And so it was time to start another season. Time to head North, really Northeast, or actually Down East. In the words of that Ol' New England Episcopalian spiritual, I knew that I was soon to be "Bound for Haven". See below.
The Season (should be all caps ) starts for me with a bit of provisioning at Costco to fill up Art;s car, adding to a gross of frozen loaves of Le Petite Francais baguettes packed in dry ice, a case of liquor from the inventory at the closing of the CC, some lovely San Serre, 7 or 8 computers, a couple containers of what-not, two dogs, a tub of egg salad, six slices of bread, a handful of cigars, and a couple of Diet Cokes. One overnight later and he's there.
I had been up to my usual thrice daily changing to the travel plan when Bob emailed me that he had an extra ticket for Wicked on Saturday night in Richmond and had just purchased an inflatable guest bed. Dinner with friends before at Chez Foushee was great, both for the food and the company.
Bob and Marc have both been very involved for a long time in the political world of Virginia and by default DC and always have interesting insights into the processes. I met Harry for the first time and hope he didn't mind being interviewed, but the story of a bright, witty, young emigre from China by way of Shanghai with IBM sponsorship was a story that just kept presenting more questions. When I drifted back to Bob and Marc they were discussing an upcoming event which would be close to Terry's house, so he would probably be there. It took me a few ticks to realize "Terry" meant the governor.
Wicked was fun, of course. Any show that can play that many performances to that many people for that number of years in that many countries is not going to be Chekhov or Ionesco. Anything that can ridicule something as benignly charming as The Wizard of Oz is going to find a soft spot in my cynical heart. Here's a couple of single sentence thoughts about these two shows.
The Wizard of Oz - "Transported to a surreal world, a young girl kills this first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again." - Rick Polito
Wicked - "If I want to watch two crazy women yell at each other, I watch The View." - friend of a friend
The theater is a spectacle in and of itself. It's one of those Shriner Moorish themed architectural confections which blossomed across the US in the early part of the 20th century. In evening silhouette this one looks like a walled city in Morocco. Inside, a 3500 seat auditorium is decorated with geometric tiles and murals right out of NC Wyeth. Until sometime early in the 21st century it was The Mosque Theater or just "The Mosque". Now it's the Altria (pronounced "Big Tobacco" ) Theater.
The next leg of the journey took me from Richmond to Boston and from late spring back to just past winter.
A long walk in the Arnold Arboretum had some hints of spring,
including these two, who were busy filling up grocery bags with greens.
And another splendid evening with the always splendid Chad and Matt. In addition to the high-caliber conviviality of time shared over a meal and a drink....or two, it's always very interesting to hear some of the details of what how and what they do at work.
An easy zip the next day got me to Haven Colony and the End of Steamboat Road
No leaves on the trees, but still mighty pretty.
First night dinner was at The Pub and included a floor show, in that the barmaid pulled one of our pizzas out of the oven and delivered it directly to the floor. Next day was the opening of Sandy's Provisions, or as it's known in vernacular, Coffee with David. Since then we've had a few transplant year-rounders over for dinner, Art has made 312 trips back and forth to Reach Road overseeing the many things going on there, and I've gotten the kitchen up and running (which initiated a call from the credit card company about consumer fraud potential). Last night we headed to Ellsworth for the HD simulcast from the Met and finished the evening with dinner at Arborvine. I think it's safe to say The Season has begun, and now we get to watch Spring happen all over again.
'TIL THE NEXT TIME.
