Another wonderful weekend in Three Rivers, a wedding, a funeral
and a concert. I don't know much about the wedding. We drove past
the Nature's Dome restaurant and saw milling people dressed in their
wedding best talking animatedly, obviously waiting for the festivities to
begin .
We were on our way to Harry Ison's house on the
south fork. Harry's a retired M.D. with a passion for the piano.
He's been hosting the 'Concert on the Grass' on his front lawn since
1982. Now we had read and heard a lot about the 'concerts' but this year
it was even more entertaining with a bittersweet twist. Harry's
next door neighbor, Curt Siodmak, a charter member of the Writers Guild,
died last week. Curt was 98. He wrote 70 screenplays between 1928
and 1970, the most famous of which was The Wolfman and Donovan's
Brain. The parking area was full of cars attending the funeral
on one side and the concert on the other.
Harry, who has been playing since age 5 started the program off
with a bit of Mozart and concluded with a touching rendition of 'Send in
the Clowns. (picture) Then 16 year old Eric Brelsford played Brahms and
Schuman with confidence and muscularity. Then just as Harry was thanking
Eric, we were all surprised to see Henrietta Siodmak, Curts wife of 75
years, being wheeled to a seat in the back. She glowed with a
beatific smile and waved Harry off from any more attention and the show
continued with Bryan Verhoye.
Bryan, also started taking piano lessons at age 5 and soloed
with the San Diego Symphony at a 13. He offered Beethoven, Mendelssohn
and Liszt with delicacy and feeling. Bryan's music was even more
compelling because it was accompanied by a sunset that shaded the surrounding
Sierra's a rare pink/lavender tint that faded to a sepia tone and finally
darkness with pinpoints of stars millions of miles away.
We ran across many new Three Rivers friends, Bill and
Ann, who spent ten years sailing the Pacific; Kirk a landscape artist who will
be installing our sprinkler system; and Mary Grady, a Hollywood talent agent,
who handled Tyler, our grandson for some years. (Six Degrees of Separation)
It's a delight to blend in to a new community. One would
never guess so many interesting and talented people live in this little town
at the end of the road.
We'll leave you with a quote from Emerson..."may you
saunter to your daily task with a wide halo of ease and contentment".
Life is Good!
Ron Landry
Where in the
world would you ever find a place like this?
E-mail
diana@dianaglass.com or,
Please call Diana Glass 559-280-5853.
