Frohe Ostern!... I think. Happy Easter and whatever else

"Frondi tenere e belle..... Tender and beautiful fronds
Del mio Platano amato,... of my beloved plane tree,
Per voi risplenda il Fato... let fate smile upon you.
Tuoni, Lampi, e Procelle... May thunder, lightning, and storms
Non vi oltraggino mai la cara pace,.. disturb not your peace,
Ne giunga a profanarvi Austro rapace... nor may the winds profane you.

Ombra mai fu......... There never was
Di Vegetabile,......... any plant that lives
Care ed amabile..... as dear and loving
Soave piu................ or more gently than you."

I don't celebrate Easter in a religious sense, but it is such a beautiful weekend outside and chocolate bunnies are growing on trees (and popping up from the sand at the beaches)... Spring is in the air and that's a cause for a party all by itself!

Anyhow, this eco-friendly aria of Serse from the opera of the same name by Georg Friedrich Händel, is playing in my intracranial stereo quite a bit (the clip embedded here is sung by Olga Borodina and posted on Youtube by MargotLorena). I can't help it.... I love the fresh new leaves that are out-folliaging the older winter leaves this time of year. The formerly leafless branchy trees at the Embarcadero now sport a handsome coat of light green underneath a top layer of red flowers. The flowers are blooming at Zoro Garden in Balboa Park, which is now well patrolled by a troop of monarch and other interestingly patterned butterflies.

Spring is a really cool time of year.... even in a rather mild climate like San Diego. No wonder composers keep dedicating songs to it. I've lost count of how many 'im Frühling' there are... Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, etc, etc... Why doesn't anyone ever write songs about Herbst? (well, I'll take that back to a degree since there are some French songs about automne... not to mention a few beautifully depressing poems like that one by Paul Verlaine. I guess I'm just happy to be on the brighter side of summer!)

So, the migrating whales may have left us for Alaska, but baseball season is back on and there are kites flying at the marinas... And brand new CDs of Joyce DiDonato as Alcina and Vesselina Kasarova's disc-ful of passionate opera arias are heading my way in the mail. Life is GOOD!