La, La, La Traviata

I’m not sure if this is auspicious or not, but my next-door neighbor is an opera singer.

She has a lovely daughter who typically wails as her mother belts out songs, in alto, every evening. In order to distract the child, she will let her run down the corridor, this to compensate for what certainly amounts to “torture” for a toddler.

One day, while riding the elevator, another neighbor, from the same floor, happened to be in the elevator with the opera singer, the child (whose first name happens to be the same as our building superintendent’s wife) and me, said, “You sing so well!

“How do you know?” she asked, stunned.

“Because your voice carries. I can hear you,” the older gentleman smiled politely.

She blushed and we all got out at ground level.

Happy surprises

I didn’t sign the rental agreement with the foreknowledge that I’d be living next door to an opera singer. Here’s how it happened. The former renter, a man with what started out as a very cute, baby German Shepherd who all too quickly grew into a full-grown, big-pawed, muzzled, police-style dog, used to live where the opera singer now resides. He moved out and, after an appropriate amount of time elapsed, the super said to me, “There’s a lovely family that will be moving in shortly!” This was my first clue that the apartment next door would be again occupied.

My second clue, which preceded the loud and persistent evening song, was that the dog smell changed to a pervasive diaper odor. This in addition to the subsequent sounds of a squealing child sporadically running a “marathon” down the corridor.

If this little, “Verdi” tale amuses you, let me remind you that “living it”is an entirely different matter.

But there’s worse. For example, being awakened in the wee hours of the morning by a false fire alarm.

On a positive note, I predict that my neighbor will end up becoming a well-known opera singer having her debut in Toronto’s Opera House. She is doggedly determined in her practice, and we all know that practice makes perfect; can be heard through walls (auspicious, if seen as such); and has a pleasant smile.

May your day be lovely, bright and quiet. La, la, la, la, la!