Rays of light

Saturday
“You must never conclude, even though everything goes wrong, that you cannot succeed. Even at the worst there is a way out, a hidden secret that can turn failure into success and despair into happiness. No situation is so dark that there is not a ray of light”
Norman Vincent Peale

The morning had been very cold but sunny, with a fresh few inches of snow which had fallen yesterday early evening. We enjoyed phone calls with our daughter, Laura in Kuwait, and a friend from France, who caught us up on some of the news from Fontainebleau, where we’d lived for 3 1/2 years. Unfortunately, by the time we got out for a walk at Winton Woods mid afternoon, the clouds had moved in, almost obliterating the sun, except for these rays valiantly shining through one remaining gap in the clouds. This evening we were out at a Cincinnati Symphony Concert at Music Hall. The main work, Mahler’s fantastic Symphony No. 1 seems to embody a similar sentiment to the quote I begin with, as after a rather morose funeral-like 3rd movement, the 4th movement, which opens with a tremendous crash, sure to wake up any dozy concert goer (!), puts paid to gloom and despondency and leaves you with a determined sense that the human spirit can triumph in the end! There was a roar went up from the audience at the final climactic chord, and the entire crowd rose almost in unison to give them a standing ovation. A fantastic concert! (In case you hadn’t recognized it, I’m a great Mahler enthusiast!)