Of flowers, the Detroit Opera, and really stupid birds

Michigan har 4 årstider: Tidlig vinter, vinter, sen vinter, og vejarbejde. Vi er nu I slutningen af den sene vinter og på vej ind I vejarbejds sæsonen, og jeg skal da ellers love for at naturen har taget sig sammen. Der er blomstrende træer alle vegne og det er en fryd for øjet. Især de lilla træer ("red buds") kan jeg slet ikke få nok af, så jeg havde min telefon klar I cykelkurven fredag morgen, så jeg kunne få taget nogle billeder på vej til arbejde:

Michigan has 4 seasons: Early Winter, Winter, Late Winter and Roadwork season. We are now officially at the end of Late Winter and about to enter Roadwork season, and mother nature has indeed caught up with that. Blooming trees have taken over every neighborhood and it is such a pleasure to the eye. I fancy the lilac trees in particular (red buds) and I made sure to have my phone readily available for Friday morning's bike ride to work:

Det yndige afkom stillede endda op til fotografering under et blomstrende træ samme eftermiddag:

The adorable offspring even posed for a picture under a blooming tree the same afternoon:

I dag (søndag) er vi nu ret brugte. Vi var nemlig I operaen I går til et brag af en aften, der kan kategoriseres som en “once in a lifetime experience”. Jon (der stadig bor her hos os) havde snakket om en gammel ven helt tilbage fra teenage tiden, der nu havde noget med operaen I Detroit at gøre. Vi var derfor inviteret til at se premieren på Faust lørdag aften og havde glædet os til at se en god forestilling, men havde ikke sat forventningerne meget højere end det. Jon havde også budt på middag inden, så vi tog tidligt afsted, smed bilen af I parkeringshuset ved operaen, og gik ud mod Eastern Market hvor Detroits ældste italienske restaurant ligger. Jeg var meget positivt overrasket over Detroit, der viste sig fra sin bedste side, med liv I gaderne, udendørsservering på cafeerne og et væld af blomstrende træer. Når man kommer ud mod Eastern Market er det ret industri agtigt og øde, men omme bag det hele gemmer der sig en perle af italiensk mad. 

Today (Sunday) we are a bit worn out. We went to the opera in Detroit yesterday for an evening that can only be categorized as a once in a lifetime experience. Jon (who is still with us) talked about an old friend of his, that apparently was involved in the opera. For this reason we had all been invited to attend the premiere of Faust Saturday night. We had looked forward to a nice evening at the opera and Jon also had invited for dinner, so it appeared to be a nice and entertaining evening, but we didn’t really set our expectations above that. We went there early to park the car at the opera house and then walk out to Eastern Market, where the oldest Italian restaurant in Detroit is located. Detroit showed itself off in a really good way. There were people in the streets, outdoor cafes and lots and lots of blooming trees. As we went out towards Eastern Market it became more and more industrial, but behind all of this is a small gem of Italian food.

Vinduerne var blændede, der blev spillet støvet jazz, og tjenerne gik rundt med jakkesæt og New Jersey attitude. Faktisk føltes det lidt som en ulovlig gangsterbule fra 1950’erne, men maden var heldigvis rigtig god og der var endda en shuttle bus tilbage til operaen så vi kun skulle traske den ene vej I lummervarmen.

Vi ankom til Detroit Opera House og blev vist op til vores balkon – dvs de allerbedste pladser, der overhovedet er! At Jons ven havde “noget med operaen at gøre” viste sig at være en underdrivelse af de helt store. Han har (sammen med sin tidligere kone) banket Detroit operaen op at stå fra at være en forladt ruinhob af en bygning til at sætte store velbesøgte forestillinger op. Det er deres livsværk og vi fik lov til at sidde sammen med dem, vi kom med ud I loungen til champagne og mad I pauserne og blev endda inviteret med til premiere receptionen efter forestillingen sammen med sangerne. Jeg må stadig knibe mig selv I armen over at have fået lov til at opleve den slags. (I kan laese mere om  Davids imponerende arbejde her).

The windows were blinded, they played old dusty jazz and the waiters were all wearing suites and New Jersey attitudes. It felt like an illegal gangster bar from the 1950’s , but the food was really good, and they had a shuttle bus taking us back to the opera, so we did not have to walk all the way back.

We arrived at the opera and was seated in our box – the best seats of the entire place! That Jons friend had “something to do with the opera” was a giant understatement. He has (together with his former wife) made the Detroit Opera alive again from being a worn-out abandoned building to a place setting up big pieces with a big audience. It was their lifetime achievement, and we sat right there with both of them, we went to the lounge for champagne and food in the breaks, and were even invited for the premiere reception with all the singers afterwards. I still have a hard time believing that we actually got to do this and I am so grateful. (You can read more about Davids amazing work here).

Sidst men ikke mindst er der noget om dumme fugle. Vi har fået fornøjelsen (udover jordegern, egern, en enkelt kaninunge osv) af 2 duer, der synes at en murstens afsats lige over vores terasse er intet mindre end et fantastisk sted at starte en familie. Jeg har ikke noget imod duer som sådan, men jeg har noget imod fugleklatter udover det hele, så jeg sendte den tårnhøje teenager ud for at fjerne reden (dvs de 3 pinde, duemor stædigt har lykkedes med at få til at blive hængende deroppe) og for at sætte en plastikbøtte derop, der forhåbentligt kunne skræmme dem lidt. Jow jow. Gæt hvem der sad og gloede på os igen I morges……..

Last but not least there are the stupid birds. We have the pleasure of more visitors (besides the chipmunk, squirrels and an occasional baby bunny) – this time 2 pigeons that have decided that our patio is the perfect place to start a family.  I don’t mind pigeons as such, but I do mind having bird droppings all over the patio, so I sent the tall teenager out to take the nest down and put up a plastic container, that we thought would be sufficient to scare them off. Yeah right! Guess who was staring at us again this morning……….