TheBanyanTree: A Strauss Extravaganza

[Margaret R. Kramer]

The heat is continuing to terrorize us in Minnesota.  The beaches and water
parks are  packed.  Runners and bikers are risking heat stroke along
shade-less asphalt paths.  But it’s summer, the season we’ve all dreamed
about in February when the wind chills were below zero, so we force
ourselves to smile and expose our white skin to the cancerous sun.

And a hot summer night means it’s time for Ray and I to head for the big
city of Minneapolis and enjoy a Sommerfest concert performed by the
Minnesota Orchestra.  This is the 25th year of Sommerfest.  The concerts
feature a light variety of classical works along with jazz, swing, and pop
music.  I chose the Strauss concert, because isn’t it fun to listen to those
swaying and whirling waltzes?

Of course, it was hot and muggy last night, but that didn’t stop us.  I
turned on the car’s air conditioning (for Ray – he has difficulty breathing
in really humid air) and we actually zoomed to Minneapolis.  There weren’t
any of the usual Friday night lingering rush hour traffic jams.

We parked in the ramp and then walked down Nicollet Mall to our seafood
restaurant.  I like this restaurant because the food is good and not too
expensive and the service is excellent.  We both had a shrimp linguine
thing, and I had a large salad as well.  Our dinner was hot and spicy and
woke up our taste buds, which are used to bland Minnesota food.  Ray and I
broke out in a little sweat and gulped down our water.

After dinner we continued to walk down Nicollet Mall to Orchestra Hall.  I
loved the feel of the humid city air on my skin.  I loved watching all kinds
of people go by me on bikes, on foot, in cabs, buses, and limousines.  I’m
so suburbanized even though I live in the St. Paul city limits and most of
the people I see daily are people like myself, white, middle-class, and in
cars rather than on bikes.  I enjoyed seeing all the different types of
clothing, from punk to upper middle class chic.  Crowds of people were
clustered into outdoor seating at the various restaurants along the mall.
What a great night to enjoy a cold beer along with good conversation.

There is a plaza in front of Orchestra Hall and it was jammed with concert
goers listening to a band playing jazz.  Some people were dancing.  Vendors
were lined up along the edge selling brats and cheesecake and wine.  We sat
for a while enjoying the evening and the music.

The concert itself was great.  The orchestra played one piece composed by
the elder Strauss and the rest of the selections were composed by Strauss
Jr. and his brothers.  The orchestra got a standing O and did an encore.
Then it was time to head back out to the plaza, enjoy an ice cream cone,
more jazz music, more people watching, and continue our walk along Nicollet
Mall to our car.

The almost full moon was rising as we left downtown Minneapolis.  It was an
eerie orange ball slipping in and out of the clouds as it rose further in
the eastern sky.  I gave the moon control of my car and let it guide us
home.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not
with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a
show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw
Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You
may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. .  ~Erma Bombeck