Barry Kraft, above, adding about 30 years to his actual age, looks like the Lear we all have dreamed of, a perfect blend of age, pride, strength and perhaps a hint of vulnerability. He is performing in Ashland, Oregon, at a local college, a step aside from his usual important work with the Ashland Shakespeare Festival. Jessica, his proud wife, sent the following URL.http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110210/ENTERTAIN/102100313&cid=sitesearch
Dear friends and family,
Back home from our weekend in NYC. We did well, with naps between activities. For some reason, my email was not working, so at the end of our stay, our son Dave, who drove us home, took my NYC computer with him to fix. Something is corrupt.
We were able to follow our plans well. Dave drove us in early on Friday, giving us plenty of time to rest. Jay B, the terrific manager of the two reading rooms at the NYPL and the folks who use them, organizes a gathering at the NYPL (second Friday of every month, at 4:30). He is very warm and welcoming and has become as dear to us as our former librarian, David Smith, who retired. I met some new people and saw some I already knew. People brought food, but Jay brought the most. So there was food and talk and drinks. After that, we went to our apartment and took naps. I saw that the one activity, short as it was (perhaps an hour), was enough. I am not ready yet for the four-hour span of the Columbia Shakespeare Seminar. Maybe next month.
The next day we went to the Philharmonic and heard two wonderful pieces. The afternoon program always starts with a chamber music piece. This one, Mozart's Quintet in E-flat major for Piano and Winds, featured oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. The pianist was Jonathan Biss, who also performed in the second piece after the intermission, Beethovan's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37. Instead of our usual excellent seats, which I didn't think I could manage, we had a box in the farthest corner from stage right, with movable chairs so I could lift my legs as needed (using Laury's wonderful camp stool). It was not easy to see from this spot, but we could hear the music very well. It's time to renew our subscription for next year, and I am wondering what we should do. Perhaps we should subscribe to the philharmonic series as Tilles, a mere 10 minutes away, where a good seat near the front would have room for the camp stool (as at Philobolus last week). It's so hard to know: will this neuropathy and fatigue diminish somehow? Not too likely, I would guess.
After the concert we took a cab to Szechuan Gourmet with Naomi, our concert companion. Since we arrived before 5 p.m. we had no trouble getting a table. At a normal dining hour it is impossible. Merwin and I managed all of the activity by taking naps before and after. By being a little careful, avoiding unnecessary activity, I had a great time.
Today, José Ramón, a dear friend from Malaga, will be arriving from DC, where he has been working at the Folger since New Year's. It will be a joy to see him, and instead of going into high gear with food, I am going to suppress my inclination to cook something special and make everything easy for myself: this evening, it will be soup from the freezer made by our daughter-in-law Debbie (thanks Debbie!) plus a few embellishments; tomorrow take in from Caggiano's. That's the plan, anyway.
Love to all,
Bernice
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