Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Chapel Hill Excursion

Actually I was going to Durham to a particular outdoor furniture place that I’ve never been able to find open when I’ve been there early in the week. This is Saturday, what retail shop isn’t open then? This one. H-m-m. I drove over an hour to get here, no sense in wasting the gas I’ve already used, so, on to Chapel Hill.
Driving south on 15/501 as the map directed brought me around and back to a part of Durham I’d not seen before but a friend told me about the day before. Wow! Again, not to be defeated I stopped for a light lunch at Fishmonger’s and jumped onto 15/501 again.
This time I didn’t take the route through the town but stayed on the highway to Franklin Street and bingo! I finally found Chapel Hill. This has culminated a few years of saying “Yes, I want to explore Chapel Hill, maybe tomorrow, next week, later, in a month, etc.”
Saturday afternoon and the shops and restaurants were filled. Even the book shop had paying customers lined up in front of me. This was good to see after all the gloom and doom I hear daily about the economy. I even found a tiny little shop offering Cannoli. The gentleman said it was made with Italian hands by way of New York. After tasting it later that night, I knew he was telling me the truth.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Autumn Roadsides

Last Saturday the early morning fog still clung to the trees and bushes in the distance creating a beautiful but eerie backdrop for the ghostly-castle-in-Scotland-mystery I was listening to in the SUV. I was driving into Warrenton to shop at the Farmers’ Market downtown. The scene cast up beauty instead of spookiness. The autumn golden-yellow colored flowers adorned the roadside in thick bunches running all along the edges of the blacktop for miles. I continue to be overwhelmed with the abundance of wildflowers wherever I drive this September. Well behind the blooms that look like Black-eyed Susans are tall stems of greenery topped in clusters of little white flowers. These are tucked into the edges of the forests, in masses. A florist couldn’t have arranged them more stunningly for any amount of money. And they are there just for looking.

Obviously the grass cutting road crews have beauty in their souls. They trim the grass closely but go around the buttery flowers leaving a feast for drivers and their passengers for which I am thankful.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Pandolfi Concert

This afternoon I went to Cherry Hill to the Thomas Pandolfi Piano Concert. The grand piano is set up in the center hallway. I sat in the room to the right where I could watch his hands and expressions while he played. His first selection "Apres Une Lecture du Dante" by Franz Liszt thundered throughout the manor. I could feel the descent into Hell as Liszt intended it to be. As I watched Pandolfi play with vigor and intensity and later Chopin’s work, it felt as though George Sand, Chopin and Liszt along with his long-time lover, Countess Maria d’Agoult were in the room.

They spent many hours in the salons of the wealthy in France, Liszt playing with passion almost violently, Chopin often played with delicacy on the keys. Picnics, social events and visits to Aurore’s (George Sand) estate were part of their lives. Time eroded the lovers; Sand leaving Chopin and Liszt leaving d’Agoult, even Sand and d’Agoult became public enemies, but for some time music kept them close. Liszt and Chopin remained close friends until Chopin’s early demise from his ill health. Yes, Thomas Pandolfi played beautifully bringing the spirits of these four friends into the rooms of Cherry Hill.