A Drive to Santa Fe

We planned to leave by ten. In effect, after a stop at Wally World in Salida, it was effectively eleven. We also stopped at the Golden Arches in Salida, Colorado, and then at KFC in Alamosa. But presently, there we were, driving south into New Mexico. The geography is rugged, but because of the overhead sun, not so visually exciting at mid-day, except compared to the majority of places where it isn't so rugged.

We got to Susanna's, a friend of Patty's, who lives several miles southeast of Santa Fe. The GPS system did fairly well, given the address, except we had to figure out the last quarter mile or so ourselves. All was well. We were eating soon, and on our way to the Santa Fe Opera for a performance of La Traviata at eight. We GPS'd some of the turns we needed to take, in hopes of arriving back again in the dark of night.

Into Santa Fe in the morning for several purposes. My purposes were ill-defined, while Patty would meet with a lady who will be going to El Salvador in two weeks, to share relevant information. We went downtown, but soon decided to go back to our temporary home until later. Tonight we're heading back to the Santa Fe Opera for Don Giovanni. Home for both of us on Friday.

Don Giovanni will be a powerful opera. A derivation of the Don Juan legend, the complex story plays out and the don is eventually consumed by the fires of Hell, to appropriate orchestral chords.

I didn't understand a word of La Traviota (sung in Italian last night) but the role of Violetta was superbly performed by Natalie Dessay. What a powerhouse performance! I was thinking during the performance about the relationship between the singers and the orchestra—the exact timing of everything, the utter precision, the sometimes-quiet and sometimes-thunderous notes of the instruments, and how the conductor keeps it all working.

Patty combines the visual, the map, and the GPS and we get where we're going in fine fashion. Or else she drives, and I apply myself to the navigational problems at hand. It's a good combo.