All posts by verily sherrilee

Directionally challenged, crafty, reading mother of young adult
2025, education, History, Music

Opera Epic

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It was on this day in 1869 that the opera “Das Rheingold” by Richard Wagner premiered on the stage at the National Theatre Munich, Germany.   It is 150 minutes long and is the first of an epic four-part drama known as Der Ring des Nibelungen.   Rheingold, although it is the beginning of Wagner’s famous cycle, Rheingold was the last of the texts to be written.  Wagner didn’t want any of the Ring to be performed until all the parts were complete.  King Ludwig II of Bavaria thought otherwise and ordered the staging of Rheingold in 1869.  It wasn’t until 1876 that the entirety of Ring was performed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Bavaria.  These days, Bayreuth still stages the entire Ring epic each year, a total of four operas that add up to about 18 hours of stage time.  Other opera houses tend to stage the Ring over the course of a few years. 

Although I recognize some of the music instantly,

I didn’t have a clue what The Ring is all about.  The plot is EXTREMELY complex and begins with the theft of gold that is then made into a magic ring  Lots and lots of Norse gods and goddesses; truly I didn’t even know there were that many.  In the end, Brunhilde (who had been a goddess but was stripped of her immortality) returns the ring but not before Valhalla and the gods are destroyed. 

Now that I know more about The Rheingold and The Ring, it doesn’t increase my desire to ever see it.  Certainly not 18 hours of it.  I’m not a particularly big fan of opera to start with but that much plot to keep track of might make my head explode?

Do you like opera?  Have a favorite? 

2025, Automotive, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Treasure Trove

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Today’s post comes to us from Barbara in Rivertown.

Our 2008 Prius finally gave up the fight on Sunday, September 7, thankfully on the way HOME from our Unitarian Church Service. It started up from a stop light hesitantly with little power, made it a couple blocks and then I had to pull over. After I turned it off and on again, it got us home, but I didn’t trust it farther than around the block.

uckily, we had already been looking at a used Prius at Hi-Tech Auto on the edge of Rushford, MN, half an hour from here. We got through the the rest of the week through the kindness of friends – getting rides and borrowing cars – and managed to buy our “new” 2015 Prius on Friday, September 12th.

Parts of those 5 days were spent cleaning out the old car, and after 16 years of ownership, just imagine what we found! The following list is mostly from the glove compartment, and that “well” between the seats.

  • 5 partial packets of Kleenex
  • 15 plastic forks and/or spoon sets
  • 35 take-out napkins
  • 5 pairs of pierced earrings (for when I forget)
  • 2 first aid kits and one sewing kit
  • my spare pair of glasses (former prescription)
  • 4 emery boards
  • 2 tire pressure gauges
  • lotion and hand sanitizer, Chapstick
  • tiny tape measure
  • corkscrew, church key
  • packets of Off repellent
  • and of course, loose change

If you cleaned out your car, especially the glove box, what items might you find?

 

2025, Media, Movies, News, Theatre

Robert Redford – RIP

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Robert Redford did so much during his career and it’s tempting to put up lists of his appearances and his time behind the camera as well as the microphone.  But the list would go on and on and on.

He was born in 1936 and began his career at the age of 23 on Broadway, starring in Tall Story.  His biggest early hit was Barefoot in the Park and went on to make a movie of that name with Jane Fonda.  Many small roles in television in the early years as well.  He worried about his “blond male” stereotype but eventually found not just his niche, but his first massive success in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969.

I was 13 when I saw BCSK and was gutted. I’ve never been able to watch the entire movie since and I wore a poncho (in solidarity) until I wore it out.  I also cried for about an hour after seeing The Way We Were – have also never watched that one at all since.

However, I have watched Spy Game (with Brad Pitt) repeatedly and Sneakers (with Dan Akroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, River Phoenix) is one of my “watch-in-the-middle-of-the-night” movies.

In what I consider an amazing feat, his directorial debut was Ordinary People in 1980.  Four academy awards.  This is a searing film but so so so good.  Redford said in an interview once that he came across Mary Tyler Moore sitting on the beach looking out at the ocean and he just knew that she would be right for this part, even though she had never really done anything that serious before.  I’ve watched it repeatedly. 

A few years ago I tried to watch all of Redford’s movies. It was too big of a project but did result in my having seen A LOT of them.  Let’s see how many of the holes I can fill in.

