Day 68: Birds of a feather…

 

“Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding”

-Diane Arbus

 

This is a story about a swan, her prince and true love, that made me follow my heart to the water’s edge.

Yesterday was a physical day taking on Fallen Leaf Lake in an unintended long distance swim, and so it was only fitting that my plans had me on a Quest that brought me back to the water, but not to swim.  No, today Lake Tahoe beckoned me to visit.

 

I am exceptionally lucky to have Lake Tahoe just a drive away.  If you haven’t seen it, I would recommend putting it on your “Must see in this lifetime” list, as it is a blue gem that Nevada and California have been fortunate enough to share.  At the north part of the lake there is an outdoor theater where each summer they hold the Shakespeare festival.  For a couple months, actors/actresses perform Shakespeare and the foundation also offers other types of art performances.

When I heard that the Nevada Ballet would be performing their rendition of “Swan Lake”, I couldn’t help but get a ticket to go see their performance.  I have always loved the ballet, and particularly have enjoyed seeing the Bolshoi.  Tonight, I was going to experience something completely different…  A performance of the traditional story of Swan Lake in one of the most gorgeous backdrops in the country, Lake Tahoe!   I made sure this swan wore her white dress and I brought a light sweater in case it became chilly, a pair of Summer sandals, and a light dinner to enjoy.  Since there were spotty storms predicted, I packed my umbrella just in case… with a ticket in hand, I flew off to Lake Tahoe.

The drive up the mountain is not for the faint of heart.  I have learned to love the drive and in particular, there is a bend in the road I anxiously anticipate.  It is when I catch my first glimpse of that crystal blue water with the sun’s sparkle on the lake as if there were diamonds resting on the surface; I find myself trying to make that moment of sight last as long as it can while I drive the winding and twisting road before it hugs the shoreline.  Before I knew it, I had arrived at the beach and I could see some peculiar clouds that had that questionable look to them, you know the one that says in that ominous tone, “I may release a deluge or I may wait a while…”  Either way, I had my umbrella and I was prepared.

 

 

I stepped out the car, grabbed my picnic basket, my sweater and made my way to the entrance.  The volunteers that greeted me were ever so polite and helpful.  One of them even offered to graciously escort me to my seat.  As I entered the seating area, I couldn’t help but admire the way the venue was designed.  The stage was positioned on the beach with the Lake as a backdrop and the seating was comfortable with cool, coarse sand beneath my sandals to remind me of the magical location of Tahoe.  I decided to indulge in my light dinner and drink before the performance.  As I began to indulge, the ballet dancers stepped out onto the stage and began their warm-up.  A narrator was explaining every move and stretch of these amazingly flexible dancers.

 

The dancers….  They all had such slender yet fit physiques, and they moved from the various positions effortlessly and gracefully like the fine-tuned athletes/performers they were.  The many years of lessons and practice proved obvious in every move that they made, as they went through the five basic positions of ballet and well beyond in the warm-up routine.  The pre-performance warm-up lasted about 30 minutes with a brief intermission before the show would begin.

As I sat and waited the breeze began to pick up and I could tell a most spectacular sunset was about to occur, so I left my seat for a moment to capture as many pics as I could of the clouds performing their own intricate dance in the fading spotlight of the sunset.  It was truly magnificent!  And then the lights flickered and I made my way back to my seat in anticipation of the performance.

And now onto the love story… Here is a brief synopsis of the story of Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky’s first ballet, “While hunting, Prince Siegfried sees an amazing swan. As he takes aim to shoot, the swan turns into a beautiful woman. The woman, Odette , tells the prince that she is a princess who has come under the spell of an evil sorcerer. During the day she must be a swan and swim in a lake of tears. At night she is allowed to be a human again. The spell can only be broken if a virgin prince swears eternal fidelity to her. She tells Prince Siegfried, who happens to be a virgin prince, that if he refuses her, she must remain a swan forever.

Prince Siegfried falls madly in love with Odette. However, through a spell by the evil sorcerer, he accidentally proposes to another woman at a party, believing that the woman is really Odette. Princess Odette feels doomed. She threatens to kill herself and throws herself into the lake. The Prince feels terribly sorry and throws himself into the lake with her. In an incredibly touching moment, the two are transformed into lovers in the afterlife.” http://dance.about.com/od/reviewsandrecommendation1/a/Swan_Lake.htm

As the ballet dancers began their performance, I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat as I knew what scenes would elicit the most difficult parts of the performance.   But soon being spell-bound by the ballet was abruptly interrupted by the cold and intermittent rain drops that began to fall. Within moments, a constant light rain had begun and the performance was suspended out of safety for the dancers. I quickly opened my umbrella and could hear that unmistakable sound of rain drops hitting the roof of the umbrella with not even a second in between them falling. I found the sound hypnotic and soon I was in a thought-provoking trance inspired by the love story being told… “Does true and destined love really exist or only in a production of Swan Lake?” And if it does exist, what does it look like and does it last?  A swan by day and prince by night?  Is it gentle…kind… forgiving… passionate… attractive… humorous… fun… faithful…intense… seductive… trustworthy…sensual…desirable… fateful… forever… is it real?

I took a look around at the audience which was a mix of all generations.  I looked at the couples that were in attendance and thought, “Does anyone have the answer to this question?”  There, the young ones sat with their hands intertwined and the older couples sat with a sense of security and understanding, and some sat with not even a word spoken between them, aloof or despondent, but together.   Then I thought about how perhaps some of the relationship attributes are there, but change and grow in different ways as the relationship matures.  If two swans can find each other and stay together, can we?

My mind quickly wandered to that first intimate moment between two people who are in love, that passionate kiss…   You have that magnetic feeling, that moment where nothing is said, you both just know… before you can comprehend the force that brings you together, you find your lips are wet with desire and your heart is beating ever so hard.  The kiss is tender and gentle to start, and then as if gravity pulls you both even closer, your bodies are pressed up against each other, feeling every curve, muscle, undeniable rapture and cupidity with the warmth you both generate as a reflection of the passion that is ablaze.   And over time, that passion stays lit through trials and tribulations, hurdles and challenges, doubts and concern, good times and bad, fortune and misfortune… by choice, not circumstance.  A swan and her mate, true lovers… gentle, kind, forgiving, passionate, attractive, humorous, fun, intense, faithful, seductive, trustworthy, fateful, sensual and desirable, for as long as fate will choose.

I suddenly looked around as if I had awoken from an anesthesia-like state, a little foggy to think, but knowing that the rain was letting up as I saw the umbrellas being put away, one by one. I suddenly had a renewed sense of understanding of what true love might be.   And just as I came to this unequivocal realization, the performance resumed and in the sky was the most distinct sign that “promises” and “life commitments” are kept, a rainbow…  I couldn’t help but think, “It doesn’t get clearer than that.”

The performance was more than I could have hoped for. The ballet dancers were dynamic, elegant, dramatic and awe-inspiring with their jumps, pirouette’s, lifts, spins, twirls, and endurance and ability to make you believe that true love does exist, but maintaining that love may never be easy, may require compromise and patience through a “peculiar and unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding.”-Diane Arbus

As the performance ended, I sat for just a bit to watch the couples as they left, all were hand-in-hand, gently helping each other walk together to the exit. This swan picked up her picnic basket and umbrella and her new belief of what true love might be, refreshed by the rain of realization, confirmed by a rainbow of promise and spoken through the delicate and graceful dance of a Swan, her prince… her true love, by the water’s edge.

Feeling inspired, rekindled, hopeful, and enlightened… Wondering what tomorrow will bring…