Monday, April 2, 2012 – Sunday into Monday
We went to a great concert by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra on Sunday afternoon. An exciting rendition of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite was followed by a new work composed by the orchestra’s conductor, Kim Allen Kluge. All of that was wonderful, but the highlight had to be the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Midori as soloist. My expectations were high, and I wasn’t disappointed. She gave a truly inspired and inspiring performance. In addition, she had spent the last four days working with local high school students as part of her Orchestral Residency Program.
By the way, this is what cherry blossoms look like when they’re all grown up, or at least when they reach adolescence. Instead of delicate petals, you see blowzy flower puffs, like pink cotton candy, sprouting all over the branches.
I was getting worried about some of our big trees because they weren’t showing any green yet. And then I looked up this afternoon and this is what I saw:
And finally, after watching the 60 Minutes segment last night on the toxicity of America’s favorite sweetener, i.e.sugar, I have declared myself a sugar-free zone. Elliott’s not quite at that point yet. He readily admits to a life-long love affair with the sweet stuff. Just in case I wasn’t already convinced that he’s a sugar junkie, he told me that he used to sprinkle sugar over his jello. I immediately started reading labels and shared some sobering information with him. He was horrified to discover that just one tablespoon of his favorite cherry Bonne Maman preserves contains 13 grams of sugar! Since he spreads it quite generously on his bread, he’s probably getting twice that amount. And those tiny Milky Way minis that he stashes in a drawer out of sight? Each one has five grams of sugar. I wonder what will happen when the beautiful local strawberries are in season. Elliott’s favorite way to eat them is to dip them into a mountain of powdered sugar. On a positive note, he agreed to swap his beloved Honey Nut Cheerios for the original unsweetened variety after I pointed out the difference in sugar content.
Last week when I went to my dentist to have my teeth cleaned, I was informed that I needed to come back to have a filling put in that had fallen out. This morning I went to have that done but my dentist informed me that he needed to work on some decay on that tooth also. 1989 was the last time I had a cavity. I make sure I brush my teeth every night. But some of us like to eat stuff that may not be the best for our teeth. Elliott has a couple years on me, but does he still have his real teeth?
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