Most of the items I’ve kept over the years have sentimental value. Much as Nasreen and Farida think otherwise, there usually is a reason for every thing I hold on to . . . like the ancient dining room table in my Retrospectives. Or the Chinese vase and the Polish crystal bottle that my mother bought during our trip to the midwest back in 1979. That was the only long journey my mom, the girls and I ever took together. Every time I look at either one of them, I think of my mom and that vacation. Of course I don’t see them too often since both currently reside with Farida, along with many of my other possessions that I failed to take with me during my moves to Shevy’s, Carol’s and now my own abode. I did not do Farida or Jason any favors when they moved into this house–leaving way too many of my treasures for them to deal with.
Little by little Farida is returning things to me. A couple of weeks ago she shifted some blankets and pillows my way, including the Pendleton pillow that I was given during an Adopt-a-Native-Elder ceremony and the two wolf pillows that our Dineh friend Lillian gave us. Those really bring back memories, too.
Two treasures have stayed with me through my moves. This:
Czech Teapot - a Gift from our Opera at Oakhurst Czech Extravaganza
and this:
A pillow in honor of King Grey Eagle - as a remembrance of our 2010 Shakespeare at the Opera! He knew I am worried about the 20-year-old kid.
Both of these were given to me by Dr. James Keolker, who has facilitated ECCO’s annual Opera at Oakhurst program for the past 13 years. The 14th, coming up at the end of April 2011, will be his last. Although you’d never guess his age, he’s decided that it’s time to hang up the ECCO opera hat and move on to other endeavors, among them a chair at the prestigious Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco.
In August 2000, the opera program with Jim in charge was already a fixture. When Melva said, “Judi, I’d like you to take over opera,” I hadn’t the foggiest what she was talking about. At ECCO we kind of learn in a trial-by-fire scenario. If it needs to be done, you do it. Whatever IT is. If you don’t know, you’ll find out soon enough. Plunging toilets, bailing water out of flooded rooms, cutting snakes out of deer netting (I held the camera), planting flowers, raking leaves, herding swans. Whatever.
I didn’t work all that closely with Jim that first year. The whole thing was somewhat of a mystery to me, and–I’ll confess it now–I’m not much of an opera buff. I pulled stuff together as best I could. When Jim and I finally met in person, we discovered kindred spirits of sorts–both determined to give our guests the very best experience possible and willing to work as hard as necessary to achieve that goal. I muddled through that first program, Jim gave his usual outstanding performance, and I discovered that I love working with him. He’s diligent, incredibly organized with an intense attention to detail–all those things I long to be and struggle to achieve.
By the time he arrived for the 2010 program, Shakespeare at the Opera!, he was already at least halfway through preparations for 2011–Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung. Me? I’m always putting the finishing touches on a program seconds before the guests show up, and sometimes even after that.
In fact, Jim’s a huge reason why it’s taken me this long to move on from ECCO to other endeavors. We’ve not only established a comfortable and seemingly successful working relationship., we’ve become great friends. I just couldn’t imagine not being a part of any ECCO program Jim Keolker presents. Now that he’s decided to leave, I can, too. It wasn’t an easy decision for either of us.
We email back and forth throughout the year about our lives, occasionally politics and even the upcoming opera program.
In a sea of conservatives, he shares my liberal leanings.
We also share a love of Tony Hillerman and things Native American. During the years I was making journeys to the Navajo reservation, he would often show up at ECCO for his annual program loaded with supplies for me to take to the elders.
He loves Glacier Point, but for as many years as I can remember, he’s never made it there during one of ECCO’s opera programs–because they always take place before the road opens.
He loves the mountains and the stars and has a cabin at a lake close to the Napa Valley where he can retire (well, go–I doubt he’ll ever retire) with his telescope to study the heavens.
Although I’ll miss working with him, I look forward to the opportunity of continuing the friendship we’ve forged over the last ten years. That will never change.
Although the “official” announcement of his withdrawal from the Opera at Oakhurst program has yet to be announced, I don’t think any of the attendees has discovered my blog, so the not-so-secret secret is safe until the letter goes in the mail later in September. A number of the participants have attended every year since the beginning. Newcomers often sign up as a result of Jim’s stellar reputation and the allure of his classes at Fromm. They come from across the country, and again in 2011 we’ll have guests from coast-to-coast.
The participants, too, have become friends as much as clients/guests, and we all look forward to catching up with each other once a year.
Jim qualifies as Hero No. 3 in my series of heroes.
Jim Keolker
So you may have guessed by now . . . my friends are the real treasures. No matter how near or far the physical distance is, we are always together.