It’s not a secret that he was a gifted actor, a gifted filmmaker, a gifted teacher and a gifted political activist.  Not too many of his ilk come along these days.  He will be missed.

Any favorite Robert Redford films?

2025, Food, home, Nature

I’ll Quit Writing About Tomatoes One of These Days. I Swear.

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You’d think that with all the tomato dishes we’ve had in the last few weeks that I would not be craving yet another tomato recipe.  The last couple of days I’ve been thinking about pizza – specifically Boludo’s, which we haven’t had in a while.  But the combination of my knee (had therapy yesterday morning and was quite sore) and all the tomatoes on the counter and all the pesto in the fridge overtook my desire to order in.

Pizza dough with olive oil, pesto and thinly sliced Romas (and I did NOT cut myself on the mandolin!!!) with some assorted shredded cheeses I found in the cheese drawer.  Topped with some salt and pepper and then some more shredded parmesan that I had leftover from lunch a few days ago.  Turned out rather well, if I do say so myself.

When was the last time you ordered in?

2025, animals, Art, Fantasy, History

Old Modern Art

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Eighty-five years ago last week, four teenagers accidentally changed not only the trajectories of their lives, but history as well.  While hiking near Montignac, France, the four boys stumbled upon caves with a collection of cave paintings unlike anything ever seen.  The paintings, known as the Lascaux cave paintings have been dated from 15,000 to 17,000 years back and turned the art world on its ear, proving that Stone Age peoples were artists and biographers.

The four boys ended up on different paths.  Two of the boys were Jewish and shortly after the discovery, one boy was sent to Buchenwald with his family and the second boy ended up being hidden by a Jewish Children’s aid organization.  The other two boys, who were from Montignac, guarded the cave over the first winter and eventually became tour guides of the famous caves and paintings.  In fact, it was the two of them that noticed the condensation in the caves causing algae and mold growth.  It was at this point that France closed the caves to the public to protect them from as much outside environment as possible.  The cave paintings have been meticulously copied and can be viewed in a replica of the caves – Lascaux IV – part of the Lascaux historical center.

The two Jewish boys survived WWII and Buchenwald; all four lived into old age and were re-united in 1986.  The last to pass was Simon Coencas, who died in 2020 at the age of 93. 

The paintings were obviously modern art at the time they were created, but at 15,000 years of age, I doubt they qualify any longer.  I have a few pieces of modern art but I also lean toward more classical representational art.  Impressionism is a favorite and I am fond of a lot of sculpture.  I particularly love this one that resides here in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts:

If you could go back in time and discover something, what would it be?

2025, education, Health, State Fair

Summer Learning

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Nobody said “don’t go to the fair”.  Nobody said “it will be very rough on your knee”.  Not the urgent care doctor, not the orthopedist, not the physical therapist.  To be fair, none of these people knew me.  None of them heard “will I be able to go to the fair” and translated that to “will I be able to go to the fair six times, 8-9 hours each time and go from one end to the other and back”. 

So technically you could say it’s my fault.  If I had been clear what “go to the fair” really meant, maybe they would have given me different advice.  But if they had, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how excellent the emergency service of the Minnesota State Fair truly are.

Thursday was fine – although I got blisters, probably from walking funny due to the big brace on one knee.  Saturday was ok; I wore sneakers to avoid the funny walking blisters.  I was slow but at a crowded fair, that’s not actually a handicap.  On Monday I did half a day and then went back for the grandstand show.  17,000 steps.  Sore city.  On Wednesday, I was really sore but it was Golden Retriever Day so I soldiered on.  On Friday, both knees were sore, so I wore the brace AND a compression sleeve on the other knee.  Then about noon, over near the Caribe Café, my “good knee” gave out suddenly.  No fall, no trip, no getting knocked around by the crowds; just suddenly there was absolutely no walking on that leg. 

First the police came, parked on the street near where I had managed to get to a bench.  He ran the lights so the EMTs would know where to find me.  EMTs came, took my blood pressure (yowzer…), asked me a ton of questions and then made me sign a form, telling me it was to verify that they weren’t kidnapping me (his exact words).  Then another set of guys got me into a “gator” and we headed, extremely slowly due to the crowds, to the Emergency Room.

