Creeping Along

I found this snail on a windowsill in Ravenna, creeping along going nowhere. He made me smile, with his fake flowers happily blooming regardless of the weather. I also liked the repetition of shape, in the tea pot just barely visible in the window. Have you ever noticed the similarity in shape between a teapot and a snail? I hadn't, until this photo. Thanks to my camera and the awareness it gives me, I now have this little tidbit filed away in my brain. As of today, you do too.

Yesterday's post, I noticed, was my 600th post on my blog! Wow. I don't know why that number strikes me, it just seems BIG. So I decided to celebrate that milestone by posting a photo of a snail planter full of fake flowers. The appropriate celebration of 600 posts, don't you know. All the blogging milestone books say so.

But seriously, instead, how about giving away a few things today? That seems appropriate too! Here are the winners of my LAST giveaway from Italy. There were 49 entries, and numbers were drawn by using the random number generator from random.org:
#13 - Kristen of K. Laudick Photos wins the lens cleaning cloth from Ravenna
#48 - Pam from Utah wins one of the sets of notecards from Florence
#20 - Diana of Diana Mulder Mixed Media Artist wins the other set of notecards from Florence
#23 - Jo of Jo Murray - Art wins the postcards
I'll be contacting you all for your addresses. Give your congrats to all of them!

Thanks so much for all of your support and participation here at The Kat Eye View of the World. Who knew that this little blog that I started to keep family updated about what was going on with us in Italy would end up with 600 posts. Well, 601 today. Amazing.

A Night at La Scala (An iPhoneographic Essay)

A warm summer evening. A ticket to see the orchestra in Milan. A last item checked off of the "To Do" list.

Last night, I made my second visit to Teatro all Scala, the world famous opera house, to listen to the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra. Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, they performed Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 in B flat min. Op. 23 with Alexander Toradze on piano, and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 in B flat maj. Op. 100.

I stressed a bit about what to wear, even though I know people show up in everything from jeans to floor length formal gowns. I settled on a skirt, digging out some nylons and my spikiest of heels. It is Milan, after all.

I found my seat on the main floor, fifth row, on the right.

I watched the boxes slowly fill, and captured some of the details of this historic opera house.

As the orchestra took the stage, I watched as they chatted and warmed up. But when the conductor and the soloist arrived, that's when I put my camera away and closed my eyes.

I traveled with the music, letting it take me where it willed. From colored ribbons of music that dance together to images of something real, I felt the music resonate in my body and let it guide my imagery. I saw a sunrise, a stormy sea, a stream dancing through a beautiful glade. I soared to great heights over a landscape, and watched dancers swirling around at a fancy ball. This is how I experience music. When my eyes are open, I get easily distracted with watching and thinking. When my eyes are closed, I am fully in the moment. The amazing experience of live orchestral music, and how I respond, is something I have discovered during my time in Italy. One more beautiful thing to take home with me.

The orchestra completed, and after much applause, the patrons spilled out into the warm summer night. I looked around, trying to take it all in. Already a beautiful memory, the evening for me at La Scala. 

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I'm linking in to Creative Every Day, The Creative Exchange and Phoneography this week. Thanks for coming by!