everything is growing and changing
all in their own time
each in their own way
we watch and care for them
soon they will all be something new.
—
“and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
― Anais Nin
Opera house performs first post-lockdown concert for an all-plant audience
Next week, Barcelona’s Liceu opera house will emerge from its lockdown-induced siesta by throwing a concert to a rather unusual audience. The attendees will not need masks or gloves, nor will they be required to follow physical distancing rules.
However, they might like to take along a nice comfy pot and some water to prevent their roots from drying out as a string quartet serenades them, fittingly, with Puccini’s Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums).
A total of 2,292 plants will occupy the venue’s seats and listen to the opera house’s first post-lockdown concert when it reopens next Monday. Non-vegetal music fans will also be able to enjoy the performance as it will be live-streamed.
According to the Liceu’s artistic director Víctor García de Gomar, the Concert for the Biocene, played the by Uceli quartet, is intended to help us ponder the current state of the human condition and how, in lockdown, we have become “an audience deprived of the possibility of being an audience”.
For Eugenio Ampudia, the conceptual artist behind the concert, the project will serve to reflect what has happened across Spain and around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to retreat from shared public areas.
“At a time when an important part of humankind has shut itself up in enclosed spaces and been obliged to relinquish movement, nature has crept forward to occupy the spaces we have ceded,” said Ampudia.
After the concert, the plants will find themselves in a new home, with each one of them being donated to 2,292 health workers as thank you for their efforts over recent months.
—
“the first rule of opera is the first rule in life:
see to everything yourself.”
-nellie melba
—
photo and story credits: the optimist daily
this one is sure to make a comeback.
yes, most of the leaves have dropped off, but I see a hint of color.
ignore the brown, there is still a flower.
—
these are a few of the thoughts that cross my mind
as I try to nurture and revive
some of my indoor plants
that have chosen to be
“on a break from thriving right now”
for some reason I will not give up
as long as there is one stick left in a pot
my optimism refuses surrender
and still i wait for my green thumb to appear.
the fact is
that I love to garden
I love flowers, I love plants, I love trees
I am a nurturer by nature
but it is all a trial and error process for me
my middle daughter once stood in the middle of my yard and said,
“if you had everything you ever planted,
we would be standing in a botanical garden right now.”
I really loved that.
what an excellent point.
—
“gardening is not a rational act.”
-margaret atwood
the wonderful legend of one of my very favorite plants.
kindness, compassion, and gratitude at play.
—
image credit: purple almond
it seems that the bean stalks
in our classroom
have gone a bit wild
very quickly
and
we are on the lookout for giants.
—
“well, first of all,” said the bfg,
“human beans is not really believing in giants, is they?
human beans is not thinking we exist.”
kinders size up the leaves
that are
like nothing they’ve seen before
much bigger than their heads
with a color
like shiny crayons
they must be
leftover
from the time of the dinosaurs.
—
the world is a giant puzzle that hasn’t been put together yet,
and were trying to
find the other piece of this puzzle that goes with us.
– e.e. cummings
I didn't have my glasses on.... 