It was kind of quiet when I was there – in addition to an intake area, they actually have a little hospital in the back.  YA mentioned that it looked like all the beds, table and chairs were donated by a bunch of different medical centers – nothing matched.  But it was clean and I was the only patient.  Oscar was my “attending” EMT.  More blood pressure (much lower), more questions.  Another form.  Then they found a very nice volunteer who drove us to the Park `n Ride so that YA could get me home. 

I’m much better now, although not exactly super mobile yet.  I believe the orthopedist is a little sorry he didn’t suggest I take it a little easier or maybe try a wheelchair a couple of the days, but he won’t admit that; he’s “glad I’m out living my life”.  And now I know all about how the emergency services at the fair works!

Have you learned anything new this summer?

2025, Food, Kids, State Fair

Fair Food Roundup – 2025

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I know that I always say that YA and I don’t go to the fair for the food but it would be a lie if we didn’t enjoy the food part of each day.  Here’s a lowdown on the 2025 fair foods for us:

  • Hot Siracha Funnel Cake Bites. This is not a new food but it is still the first thing that I get on the first day of the fair.  It doesn’t hurt that the owners of the stall know me and have the bite dough ready for me; normally they don’t make the bite dough so early because most folks want sweet in the morning.  Savory and just a bit hot with the siracha sauce.
  • Beignets.  This was a new stall this year and they knocked it out of the park.  The beignets were hot, fluffy, just the right amount of powdered sugar.  They also had a lot of tea and coffee selections, although the beverages were on the pricey side.
  • Sweet Squeakers. As always, The Blue Barn knows what we like.  This year’s new offering was cheese curds batter fried with lemon whipped cream and raspberry sauce.  A perfect way to start Day Two.  The pierogies and the French toast bites are still on the menu and we sampled them on Day Three and Four.  Still yummy.
  • Filled Churro and Chimney Cake. I’m putting these together because they were actually similar and disappointing in the same way.  Both were churro/doughnut dough caked and filled with stuff: the churro with Nutella and the chimney cake with ice cream and Nutella (although not much Nutella).  Both suffered by being stuffed which decreased the crunch factor.  Nutella and ice cream however were excellent.
  • Dessert Dog. This is the second year that the West End Creamery was disappointing.  This new food was advertised as ice cream sandwiched between pieces of coffee cake, drizzled with strawberry/rhubarb sauce and on a stick.  First off, the stick was a waste – you could NOT eat this off a stick – fork was required.  The coffee cake was more like cookie dough but not that good.  And the price was outrageous.  Probably no West End Creamery for me next year.
  • Green Apple Sucker Ice Cream. YA had this and informed me immediately that I wouldn’t like it because it tasted exactly like those green apple caramel suckers.  Which she adores and I do not.  Five stars from YA.
  • Jumbo Tater Tots. We finally had these on our final day – YA had been dragging her feet for some reason.  We got the cheese bomb version and they were exactly as expected – huge cheese filled tater tots.  We had sour cream and chives on the side and they were delicious.

All the rest of our favorites were still great:  roasted corn, Hawaiian shave ice, pickle pizza, cheese curds, potato cheddar crepe, blueberry pie and multiple applications of cookies.  Can’t forget to mention my favorite mocktails from Summer Lakes.  They have several varieties and I switch up but my favorite one is the Wedgehammer – orange juice, lemonade, lime juice, ginger and a slice of orange.

When I read through this, it sounds like all we do is eat, but remember all this is spread out over 5-6 days and for the most part we share everything.  There were several new foods we didn’t get to – if they’re still around next year maybe we’ll get to them.

Anything you’ve been craving this week (food or otherwise)?

2025, books, Fantasy, Mysteries, Nature

Best of Times, Worst of Times

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I read for a lot of reasons.  One of them is to find new ideas or to be reminded of ideas I may have had in the past.

The book I just finished (not revealing the title as there would be spoilers otherwise) had a fairly absurd premise but then managed to present several trains of thought that were tantalizing.  A huge asteroid is heading for Earth and scientists have determined that it will wipe out everyone and everything in two years, six weeks.  

One character, who works in banking, came up with a scheme that basically defrauds people but will make the bank a ton of moolah.  His theory is that by the time folks figure out they’ve been defrauded, the world will be ending.  Sadly the other members of the board agreed with him.

