The "Big Apple"

I love old Rock and Roll, I love Contemporary Jazz, I love the Blues, I love (some) Country music...but mostly I love Opera. Is that a paradox or what? As my hair started turning grey, opera started sounding enjoyable and the more I listened, the more I became a fan. Maybe it's because when you really listen to a great opera singer you realize that a voice like that is god given. To you sports fans out there, the best way I could describe it, is that Pavarotti was the "Tiger Woods" or "Michael Jordan" of opera.

Last week we watched a performance of La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was a Christmas gift from our oldest daughter who in her younger years danced for the San Diego Ballet and Opera. So we spent last week in the "Big Apple' with the highlight of the trip being the night at the opera which included an elegant dinner at the Grand Tier restaurant in the Met Opera house itself. So us country folks were able to rub elbows with some of the New York elite. But they must have been envious of us. My wife planned on this evening for months and even had special earrings made to match a necklace that she inherited from her mother - she was the "elite" one in the Grand Tier that night. It was an evening that we will remember for a long time, and if you have not spent much time in the "big apple" don't miss it - just take a lot of money.

We also took in a few other sights - the Museum of Modern Art, the Paley Center for Radio and TV (our son is a "big wheel" there), Lombardi's (the first pizza restaurant in the USA), Grand Central Station, the United Nations, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts (don't miss it) . We also had dinner and drinks at a restaurant called Bill's Gay 90's, a "speakeasy" going back to the turn of the 20th century and still going strong. This was unique since my grandfather played piano there for a long time in the late 30's and early 40's. It was one of the highlights of a special trip to the most energetic city in the world.

Now we are back on the Central Coast at our 20 acre ranch - a slight change from the "high density" of NYC. And as I dug holes today, and set traps to catch the gophers that invaded my vineyard while I was gone, I thought "Wow, just a few days ago I was rubbing elbows with the elite at the Met Opera, and now I am up to my elbows in dirt chasing varmints that are trying to kill my vines".

Isn't life interesting?