Un bon jour...

Sun-burned and tired, we called it a day earlier - and what a blessed day it was, too.  We started by going to St. James the Apostle Anglican Church for midday Eucharist. It turned out to be a community soup and Eucharist gathering - a bit more community than we two introverts needed today - so we chatted up the host, made the sign of the Cross and headed out for the Musee dex-beux arts.  Most of the displays were in transition so it was a modest excursion, but still a favorite.

Next we stopped off and wandered around McGill University; I want to have access to some religion and culture professors when I do my sabbatical in two years so we checked in with various people to get the scoop.  It would be a gas to be hear for 3-4 months exploring ideas related to the way/reasons music can evoke the ecstatic.  We shall see... It would be sweet, too, to be here to develop our facility with Quebecois Francais, too (and be MUCH closer to Peter and Joyce for a season!)

So, after a cup of tea and a blueberry scone, we headed off for the Musee DArt Contemporain (another favorite locale.)  They, too, were in-between exhibits but we were able to see an incredible multi-media presentation by a Muslim woman - Sherin Neshat - entitled "Soliloquy" re: the tension Islamic women feel in their own land and the double-edged sword of being a part of the more open but less connected West.  A three dimensional, interactive work by Louise Simard, Head of multimedia events, was mind-blowing and engaging.

We headed back to the Metro (the subway) and were greeted by members of the Montreal Symphony playing throughout the underground:  first a killer brass quartet, then a short distant away there was a wildass Klezmer group that brought us smiles.  And when we headed for our entrance, a 25 mostly Black group was singing "This Little Light of Mine."  And when they finished they went into the "Hallelujah Chorus."  Totally unexpected beauty in an ordinary space... and I couldn't stop weeping.  Tears of joy and awe, mind you, that were spontaneous and unstoppable.  In-freakin-credible.

(Right now Canadian Broadcasting Company is showing a full presentation of Beethoven's 9th... with dancers and acrobats added for good measure.) This trip has been filled with sweet and unexpected encounters with beauty that bring tears to my eyes.  On Tuesday night at the Upstairs Jazz club, a spunky little quartet knocked my into heaven for about 15 minutes with a Charles Mingus selection that was sublime as well as earthy all at the same time.  Who could have ever predicted that a guitar, bass, alto sax and drums would be messengers of the holy, yes?  But who would have ever predicted that the Messiah would be born into a shitty stable in obscurity  at the cross road of civilization either?

After walking our butts off for the past three days, we quit a little early today for a late afternoon nap. Then it was off to the market for a few stable, a little salad and a night of resting and red wine.  Tomorrow we're off to Vieux Montreal as well as March Atwater and a few other places of quotidian holiness.  Dianne is adding her new pictures to her gallery as I write - she has such a keen eye for composition, beauty and dignity - and you can see some of the fun if you check them out @ https://picasaweb.google.com/113580895569312131123/Montreal?feat=email#)

Ok, it may be a few more days before another posting... who knows?  Tonight just seemed so right.