us all.

Poetry on demand

I like this story: How a precocious group of high school poets learned to provide verse on demand by setting up a Poetry Stand.

(Mike Ford, of course, would have been perfect at this.)

Fiona's holiday concert

Tonight, Fiona dressed in unfamiliar plumage, including such strange and exotic things as nylons (!) and high heels (!) for her high school holiday concert.






Many high schools hold their holiday concerts in their school auditoriums. Pah, we sneer at your pitiful auditoriums. This is where Fiona's high school holiday concert was held tonight, at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis:

Basilica of St. Mary

The concert was awesome, worthy of the fabulous place and acoustics. Six choirs, orchestra, wind ensemble, a feast of musical delights. More sacred music than I expected, really, given that it is a public high school. Alas, Rob stayed home to nurse the feverish Miss Delia. They truly missed a treat. Fiona reports that she made it most of the way through her pieces unscathed (playing second violin), "except that really tricky part of the Hallelujah Chorus where the sopranos go crazy."