snowing prettily

Right now, actually.  Big fluffy flakes, and enough of them to seem dramatic.  The last time I saw this much snow was on stage during a performance of the Nutcracker.  It's nearly sad to think I won't be doing my annual 10 services of that; I'll even miss it.  I am, of course, onto a new phase of my life; here in Europe, you get multiple performances of Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium, the Christmas Oratorio.  My first will be in Winterthur in a couple weeks.  It seems long.  I'll let you know how it goes.

I took this picture yesterday as I rode the train to Zurich, for a Bach B-Minor Mass at the Tonhalle.  It's a truly great hall.  It also has some truly impressive chandeliers.  And I think this photo gives you a good idea of the size and general feel of the hall.  Not huge, but with a certain warmth and quality. 

Ah, before I forget, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  A group of Americans here in Basel had a nice dinner, it was just like any family gathering--people unwittingly acting out their roles as the crazy uncle, the bossy older sister, the mildly annoyed cousin.  There was a turkey (which had been draped with bacon prior to baking; apparently it was especially flavorful) and gravy, two kinds of stuffing (one vegetarian), three salads, two kinds of mashed potato, and for desert, three pies: apple, pecan, and pumpkin, with vanilla ice cream and hand-whipped cream.  I ate too much apple pie (couldn't stop) and quickly transformed into the annoyed cousin until, several hours later, I became less physically uncomfortable.  I would have laid down on the floor but it didn't seem appropriate.

The night before I had had my first ever raclette, which is a Swiss "recipe" that calls for pouring melted cheese over boiled potatoes.  The complicated part comes when you're actually melting the cheese; there's a device that looks like a parking garage plus a grill that you plug in and set on the table.  It's got these shovel-like scoops that you fill up with cheese, then slide into their parking spots, under the heating element, which melts the cheese.  On the top of the garage you can - what, grill? toast? sear? who knows - put - different things like zucchini and mushrooms, or better yet, bacon and ham, to get cooked, which can then be draped over your melty cheesey potatoes.  It's important to have white wine on hand so that the cheese doesn't turn into a hard lump in your stomach.

What I mean to convey here is that I'm really porking up.  Watch out, folks, the next Megan you see may be a real fatty.  Prepare yourselves.  On the other hand, I do so much running around with a bass that I must be (at least partially) offsetting my fat intake. 

At any rate, I'll have to watch it because it looks like I'll be having some beach time in southern France this summer.  Turns out that audition went well, and I got accepted to the festival.  Heyy!  Maybe I'll be able to make it through this long, cold winter after all, by imagining the month I'll spend in hot, sunny Aix-en-Provence.  Here's what Cézanne had to say about the area: "I go to the country every day. The scenery is beautiful, so my days pass more pleasantly here than anywhere else."  Sweet.