My Uncle [Aries] gives us a short synopsis, each evening before the opera. The commentary is peppered with poignant comments, like from the first night, “Those Rhine Maidens, they are a lot like modern women, all talk and no action.” Not that I would agree about the analogy, but it got me thinking, yes, sounds about right. He disagreed with at least one of the other commentators, and for a Southern Gentleman, he sure does command a fair amount of feminist resources for his material — maybe the whole Ring Cycle is about Brünnhilde as the redeemer. During the intermission last night, one of my cousins [Libra] had brought us all some food to snack on — she wasn’t born in Texas, but her redneck roots show. “It’s so perfect for munching on while watching the Ring.” Caused a little stir, we just had ourselves a little picnic, right there — the myth, the magic, the music, the grandeur of it all, and a little beef jerky.