Oh, my friends! I really needed what I found on my Clayton Beach hike today: peace, stillness, quiet. I had a little mini vacation from my computer – there was no password I needed to remember or files I needed to access; no problems I needed to solve; no fears or worries or news demanding attention. It was lovely.
As I got near the beach, I saw a small family of deer crossing the path up ahead. Magic! And pretty soon Wes and Leigh appeared on the trail, coming my way. They told me that I had flushed the deer out for them – that the deer had turned towards them when they’d seen me. Leigh and Wes were as excited about the deer magic as I was. I love meeting other people who recognize magic when they see it.
When I got down to the beach, I found a boulder to sit on. Then I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the waves shushing onto the beach, and the birdsong coming from the forest. I felt rich beyond imagining.
I stayed down at the beach for a while, snapping photos, looking for agates (I didn’t find any today, but it was fun looking), enjoying my alone-ness.
When I headed back to my car I passed a group of hikers with toddlers and babies, being led by Jillian from the Whatcom YMCA. Jillian told me that the group meets every Thursday for a hike. How wonderful! Maz, Carina, and Jillian graciously posed for me and gave me the okay to post their photo on Facebook.
By the time I got back to my car, my soul was filled with birdsong and babies’ smiles, new friends and the magic of waves and rocks, the forest and life.
A couple of weeks ago I saw a pair of red-haired women walking on the boardwalk and was struck by how much they looked alike. I asked them if they were family and learned that they were mother and daughter – Roxanne and Hallie. Hallie, I learned, had come from Denver to perform as one of the leads in the Pacific Northwest Opera‘s production of *Ariadne auf Naxos*, and Roxanne had driven up from Olympia to spend a few hours with her daughter before her performances began.
I shared with Roxanne and Hallie that my mom had earned her degree in music performance back in the 1950s. Mom had been accepted into the Portland Opera Company after she graduated from the University of Montana, but had chosen to marry my dad instead, and move with him to Colorado to start their life together. They’d soon moved back to the PNW, though – to Olympia, in fact – and that’s where I’d spent my first years.
We swapped stories about Olympia and music for a bit then – I shared that I’d met my husband at a wedding – he’d been the photographer and I’d been the wedding singer – but I’d never had the kind of musical training, skills, or discipline my mom had had.
Hallie told me more about *Ariadne auf Naxos*. *Ariadne auf Naxos* was a comedy, she told me – and, as she described the plot, I found myself laughing out loud. It sounded like a hoot! I told her that I was going to google more about it, and I might try to get tickets for it.
But then life happened, and two weeks went by, and I never purchased tickets, and it didn’t look like seeing the opera was something I was going to be doing.
But yesterday, as I was sitting on a bench with my son in Fairhaven, I saw a pretty copper-headed woman walk by with a young man, and I realized it was Hallie! I called out to her, and she turned and grinned – she recognized me, too! I gave Hallie a hug, and met Gyan – who is the pianist for the opera.
Hallie offered to set aside a ticket for me to today’s show – but I still wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make it. When I got home, though, it felt like running into Hallie again had been too cosmic to ignore, and I immediately purchased two tickets for today’s show.
Scotty and I got there just before the curtain rose. As soon as Hallie stepped onto the stage, I think we both knew we were looking at a star.
During the intermission, I happened to run into Gyan. I wasn’t sure if I was going to see Hallie again, so I asked Gyan to let Hallie know that I had made it to the performance.
The second half of *Ariadne auf Naxos* was where the vocalists really had a chance to shine. And Hallie’s performance blew me away! She was spectacular – her vocal range was extraordinary; her role as a coquette had me laughing out loud; she had incredible stage presence. Hallie is a unique talent.
After the performance, I stayed around to see if Hallie would appear. I didn’t see her right away, but I got into conversation with two of the other opera singers and asked them to let Hallie know that Karen had made it to the show. As I was talking to them, they pointed to my left, and said, “There’s Hallie!”
I gave Hallie a hug, and I got to tell her, in person, how wonderful her performance was. Then Scott and I, star-struck fans that we are, made sure to get our picture with her.
Hallie Schmidt. Remember that name. This woman is going to be famous one day. And I got to see her at the beginning of her career!
Driving away from that world-class performance in beautiful McIntyre Hall, past the strip malls and Starbucks on College Way, and in twenty minutes back in our home in rural Skagit County, seemed sort of surreal to me.
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 