Tuesday, October 30, 2007
My Visit with Patricia
Yesterday, I returned from one of the most glorious experiences I have had in a very long while. I spent several days in Detroit with my dear friend Patricia Lay-Dorsey, my longtime friend and constant inspiration. Like many people, I had assumed that Detroit was a rather drab place, with little to offer in the way of cultural attractions or natural beauty. Was I ever wrong.
She first took me to an evening performance by the Detroit Symphony that rivaled the best I have heard. It included a brilliant violin performance by Renaud Capucon, who plays on a rare instrument given to him by Isaac Stern. His encore (in especial) carried us into a collective trance state. The audience literally held its breath as the piece came to conclusion.
The orchestra also performed the Seventh Symphony of William Bolcomb, one of the outstanding composers of our time. This work was composed around the time of 9-11 and Bolcomb had revealed that one part was closely associated with that event. As I listened, I detected even more associations. At Patricia's insistence, I spoke to him afterward, and described the narrative I had detected within the music. He was most gracious, and said he felt that my interpretation was perfectly appropriate (though not necessarily literally accurate, I'm sure).
And as an added bonus, I saw fascinating blue-purple light playing around the violinist and the other performers, and even dancing over the heads of the audience as they listened in what appeared to be hypnotic rapture.
Another highlight of the visit was a trip to the Detroit Zoo. The Zoo is located in a beautiful park, made even more glorious by the many trees in full color. The animals are placed in natural settings, where they have room to roam and play or simply bask in the sun. The park was decorated for Halloween, in honor of the many children visiting.
One of our most stunning stops was the Butterfly House, where these creatures flew and fluttered everywhere you turned. (I saw more butterflies here than I have in my entire previous life.) We took many photos of these elusive bits of colored light, but they are very unpredictable, and I at least got many shots of flowers or leaves where a butterfly had just been. I will not try to describe what we saw, but will let the above pictures give you some idea. (And I will put up some other zoo shots on a later post. Kundalini is the driving force of all of nature, and we witnessed a brilliant display here amongst these ethereal creatures as well as others more "down to earth".)
And, to top the visit off, Patricia gave me the gift of a massage from a close friend of hers, who is most gifted in this art.
I think Detroit is much underrated. The stereotype often associated with it doesn't do justice to the many delights it offers, especially when you are in the company of such amazing folk as Patricia and her welcoming husband Eddy.