Another character, an aging rock and roll star, was facing terminal cancer and decided to end his life so that his music royalties would go to his first ex-wife as soon as possible.  He also made an extremely heartfelt apology to her for how he had treated her back in the day.

A third character, an anthropologist, was worried about the end of civilization before the end of the world.  Why, he postulated, would be the incentive to keep working?  Who would do the jobs that keep us all fed and clothed?

This last character’s questions have remained with me for days now.  Whenever there is some news of an asteroid that’s coming close to the planet, I do muse about the end of days.  But I have never considered what would happen if we KNEW it was end of days for sure.   How could we keep civilization going?  How would I personally get by until the end?  Would I feel the need to atone for my “sins”?  I’m not sure, but I think I would definitely make a trip to Alaska, the only state in the union I haven’t visited.

Anything on your bucket list you’d like to do if you knew the world was ending in two years and six weeks?

2025, Kids, Music, State Fair

Happy Together

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While I love the State Fair, I’m not all that big on the grandstand shows.  Not sure why – just not my thing.  Every now and then I go to a show – last one before this year was Garrison Keillor, back in 2017.  

Back in the spring, the Happy Together tour was announced in an email from the State Fair folks.  Later that same day, my friend Lori, who loves the fair as much as I do, emailed me with the dates she and her husband were going to be on the fairgrounds (she lives in Chicago now).  For some reason, the grandstand show and Lori being in town seemed like a sign.  We texted back and forth a bit about going together and then I bought the tickets.

When I was leaving for the fairgrounds on Monday night, YA said “will you know any of the songs?”  Her opinion of my musical knowledge is that I don’t know anything written in the last thirty years.  She might be correct, but I assured her that the 60s and 70s are another thing entirely.

Here was the line-up:  the Cowsills, the Vogues, Gary Puckett, Little Anthony, Jay & the Americans and the Turtles.  Each group got four songs – they all did their most popular and on the fourth song, videos of each group back in the day was aired on the big screens. 

It was a fun show and I DID know all the words to all the songs – and sang them unashamedly (along with everyone else in the grandstand).  It was a little bittersweet though as the 60s is now too long ago for these performers to still be stumping around.  None of the bands had all their original members; only the Cowsills were all Cowsills, just fewer of them.  The Turtles were actually represented by Ron Dante, who was a member of the Archies, but was never a Turtle.  (This turned out to be fun because there was an extra song for that set – Sugar, Sugar, which is one of my favorites.)  And the single performers (Gary P, Little Anthony) were struggling.   And while I know all the words to the Gary Puckett songs (Young Girl, Woman, This Girl is a Woman Now and Lady Willpower), listening to the lyrics in 2025 is a bit…. squirmy. 

If another Happy Together tour comes around and it again features the 60s, I think I’ll take a pass.  Unless it’s for the 70s – then I might give that a go!

Any favorite tune from the 60s?

2025, Baboon Achievers, Food, gardening, home, Nature

Tomato Land

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My bales look sorry this summer.  Saggy and disintegrating looking.  Ben explained to me how this can happen – kinda made sense.

But saggy and disintegrating doesn’t seem to be a problem for my veggies.  We’re having a bumper crop of everything.  Basil, chives, rosemary, cilantro, poblano peppers, hot macho peppers, mint and 4 kinds of tomatoes.  Romas, some heirloom, sweet 100 cherry and in a summer surprise, I’ve actually gotten a couple of Santa tomatoes from the plant that I grew from a seed.  I’m sure there’s more out there but I haven’t harvested for a couple of days.

Santa Tomatoes

I used up all the cilantro already.  Four jars of pesto so far, an ice cube tray of chopped mint with lime juice, another ice cube tray of chopped basil with olive oil.  Eight containers of tomato sauce.  Gifts of tomatoes to neighbors and friends.

And lots and lots of tomato recipes.  (This was all going on while I had a MASSIVE zucchini to deal with as well.)   I’ve made my favorite pasta with cherry tomatoes a couple of times.  Made tomato butter that was terrific on the zucchini corn bread.  This weekend I’m making panzanella, tomato basil soup and some tomato rice.  Probably time to consign some of the tomatoes to the freezer as well.  Whole tomatoes right into freezer bags for use this winter. 

Gosh – I feel like Renee and Chris with all this produce and cooking!

Any ideas for too many tomatoes?  Or peppers?