Jane II

I fell in love, didn't mean to... with Peter. And Jane was on it like a duck on a June bug. And got weird.

She would wine and dine Peter when he was on night shifts in a niche in the back of the lobby.

And he would 'Keep her calm', as he said. Right. She was never calm.

And she would rope him into going out. She wanted operettas, and some Brazilian show with samba and stuff. And I would think, 'Oh, you poor barstard, doing THAT.'

And one night, our paths crossed. I was in love with Peter, but not 'in-love'. And discovering opera. And I booked myself a ticket for 'The Tales of Hofmann', and was really looking forward to it, it was a premiere. So I had a super tenth-row seat on the aisle, which is very good, because if you go further, it restricts your view of the whole stage, and you have to keep rubbernecking like fans at a tennis match.

I only learned at the last moment that Jane and Peter would be at the opera as well. Which made me reluctant to go at all, but I wanted to continue my 'edumacation'. She was all aflutter in the afternoon. I got there, and no sign of them, whereupon I breathed a premature sigh of relief. The overture started, and in Europe... if a show starts, no one is let in till the next intermission, so I thought I was safe.

Ya think.

The doors in back opened, and there were Peter and Jane marching down the aisle to the front row, she in a flowered 'house dress' and an ostrich boa. I sank in my seat. It nearly looked like part of the pantomime that was going on on stage.

I love The Tales of Hoffmann. It was a good production. Except Jane sorta threw some monkey wrenches in the works. I had seen it before, so I could tell the orchestra sort of stuttered here and there.

It turned out, she bought tickets EXTRA to sit behind the conductor, and give him directions... 'More swing, more DRIVE!'

It was a night to remember.

There is more to come, but am tired. The subject Jane could fill a book.

To Peter's credit... many years later, he took me to the Vienna State Opera... and we saw The Tales of Hoffmann with world-renowned stars. It was so beautiful, I cried.