The tears have got to stop!

But what can you do? The night is magnificent! A clear sky, a setting sun and an evening Concert on the Square that is set to bring down the house (indeed, it was so crowded that people turned a bit vicious in overlapping their blankets on top of your own).

Tonight, the New Zealander, Hayley Westenra sang in her debut orchestral performance. The music was deliberately powerful: Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye” from Romanza (download it, the version with Sarah Brightman, everyone! Guaranteed tears! Or is it me? I heard this song repeatedly on my very first visit to China several years back: I will always think of it as a mix of China where I heard it and Italy – the country where I secretly buried my roots way back when... more on that next month), and then a beautiful piece from New Zealand – Pokarekare Ana. Sob city! I could not stop bawling. My co-listeners shifted the blanket a bit to disassociate themselves, but it was no use, because the songs call for hugs and embraces and tears. Schmaltzy? No, not at all. Beautiful.

My pal, John, from the L’Etoile bakery crew was there, performing with the Madison Chamber Orchestra. That, too, was sad – he’s leaving next month to study in Switzerland.  I know he’ll be famous someday, especially if fame is determined by kindness and a good soul.

In the end, as I wrote in Japan, what you notice every time is the presence of the children. These little girls (see below) climbed up to the podium and swayed to the music. But then, so did the grownups. God, it was a beautiful evening. (And we got back just in time to catch the Edwards speech.)

Concert in full swing: always, it's the children that inspire 

you saw him here first: John Patek. Remember the name. Talent and kindness -- how rare! 

Calling all blog readers: help save Pimbury

You may have missed the short little story in the NYTimes today (here) announcing the sad fate of Mike Pimbury. It appears that he is the last of the living Pimburies, having never married nor produced offspring. After his demise, the name belongs to history. [And not much of a history at that, since a quick Google revealed few Pimburies of note that could potentially survive in our collective memory. Most of the Pimbury hits are news articles about Mike searching for more Pimburies, as in for instance the piece titled “Y a-t-il un Pimbury dans la salle?” – is there a Pimbury in the room? And so on.]

I have no similar sad story to relate, since my maiden name of  “Lewandowska” is about as ubiquitous in Poland as Smith or Brown are in this country. But simply because I am one of a million or more doesn’t mean that I cannot empathize. And so, I am issuing this appeal: if you are about to marry and are caught in the trap of having to pick a name (his? hers?) and a hyphen will no longer work because two generations before you have made a menace of your now multi-part names already, consider Pimbury. It’s easy, it’s classy, it’s short. Your offspring could be academics (Professor Pimbury) or cheesemakers (Pimbury cheddar) or book publishers (Pimbury Press) – it all sounds good. Maybe not gravediggers (“bury with Pimbury”?), but just about anything else. Give Mike Pimbury hope: keep his name going for a couple more rounds.

Get out and smell the summer air

Sometimes I cannot get off of the computer in the morning. Small tasks pile up and by the time I'm done, the day is half over.

I should have this cartoon pasted on my screen (or, not to point fingers, but there's a colleague or two out there who might find it fitting):



But today, I was restless enough to push myself out that door early. I went to Owen Woods (a mere 5 minute walk from my house) and now I have to say, if anyone wants to see a dazzling array of prairie flowers, they should go there right now, this week, this day! 

I'm  including a photo below to help set the stage. But the real display of prairie color is even more beautiful. My advice to every blog reader in the Madison area -- go take that hike through Owen Woods (Old Sauk Road and Old Middleton)! It's worth it.

a walk through fields of color