April 8, 2013

About a decade ago,  a friend and I met a woman at the oldest mission in Tucson who rapidly became a dear friend.  I only spent a few hours in her company but she taught me a lesson that has worked well whenever I'm debating about doing something - taking a chance.

Within a short time of meeting her, after discovering that we'd all been to Machu Picchu at some point in our lives - a real bonding point, she invited us to her home for breakfast.  We were having a great time together but we hardly knew her and didn't want to impose. We hedged and stammered a bit and finally she asked us, "Why not?"  We couldn't come up with a decent answer so away we went.  She made a fantastic breakfast, including homemade tortillas, and we stayed in touch until her death a few years later.  She was so like her name, Esperanza,  hope.

When I was asked to blog about Don Giovanni for the Madison Opera Guild, I thought,"why not?" And when it came to choosing a new blog address, well you guessed it, whynothope.