Monday Morning Post: Spring Edition

Something's happening today that hasn't happened in a while. It's sunny in Seattle. Okay, so the weather was awesome all weekend, but after so many months of overcast and rain and clouds and drizzle and mist and fog and damp, I want the sun to stick around for a while. Like, till next October, ideally.

Yeah, that won't happen. I'll be lucky if it's still spring when I wake up again. In the meantime, check out what's happening along my front walkway. The weeping birch is leafing out and all the Pacific Coast Iris are spreading their wings. Some of them look a little beat up, but by the time they're done blooming in the end of June, the asters will have pretty much taken over. If I had more energy I'd have pruned out the dead bits. Next spring...

The species tulips that come up in the bed to the left are pretty much done but if you look close you can see some pretty blue-flowered muscari, and in a little while the mint will fill in. The large clump if iris at the center is a random volunteer, and if it doesn't bloom I'm going to get rid of it. The stone birdbath was my 10th anniversary present to my husband.


 


 

Look! See, it is sunny. I'm not even joking. On the left you can (kinda) see a small maple that came from a start off the big tree in my parent's yard, and below is Burnsie the dog digging in the herb bed. He's discovered a passion for "gardening".  ;)

The shots below are of my back porch, where I ate breakfast this morning. It's my favorite place in the garden. If you look closely you can see the plants I bought a week or so ago, all ready and waiting to find their new homes. Soon! I promise. 

Now, what's the best thing about your garden?

Peace, 

Liv

Friday Fun (of a very different kind)

Noni and I spent some time thinking about an appropriate Friday Fun video for today. See, the thing is, we met twenty years ago in the alto section of our local Cathedral Choir. We were part of the Enchanted Altos, a bunch of gals who had perhaps watched the movie Enchanted April one too many times, and who, on Thursday nights after choir practice, could routinely be found in The Morgue, our name for the cocktail lounge that was closest to the practice room. I still hang with The Altos; in fact, they're probably my closest  friends. (Don't blush too hard. You know who you are.) And it all happened because we share a love for choral music, particularly music that was written as part of the Catholic liturgy.

Photo: http://www.dreamstime.com/easter-arrangement-imagefree76083

So today is Good Friday, and if that doesn't get a liturgical freak excited, nothing will. There's a rich history of song and text and ritual that is associated with this day. Given all that, it didn't seem appropriate to post one of our normal somewhat irreverent and (usually) funny videos. Instead, Noni and I each picked an example of music that is a necessary part of Good Friday. You know how you all have songs or bands that are inextricably linked to certain situations? Like, it's not a day at the beach without a little Van Halen or the Red Hot Chili Peppers or, geez, I don't even know what the kids these days would listen to on the beach. Anyway, you get the idea. 

First, here's an arrangement of the Stabat Mater by Guisseppe Tartini (1692 - 1770), a poem which is a long and somewhat Gothic take on what Mary might have said while her son Jesus was hanging on the cross. I love singing this piece...in Latin, because the words in English are just too dark. Anyway, this is hands down my favorite Good Friday piece.

And from Noni, with love, is this piece by Antonio Lotti (1667 - 1740). It's called Crucifixus, and this setting is for six voices (I think). He wrote different arrangements of this same text for five, six, eight and ten voices (meaning vocal parts). This one is my favorite, and it's performed by the choral ensemble Noni used to sing with before she moved to Seattle and became one of the Enchanted Altos.

However you choose to celebrate Easter and the beginning of spring, whether it's a sunrise service or some quality time in the garden, I wish you the very best in this season of new life and hope.
Peace,
Liv