A Touch of Frost

In the morning we square danced to Joe Saltel with our friends, then home to lunch. The day was sunny and fine, so we set out with our neighbors, Gary and Mary Ann, on a bike ride through the state park. It was their first trip to the park, and they were trying out their new folding bikes. We saw lots of chachalacas and javelinas and enjoyed the ebony grove and resaca.

Since we've ridden through the park a few times, Lee was able to use the park map to point out where we'd be going.


We paused at the ebony grove. It's across the trail from a group of bird feeders.
















We saw a lot of chachalacas today. Some of them were watching us as much as we were watching them.



















The water in the resaca was a smooth as glass today.










This evening we went with Gary and Mary Ann to the annual holiday concert of the Rio Grande Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, called "A Touch of Frost." Not that there's actually any frost here, but the title works as a play on words, since the major sponsor is Frost Bank. We planned to arrive early, at 7:30 for an 8:00 show, but when we arrived we realized we were none too early. The lobby was jam packed with people. We joined a line snaking up and down the large area and waited patiently, making very slow progress, with thousands of other patrons (the audience was 2600). It turned out that the snaking line was a spontaneous creation of early arrivals, and as we were approaching the front of the line, the organization collapsed and everyone just started moving towards the entrance. We got to our seats with moments to spare, but the concert actually started late to permit most of the crowd to be seated.

The new McAllen Convention Center is a striking facility, but event planners clearly have some things to learn about crowd management. The seating in the vast hall was on folding chairs, and all the lighting and sound system was specially installed for the performance, a tremendous feat.

The performance included quite a variety of music. Several offerings were from the Messiah. Some were Mexican in origin; Mexico en la Piel, for example. In keeping with the festive nature of the holidays, there were several light-hearted works by Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride, Syncopated Clock, Bugler's Holiday, Forgotten Dreams, and Plink, Plank, Plunk. The musicians were talented. The music was upbeat. We had a great time. It was especially nice to be able to share the experience with friends.

For lunch we had BLT's with the leftover tomato soup. For supper we finished off the turkey green bean casserole along with yellow squash and onions, and of course salad. The fridge and freezer are packed to brimming again, so I'll have to work more assiduously to clear them out.