I think I like the word halcyon almost as much as I like the work eschew. I looked it up today and it means "tranquil" according to my pocket dictionary, which by its very nature needs to keep the definitions short. But I think it goes deeper than that and also has an element of nostalgia in it. . . .at least for me. As in: Oh those halcyon days of yesteryear! Actually, come to think of it, yesteryear is a pretty cool word too.
ANYHOO. . . . . .today I eschewed the lectures once again, and spent the day looking forward to those events I had already planned to do. . . some of my favorites. After singing in church I mosied to the post office for my mail, of which there was none. Let's just say that the cards and letters are not pouring in . . but on the bright side, neither are the bills! I should mention that the weather today was exactly what the weather would be if someone gave me a weather menu and asked me to choose the perfect day. For some people that would be a hot sunny day on a beach. But for me it was today. . . . .it got all the way up into the low 70's. . . . there was a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds. . . .there was a slight breeze all day. . . .and jackets were required toting paraphenalia. GORGEOUS!
I sat on my porch and put in some serious reading time on next week's book: One Hundred Names for Love. Then I made my brown bag lunch and headed for the theater. Today's noon time topic was "Love's Labors Lost which opens tonight and which I will see on Saturday afternoon. They have set the play in 1920's Chautauqua with the set to match. I'm really looking forward to the production and I love the theater brown bag events. Only one left next week! Then as I strolled back towards the plaza, I stopped in to the two art galleries and went through all the displays. I love doing this and the art work up here is phenominal. What a treat to have two galleries within walking distance. After that I strolled through two antique shops on the plaza. . . always fun.
Then it was back to the porch to read until the 3:30 author presentation. Phillipp Meyer. . . . author of American Rust. He is definitely not a public speaker. . . but then I don't think that's a requirement of a great writer. But he had written his speech and read it and it was great. Certainly much better than Amy Dickinson's reading of her book for 45 minutes. He described his background that related to the topics in the book, and also his process as a writer. Loved his presentation, and especially sitting on the lawn in this beautiful weather.
Tonight I will attend choir and then will see my 3rd movie in 2 nights. Tonight is "In a Better World." The people coming out of the movie house last night having seen this were raving about it. Last night I saw the bi-weekly movie classic which was "The Ladykillers" starring Alec Guinness and a young Peter Sellers. Hilarious. Then I saw "Another Year" a subtle British drama about the characters and their lives over the course of the year. Some phenominal acting. . . very enjoyable.
So come November when the cold winds start to blow, I'll be thinking back on those halcyon days of the summer of 2012 at Chautauqua. Does 3 months back qualify as "yesteryear"?
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