Rachel Brice

Mr. Strega and I went to a show at the Attic in Santa Cruz last night--it was a rather cool music group called The Toids (yes, I know what that sounds like, but their music was quite good). Their special guest stars were none other than bellydancer extraordinaire Rachel Brice and two women from her troupe, The Indigo. Mr. Strega and I greatly enjoyed the show--the dancing was awesome, American Tribal style, mostly, but lots of fusion, including gypsy stylizations. Plus, the Attic is a teahouse as well as a terrific performance space, so Mr. Strega and I sampled rosebud tea (just rosebuds, steeped, which tasted wonderful--amazing how the most simple things often taste incredible), an incredibly robust green tea chai (heavy on the ginger), and a "silver needles" green tea. When the show was over and we started walking towards our car, we saw a street band playing Irish music. People were waltzing around in the street, and I asked Mr. Strega for a waltz. We waltzed our way down the sidewalk (even though the music had stopped) and, when we finished, a nice old man said to us, "You'll do great in life if you learn to dance without music!"

And, yes, for those who have asked, it did snow in Santa Cruz! It was pretty, and the lightning storm was awesome here. I have had bolts touch down very close to the house, though (just the way it is when you live among trees), so it gets exciting. And the hail was intense.

I hope this is just winter getting itself out of its system, so we can have a nice spring. I have gardening fever and can't wait to get out there and plant..but not yet.