LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 1972 epic drama, “The Godfather,” starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan screens at the Soper Reese Theatre on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 1 and 6 p.m.

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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – This Saturday, Dec. 30, Middletown Art Center offers a full day of art and culture to the community.

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Nancy Willard, who died in February, was one of my favorite poets, with an enviable gift for inventive description.

She published poetry, fiction, essays and children's books, one of which, “A Visit to William Blake's Inn,” was a winner of the prestigious Newbery Award.

For those of you who don't have time to read our archive at www.americanlifeinpoetry.org , here's a poem we used with her permission several years ago.

There are many of her books available and I recommend them all.

The Vanity of the Dragonfly

The dragonfly at rest on the doorbell—
too weak to ring and glad of it,
but well mannered and cautious,
thinking it best to observe us quietly
before flying in, and who knows if he will find
the way out? Cautious of traps, this one.
A winged cross, plain, the body straight
as a thermometer, the old glass kind
that could kill us with mercury if our teeth
did not respect its brittle body. Slim as an eel
but a solitary glider, a pilot without bombs
or weapons, and wings clear and small as a wish
to see over our heads, to see the whole picture.
And when our gaze grazes over it and moves on,
the dragonfly changes its clothes,
sheds its old skin, shriveled like laundry,
and steps forth, polished black, with two
circles buttoned like epaulettes taking the last space
at the edge of its eyes.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2012 by Nancy Willard from The Sea at Truro, Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Poem reprinted by permission of Nancy Willard and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2017 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – It was a full house for the Lake County Symphony’s Christmas concert Dec. 17 at the Soper-Reese Theatre

The event also marked the 40th anniversary of the Lake County Symphony Association.

Former Lakeport Mayor Martin Scheel, the concert’s emcee, gave an excellent introduction and urged concert goers to consider joining the LCSA to provide continuing support for the Lake County Symphony and the youth orchestra.

The Lake County Youth Orchestra (the farm team for the Lake County Symphony), began the concert under the direction of Sue Condit, playing a traditional French Carol, “Noel Nouvelet," followed by “Angels We Have Heard on High.” The audience was impressed, responding to the young musicians with enthusiastic applause.

After that, it was time for symphony conductor John Parkinson to lead the orchestra in a medley of holiday traditional and popular tunes, including “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Winter Wonderland,” and other favorites like “Frosty the Snowman,” and “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.”

An energetic John Philip Sousa collaboration with James Pierpoint, “Jingle Bells Forever,” also was on the list.

The orchestra played perfectly, navigating through the traditional and popular songs as well as several new arrangements by Parkinson (“Fum, Fum Fum” and “Mary’s Boy Child”) and then morphing seamlessly into a “big band” sound to back up jazz vocalist, Sarah Cunningham.

She started off with a smooth rendition of “Let It Snow,” by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn and continued to amaze the audience with her skillful renditions of three other popular holiday selections: “Christmas Time is Here,” followed by Mel Torme’s well known “The Christmas Song,” and “White Christmas,” by Irving Berlin, all featuring arrangements by Parkinson.

After thunderous applause for Sarah Cunningham, another talented pro, Lorraine Gatton, made her way to the stage.

After a little humorous banter with Parkinson, the diminutive singer with the big voice sang his arrangement of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” with her usual energy and style – much to the delight of the audience.

Then it was necessary for Parkinson to take charge of the audience sing-a-long medley. After directing the musicians in a flawless “Joy to the World” Parkinson noticed there were not many people who were singing along and turned to face the audience.

"Do you need some help?" he asked. "This is the part where you sing along. We will start again."

Parkinson restarted "Joy to the World" and alternated his direction between the orchestra and the audience. Luckily there were no further reprimands needed during “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and “Silent Night.”

Following the sing-a-long, a rousing rendition of Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” classic was enjoyed by all before Parkinson began his final audience participation selection: the Hallelujah Chorus from the "Messiah."

"I want to hear all the words," said Parkinson.

The audience came through.

Debra Fredrickson is a volunteer with the Lake County Symphony Association.

THE SHAPE OF WATER (Rated R)

The misunderstood monster or mutant has a long history in cinema.

Director Guillermo del Toro has obviously been inspired by the amphibious Gill-Man in “Creature from the Black Lagoon” to arrive at his fantasy fable of “The Shape of Water.”

Set during the height of the Cold War in 1962 at an underground secret government facility in Baltimore, “The Shape of Water” takes shape, so to speak, as a romantic love story in the same orbit as “Beauty and the Beast.”

The film opens with a dream sequence in an underwater world where a young woman floats in her own apartment. The dreamer is Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a lonely, isolated mute who works as a cleaning lady at the government laboratory.

Only able to communicate in sign language, Elisa finds a friend at work in colleague Zelda (Octavia Spencer), who serves as the narrator to give voice to whatever Elisa seeks to convey to others in the workplace.

While Zelda is a hard-working African American struggling with the temper of the times, Elisa’s neighbor is Giles (Richard Jenkins), a closeted gay man struggling with his career as an illustrator. Together, all three of these individuals form an odd, minority outsider group.

Meanwhile, Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), the square-jawed, sadistic agent in charge of a secret project, has captured an amphibious creature from the Amazon, who is now the subject of experiments under the supervision of Dr. Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlberg).

Curious about the creature chained inside a large water tank, Elisa draws him (Doug Jones) out by first offering a hard-boiled egg that is part of her morning ritual at home. She also plays jazz albums and tries to teach him sign language.

A bond forms between these two isolated, outcast beings, and when it becomes clear that the nameless creature will be dissected and destroyed in the name of science, if only to thwart the Soviet spies nosing around, Elisa and her pals plot for a daring rescue.

The press notes indicate that within del Toro’s storytelling, the themes of good and evil, and innocence and menace, “beauty and monstrosity weave in and out of each other, revealing that no darkness can ever fully defeat the light.”

These themes stoke the director’s passion for simultaneously haunting and enchanting audiences. The interspecies romance, which becomes graphic, propels “The Shape of Water” into an uncharted fantasy realm that has not been captured in previous films of this genre.

Against the fascinating backdrop of the Space Race, Cold War and Civil Rights movement, there is plenty of raw emotion running through “The Shape of Water” to create this unusual love story.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake plans festive Christmas Eve and New Year’s event events and fun on New Year’s Day.

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