Guess what? I’ve been taking Spanish. The recreation department is not offering the next level though, so I guess I’ll try self-learning using some of the books we have in the language section of our home library, books covering nineteen different languages, of which Spanish is the second-best represented. Esperanto is first.

Saturday we had two folk dance events in the Valley: our usual Molly Morris team meeting at a bar in Sunnyvale, followed by a Scottish country dance party in Mountain View. We brought what we needed for both events, but when the time came to change into Scottish garb, my husband found he had grabbed a white tuxedo shirt by mistake. Since he doesn’t typically carry shirt studs about, he had to wear his casual shirt with his kilt. Those who weren’t blinded by the outfit thought it was de rigueur for a Santa Cruz dancer.

Sunday we went to a Santa Cruz symphony concert, not in Santa Cruz, where it plays in a venue which has the acoustics of a basketball court, because it is one, but in Watsonville, even though that’s farther away and has No Parking, something we learned after we got there. Down to a choice between missing the first piece and parking near a sign reading, Private, No Public Parking, 24/7, Violators Will Be Towed, we parked. SCS sounded like a completely new ensemble with reasonable acoustics. Our car wasn’t towed, either.

Sunday night there were fireworks in Capitola, an annual event whose purpose I have yet to discern. I left my house, walking, at 7:30 pm for an 8:00 pm show, and got a front-row seat–looking over the ocean at the wharf containing the fireworks–by 8:50. The show started on time and ran for 20 minutes. I was wearing the sleeveless cotton dress I had worn to the symphony since the night was so balmy. Breakers crashed onto the cliff below me between every boom. Little lighted boats dotted the bay. The show was pretty spectacular, especially for a town with a population of 10,000. The crowd was friendly and happy. I was home by 8:45.

Last weekend I participated in the Little Wharf race, walking most of the way. Though Little Wharf is half as long as Wharf-to-Wharf, my foot injury precluded the latter this year, so I was happy to help inaugurate the new one, along with some boon companions.

That same night we went to San Francisco to hear SF symphony play an all-Stravinsky concert which included my favorite violinist, Leonidas Kavakos. This was in Davis Symphony Hall, so everything about it was superlative, as always. Parking is easy and not ridiculously expensive in the nearby Civic Center, which once again had an interesting art installation.

This event involved two hours of driving each way, and we got home near midnight. We are thrilled to be able to experience the City, the Coast, and the Valley, as we are able and inclined.