One day my beloved said to me, "How beautiful you are, my darling!" "Oh, how beautiful!" "Your eyes are like doves." I answered of course, "How handsome you are my lover!" "Oh, how charming!" "Take me away with you!"
NOT! These are actually thought to be the ardent words of King Solomon in Song of Songs 1:4,15-16. For those who haven't read this smoking book in the Bible it a guaranteed page turner for you and your spouse as part of your Valentine's celebration. Some passages make me blush and some, such as, "Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead, and your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing." (Chapter 4:1-2), just make me laugh!
However, my beloved did take me away, and we spent a glorious day in Seattle where we sampled and savored culture with wild abandon! We arrived downtown in late morning and drove directly to the Seattle Art Museum.
I hadn't been to the art museum in years and although we missed seeing the Picasso exhibit by a few days, we thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely visit in our perspective ways. I had never been to a museum with my husband, but I smiled knowingly as I watched his method of enjoying the exhibits unfold. As an engineer he was in his element, starting at the top right side of the museum and moving around each room in a clockwise pattern. He read every information placard under every exhibit, then proceeded to the next closest room. Don moved through the museum in a serpentine fashion so as not to waste any extra steps or incur the need to double back and return to any room to get to another.
Don would look up and not find me, because I was enjoying the museum in my attention deficit-pin-ball method. I would enter a room, stand in the middle and then move towards only the exhibits that I found inspiring or interesting. In my mind there was a loose desire to work in a methodical fashion, but I kept seeing tantalizing exhibits from various vantage points and was drawn to them like a magnet. I saw some of the rooms many times as I entered and exited them to get to others. Of course my method took far less time than that of my husband's, so I lapped him several times and ended up looking at many other exhibits that hadn't made the first cut the last time I was in the room. It is no wonder that the painting below was one of my favorites, its random wave-like patterns just thrilled me!
I'm so thankful that Don and I can appreciate that we enjoy our world in different ways, and can give each other the unspoken permission to experience the museum in the way that feels most comfortable to each. Here is my husband enjoying one of his favorite exhibits:
After we had luxuriated in the creative outpouring of renown artists, we walked down the street for a delightful seafood lunch at McCormick and Schmicks, yum! We were given a great table right by the window looking onto the street. Don had a huge piece of tilapia and I had salmon hash with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. I had never had poached eggs before and found them surprisingly scrumptious! Of course, the presence of hollandaise sauce on any food means good times.
With our stomachs full and excitement mounting we drove to our final destination, Benaroya Hall, where the Seattle Symphony was playing with the featured artist, Itzhak Perlman.
Izhtak Perlman was born in Israel in 1945. He suffered polio as a child, but his musical gift propelled him to international acclaim. He studied first at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, then studied in the United States at The Jullilard School. He won the pretigious Leventritt Competition in 1964 and has played with every major orchestra all over the world. Mr. Perlam was honored to take part in the inauguration of President Barak Obama and has received numerous awards including the Metal of Liberty and a National Metal of Arts.
Mr. Perlman entered with an assistive device on each arm and moved his legs in a swinging fashion in a labored almost painful manner. Tears struck my eyes as I saw what an effort it was for him to get to and step up on the podium. When he sat, he put his assistive devices down, stuck one leg out then reached for his violin, put it under his chin then nodded to the conductor that he was ready.
Late afternoon melted into melodious night as we sat infused with the brilliance of this gifted violinist. At times his music seemed to echo the beautiful notes of a songbird (my highest praise) and I sat in rapture as we listened to Moldau, No 2, and Felix Menddelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, from the most gifted violinist in the world. He was given several standing ovations and he laborously walked from back stage each time to bow to the audiance yet again.
God has knit us together with a need for music. From the swaying youthful hips of my two year old granddaughter, to David as he played the harp for King Saul to ease his troubled mind. Music can be used for celebration and praise, as well as an instrumentation of expressing pain, beauty and joy. Our hearts and minds untangle within us as we listen to music and we are changed.
My beloved and I went to Seattle. We studied art that showed glimmers of who people were, what moved their hearts, and celebrated their creativity. We ate and filled our stomachs with good food, and we listened to amazing music that took our hearts to places we had never been before. We are thankful.
Psalm 9:1-2: I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
No comments:
Post a Comment