Reflections || Opera Carolina

     Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”                                             ~Yoko Ono

     Today I am remembering my reverence. As I sit at the breakfast table eating a waffle with nutella, drinking rooibos tea from my new Rapunzel mug(!!!), and reading an article on constructive criticism (see picture below), I reflect on the past few weeks.

 I'm getting into the swing of things with school and extracurricular activities and everything seems to be going well. I'm getting good grades, I'm not stressed out all the time unlike many high school juniors, and pumpkin spice is everywhere(:
     However, I realize that, as excited I am about fall being here, I haven't actually slowed down for two seconds and enjoyed it in the moment. To me, fall is about slowing down while speeding up. I know that sounds really confusing, but what I mean by it is: Fall is the season where people have to refocus because of school, work, or other such things. But fall is also the season where our perception of beauty is renewed and refreshed and we see the unparalleled pulchritude in the changing leaves and temperatures. So while we have to speed up to match the heartbeat of the rest of society, we also slow down to enjoy the simple beauty of the changing seasons.
     Also, I'm SO SO excited that I get to wear my sweaters all the time!! *Sighs* Yes, fall is definitely my favorite season.

     Okay, so I'm done reflecting. Last night I had the interesting opportunity to go see the opera Nabucco with my friend Abby and her mom Julie. Now, what made this opportunity so interesting is that it was actually the dress rehearsal. We could hear the maestro giving instructions and at one point he stopped the performers and was giving them pointers on how to make the emotion in the song more believable.
     The opera was at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in downtown Charlotte. Its such a beautiful theater and every time I go I feel like I could sit there for hours and just gaze at the place.

   
                               The dazzling rotunda 

                         Panoramic view of the theater

     Its just so breathtaking in the moment.
     The opera we went to see was, as previously mentioned, Nabucco. The storyline follows King Nebuchadnezzar and his journey from being a pagan king to a humble servant of God. There is rebellion, insanity, romance, and sacrifice mixed in. All in all it was pretty good. However, it was in Italian, which was beautiful, but we had to read subtitles to understand what they were saying.

 

                                  
                                       The program

     After the show we went to Amelie's, which is a charming little French bakery with character to spare. I only got a few pictures, the reason being I was so wrapped up in my heavenly dessert.

     In the process of devouring a Large Chocolate Mousse Cup 

 

                                                     
"He that will not endure the bitter, will not live to see the sweet."

     The next time I visit this charming place I will be armed. With my camera, of course. Last night was wonderful and after it's conclusion, I promptly collapsed into my bed(: I advise all of you to visit Amelie's off of N. Davidson Street, or at least a nostalgia-inducing French bakery in your area.

Au Revoir!!
Callan