And now we wait...

now that  the NHL and AHL schedules are out, the Aeros team is in place plus or minus a few last minute free agent signings, if any, the team's system established, we, the fans, can just sit back, choose our games, if we do not buy the whole season ticket package and wait for day one!

Or we can start planning our trips to

a) coincide with OUR team's away schedule, or

b) compare the hockey and the opera schedules and arrange trips around both.

Which is what I'd rather do, so San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Estero, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Sarasota and more, are definitely on our agenda. 

Plus some scheduled surgery for Better Half which will restrict his movements for about 2-3 weeks, but after THAT we are free to go again.

It would be a neat and different thing to see OUR team in Minnesota, plus the Motherteam's face off with our OLD team, the St. Louis Blues... alas, there is NO opera playing at that exact time we'd like to see (the week before, some time after that February 12th)  but nothing the night before or a night after, BIG SIGH.

And as much as I like Hockey, an expensive trip without an opera or two is not quite the thing when we can have that and more in Florida...Tampa (Tampa Bay Lightening), Estero (Everblades), Ft.Lauderdale (Panthers), Sarasota (2 Operas - The Crucible AND I Lombardi!) etc. plus lolling in Bonita Springs ;-0! 

Meanwhile, Opera in the Heights artists are arriving for a Zarzuela Evening, and start rehearsals for The Tales of Hoffmann, while at HGO, Madame Butterfly and Peter Grimes are the first operas in  its repertory plus a much touted Mariachi Opera with favorites, like Octavio Moreno (Baritone) David Guzman (Tenor) and Mariachi Vargas, one of the best known and much traveled group, sample clip  below.