_ because we're open-minded and adventurous and always up for anything, our first night in new mexico we received an invitation to a party held in honor of the taos opera institute's summer season, and we gladly accepted..
_ we sat on a haybail...
_ ...listened respectfully...
_ ... and drank our plastic cup of wine.
_ the taos opera institute takes place for a month every summer. the thirty or so singers stay in a lodge up on the mountain, in the taos skiing area. the head of the program, mary jane johnson, had her operatic debut alongside pavarotti in La Boheme. she is so charismatic a person that, at dinner all chairs naturally angle to face her.
_ the host of the party is a retired heart-surgeon from amarillo, texas, and he now spend his time raising exotic sheep. he was the right kind of host, gracious and available, but often alone, smiling, with cup held at hip.
_ as the singers took the microphone, sheep bleeted on the slope behind us. taos was visible in the distance; the night cool, sweaters necessary, a welcome change from panhandle heat.
_ we slunk around the corner to a separate drinks table laid out for the performers. katherine, in her second or so year at the institute, was attending from westchester, ny.
_ the host, of course, wanted to combine his two loves: sheep & opera, and called us into the paddock.
_ our singer duly complied, with infinite & surprising dignity.
_ another of the insitute's singers, eric, agreed with us that coyote bluff had the best burgers in north america. he's on summer leave from graduate school at yale.
_ katie, from dallas, just got signed to the company at the met opera in nyc!
_ congratulations katie, though we bet you'll miss taos...