Sunday, April 14, 2013

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2009. A friend of Mattie's gave him this alligator hand held claw. Mattie was mimicking the alligator's mouth each time I opened it! Peter obviously captured this cute moment in time, which showed Mattie's playfulness and sense of humor.



Quote of the day: Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, "What's in it for me?” ~ Brian Tracy

Peter and I spent most of the day outside on our deck, painting it! Though painting can be hard work, I think the clean up job Peter did yesterday was much harder. In one of our flower bays there had to be a two inch supply of bird seed shells. Between yesterday and today, the deck has been thoroughly transformed. It has its first coat of paint on it. We are trying to get this done so we can begin planting next weekend.

Mid-day we took a break and went to the ballet at the Kennedy Center. My favorite company, The American Ballet Theatre (ABT), was in town and doing a three act ballet called Le Corsaire (which means the pirate). I had never seen this ballet performed and I was eager to see it given the story line and also given that ABT was performing it. At intermission time, we walked outside on the Kennedy Center terrace and greeting us was a duck threesome. I called them, "The Ballet Ducks." They were squawking up a storm, not unlike theatre goers, and the ducks were drawing all sorts of attention.

I can see why Le Corsaire is not a frequently performed ballet. I surmise the reason for this is simple.... you need a company who not only has the dancing talent but also the emotional depth to convey the content. This ballet was FILLED with a great deal of dancing, but challenging dancing. In the second act, the three principal dancers just stunned their audience. I mean STUNNED. Bodies defying gravity!!! I can't say I have been to a ballet in which I was so moved that I cried. Not because the content was sad, since this wasn't a tragedy, but because of the sheer beauty, skill, and emotion presented before my eyes. Needless to say, today's performance got several standing ovations and once again it has reminded me why ABT is celebrating its 75th birthday. Just a stellar company. Even the Washington Post stated, "the American Ballet Theatre continues to prove 'why dance is not a luxury or a frill but a necessity of life' with Le Corsaire. I couldn't have stated it better. This performance was the highlight of my day.

On our walk home, we passed this beautiful row of cherry trees. I am not sure why I never noticed this row before but these pink beauties and fragrances in the air caught my attention today.