Boo

Fort Worth Botanic Garden mural

And a little pumpkin fest glory too

Do you like my eyeball collection?

The skeleton heads glow at night

Happy Halloween Weekend. Hope it's a safe and fun one for everyone. Our neighborhood has a lot of decorations. Folks definitely have the spirit. Do you? 

BOO!
 

Halloween Spooktacular

Saturday 10/16/21 - enjoyed the Family Series sponsored by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at Bass Hall. Wow - they are back and following Covid protocol.  I swear everyone wore their masks faithfully indoors. It was so cute to see kids in costume along with adults. Spiderman is popular.  I wore my Charlie Brown Halloween t-shirt and got compliments.  Total fun morning hour. 

Bass Hall is a fabulous performance hall.  The exterior is gorgeous.  Indoors is breathtaking. 

The orchestra members were in costume too - they definitely brought the spirit. My friend, Candice, and I had the best time. 

Halloween Spooktacular program.  Begin with a rousing Star Spangled Banner. The symphony does a bang-up job

Wagner - The Ride of the Valkyries...always amazing

Gounod - Funeral March of the Marionette

Agudelo - El Sombreron  (my fave) very ghostly

Saint-Saens  - Danse macabre, Op 40

Prokoiev - Masks from Romeo and Juliet no. 1, Op 64A

Stravinsky - The Firebird  Infernal Dance

Alberga - Snow White's Dance

Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice (oh, not those infernal brooms splashing water....)  Classic Mickey!

Gotta support local music - I always learn about music.  Bless the Fort Worth Symphony. 

 

Monday Book Review - Telex From Cuba by Rachel Kushner

 Telex From Cuba by Rachel Kushner was an interesting read for me.  I am truly not up on my Cuban history. I trust she did some research and then wrote this fiction about an American community in Cuba in 1958. 

The Americans were supervising the sugarcane plantations. They are living rich with native Cuban servants, country club parties, and a lot of indulgences. Meanwhile, Fidel and Raoul Castro are up in the hills with the rebels plotting revolt and revolution. In some of the American families, young men head to the hills to help the rebels. 

We follow young Everly Lederer and K.C. Stites as they become aware of the race hierarchies and violence.  Cover blurb - They discover the brutality that keeps the colony humming. If their parents manage to maintain blissfully untouched by the forces of history, the children hear the whispers of what is to come. 

With her first novel, Kushner surrounds history with strong characters and an engaging plot. Cover blurb - Haunting and compelling, this book offers the urgency of a telex from a forgotten time and place. 

Interesting historical perspective and solid writing. Thumbs up

Finally Friday - Let's Explore the Botanic Garden

As you read this, I am in PA for a fall visit with my father. Meanwhile, last Sunday I enjoyed a wonderful stroll at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. It was sweatshirt weather perfect. 

Still lots of eye-popping color

I love these whispy pink grasses

Now that's a lot of purple asters. Breathtaking

 And a nice surprise as a rounded a corner - this fellow was not letting anyone pass. 

What's the password?  Hmm. Go Fish?

Hope you are enjoying fall weather wherever you are. My dad said PA was showing its glory. I've been ready for the crimsons and gold. 

Have a good weekend. I'll be sitting a lot at dad's kitchen table. Always time for a snack. Cheers!

Whatever Wednesday at the Lake

Thursday - October 7th was a gorgeous day. 

I was off work and we headed to Lake Ray Roberts - a one hour drive north from our home. 

 Lovely land to explore thanks to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Group. And there's a bit of history. This is the only piece left - a chimney - from an old pioneer home on this land in Texas

We were walking a path and who was meandering near by?

Ray's pet deer

Sandy beach area and darn clear water for a Texas lake. No one was around. We enjoyed the trails, water, and picnic areas by ourselves. 

We plan to explore more state parks and take advantage of the nature around us. What a splendid calm day. 
 

Book Review - Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

 Transcendent Kingdom is a lovely piece of fiction by Yaa Gyasi.  The writing is gorgeous. The story is interesting and profound. This is one of those books that, when done, you close it and have to take a breath and just think. 

Gifty is a PHD candidate in neuroscience at Stanford. She is working on reward-seeking behavior in mice to study depression and addiction. cover blurb -  Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on Oxy.  Her suicidal mother stays in bed. 

This book looks at Gifty's work, her search for answers, her family, and her hunger for faith. 

cover blurb - She grapples with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. 

Church vs. science. This is a theme of Transcendent Kingdom and is handled well by this gifted writer. 

p.33  We don't know what we don't know. We don't even know the questions we need to ask in order to find out, but when we learn one tiny little thing, a dim light comes on in a dark hallway, and suddenly new questions appear. 

p.63  But the memory lingered, the lesson I have never been able to quite shake - that I would always have something to prove and that nothing but blazing brilliance would be enough to prove it. 

Gifty is a gem of a person. Enjoy this book. Savor this book. And come away with hope. 

Finally Friday

 'Nuff said

I shall leave this to ponder for the weekend.  Cheers all!