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| Patrons of the Arts, June 2023 |
Joy: We went for time together and for variety. Our goal was at least a couple hours together every day.
DW: We officially started with Pride and Prejudice at the Granbury Opera House. We were pleased to see that they still have their list of supporters from 2023 up, which includes us!
Joy: We had some nice conversations with the people we sat near. When we first sat down, they had some windows on stage at really odd angles and we were thinking that was strange. The windows came down either at the front or back of the stage depending on if the characters were inside or out. It was really a good impetus for us to watch some more of the movie (Firth and Ehle). The love story seemed a lot more abrupt in the play!
DW: It got me thinking about the real challenge of taking a novel as complex and character-rich as P&P and turning it into something for 90-120 minutes. Some characters are just going to end up on the cutting room floor. And in this case, the growing love story between the two main characters was one of the casualties. Intermission ended, Elizabeth walked on stage, and said, "Well, that was a lovely six weeks in Derbyshire!" and you now knew we had skipped Lady Catherine and every conversation that would redeem Darcy in her eyes. But it's easier on the set designer! The letter shows up, telling us Kitty has run off, and Darcy happens to call on her whole family to learn the disaster. Lady Catherin did still show up at the very end.
Joy: I thought she did a good job. I liked how they did a flashback to the ball at Merytown, talking about what happened while other characters danced and Darcy insulted. I think they didn't have near enough of an idiot for the dad, which I don't see as an improvement. He's really supposed to be a comedian in the show.
DW: I was impressed to see Mary played for laughs.
Joy: Mary was done well.
DW: And Mr. Collins was more of a fop, less cringe, with his over-exaggerated bow. Mrs. Bennett was in too much self-command.
Joy: No kidding!
DW: And afterwards we got on the free trolley for a short ride around the square in the dark. The trolly ride reminded Joy of the Cinderella carriage ride we took after the family dinner on our wedding day.
DW: Over the 20 years, we have had to replace Joy's wedding ring a few times. She likes opals, but opals aren't really good at staying put in their ring setting. The first time we had to replace it, I hid her new ring in an unopened jar of Nutella. We opened it for New Year's and Joy was very pleasantly surprised to have a new ring.
Joy has found a fascinating setting that was actually designed by AI and we're planning to have a local jeweler make it for us. I found a colorful ring with crushed opals in it for me. My ring just arrived this weekend (left).
The very next day, Joy found my original wedding ring!
Joy: The surprise to me for my ring is that it will require a diamond-like stone in the center, and I don't usually like diamonds. Notwithstanding my aversion to diamonds, I really love the whole flower theme for the ring and, though I don't do jewelry in general, it's going to be a large ring.
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| Miyako is no Benihana, but we had a lovely time |
DW: While on a date touring Granbury ring shops, we went out to dinner at a hibachi grill. By fun coincidence, the couple next to us was also celebrating their 3rd anniversary! We had a very lovely time chatting with them and relishing the food. (After I proposed in Dec 2004, we went to Benihana's for dinner, so this was a callback to that magical evening.)
Joy: I kept cheering while he cooked, but everyone else was silent.
DW: Joy is a magical person to be with. The chef did not do many of the tricks that immediately come to mind when I think of hibachi grills.
Joy: But I appreciate the chef not getting upset when I cheered for him! I really loved sitting by the couple at the hibachi grill. They even prayed with us over the meal! I really like the fried rice, freshly cooked. It was yummy!
Joy: It was one of my favorite anniversaries yet. It was really nice spending extra time together every day. It had a hint of being newly married again.
Brainstorming about other things we did: we showed the kids the last part of Pride and Prejudice, particularly the time with her aunt and uncle because Hyrum went to see the play with his English class. We played pinball on the Switch, the board game Witchstone, and we started the board game Wizards that we got some years ago for our anniversary. We got ice cream at Dairy Queen and had an unforuntate cake from Aldi.
DW: We bought a chocolate bundt cake, brought it home, and discovered that its dark chocolatey goodness was covered in fuzzy white spots of badness.
Joy: That was quite the experience for you, wasn't it?
DW: It was terrifying in its way. We were able to return it and get a new one that did NOT feature mold.
Joy: We went to the new cookies and ice cream store in town, All Star Cookies and Creamery.
DW: I recommend the smaller cookies. The pb and chocolate chip and snickerdoodle were all lovely. The giant chocolate/chocolate-chip ...
Joy: Should not be eaten with ice cream! It should be warmed up!
DW: They'll make ice cream sandwiches from anything, and we tried chocolate ice cream with two giant double chocolate cookies. The cookies were too hard, and too large to eat with hands and mouth. Once they had soaked in the ice cream for a few hours...
Joy: I blame it on them being too cold, not on them needing to soak up ice cream, so we have a disagreement there.
DW: ... they were softer and more enjoyable. But again, the small cookies were wonderful.
Joy: We played croquet at the park with the boys. I'm glad that I actually caught up with everyone. That was a big deal for me. It was nice to do it at the park by the gazebo.
Joy: We played Dalmuti with the kids. One of the highlights of our summer has been Derrill joining JT and me in playing pickleball in the morning, including during that week.
DW: We went line dancing at the senior center.
Joy: The Cross Timbers Legacy Center. Derrill was a shining star. They even asked if he would help teach the class! And I was the gorfy wallflower getting lost all the time.
DW: I took a lot of ballroom dance classes at BYU and the organizer admitted she had never had one.
Joy: Well you like to do things with pizzazz, too. And they were very solicitous, inviting us to come some more.
DW: But all the dances I know are couple's dances, not line dances.
Joy: I liked the waltz dance best.
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