The Holidays

With a major holiday like the Fourth on the horizon most people would head for the hills. I did just the opposite and went back to Kansas City for a few days. It happened that I had three days off in a row. What would be the point of hanging about the OIO campus? It is too hot to do anything outside except go to the beach -- and an hour of that would be enough for me. It was a bit weird to return to my own home at the beginning of July. I haven't been in KC in mid-summer in sixteen years. But I certainly did enjoy sleeping in my own bed (zzzzzzzzzz!), cooking my own food (fresh Kansas sweet corn on the cob, for example) and enjoying my usual distractions. I was also able to replenish my supply of books and cd's.
I spent nearly all of Sunday with Jason, one of my dearest friends. We had a lovely meal together, visited the Monet exhibit at the Nelson Atkins Museum, hung out at his house, listened to music and finally went to see a film -- it was a near perfect day! I left mid-afternoon on Monday to return in Eureka Springs in time for the fireworks display. I didn't entirely retrace my steps but took a different route for the final segment in order to have dinner in Rogers, Arkansas. The road south of Joplin to the Arkansas border is surprisingly lovely. The road goes through several passes cut through the limestone hills. The area is sparsely populated and heavily forested. At the state line that all changes and one enters an extensive commercial zone. Bentonville, home to Walmart, is here. I am told it is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. I am no friend of the Big W, that predatory operation that has single-handedly destroyed the economies of thousands of small towns throughout the country, practices job discrimination and provides paltry benefits for its employees. Walmart is an example of the worst form of capitalism unchecked.
After a scrumptious dinner at my favorite Chinese joint (I have favorites now? I must be here too long!) I headed up the mountain (if one can call the Ozarks mountains -- they are more like large hills) and enjoyed a gorgeous ride in the twilight. Adding to the buoyant mood was the cd of Bryn Terfel singing Rogers and Hammerstein. It doesn't get better than that.
We are now geared up for the opera scenes evening and the chamber music concert.