Cold . . . Tired

Die hard theater-goers at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival must be willing to deal with weather if they are to watch productions in the outdoor Elizabethan theater. In the summer that might mean baking heat, but in October it is sure to mean cold and possibly wind, rain, or sleet. Rain and cold were the offerings on the night we saw "Comedy of Errors." In this picture, I am sitting bundled next to an unknown fellow who had fortified himself against the elements. The actors on the stage never missed a beat in the rain, which at one point was torrential, and the audience clapped and hollered in deep appreciation of their commitment to the "show must go on!!" The next two nights there was no rain though it was bitterly cold for "Othello" and "Our Town" (I know that's not Shakespeare, but OSF produces plays other than Shakespeare).

Did I mention that I traveled with a group of students who were for the most part in their early 20s? Well they have terrific stamina and stay up very late. On the last night, we came home and deconstructed the production of "Our Town" while eating homemade ginger caked slathered with chocolate pudding, compliments of Brandon, who is a chef at the City Hotel. Sometime during the course of the evening I had a mentioned a game we played when I was kid: SARDINES.

It's the reverse of hide-and-go-seek and it's played in the dark. One person hides and all the rest of the players hunt for this person. When they find him/her, they quietly snuggle up against the person until everyone has located the hider and all are smashed together in whatever space the person has hidden. At 1am when six of us headed for bed, the others started a game of SARDINES. Needless to say there was little sleep for us amidst the hilarity the engulfed our cottage as folks fell down the spiral staircase, tripped over ottomons, and knocked pictures off the wall. Nothing got broken and by 3am there were, mercifully, sleeping bodies every where.

But wait! We had to be out of the cottage by 9:30, packed to go home, and ready for a two-hour backstage tour. After that we had to drive 8 hours to get back to the college. Everyone was giddy with fatigue. On the drive home, we played "I spy" and told jokes on the walkie-talkies that connected our two vans as we sailed down Highway 5. I was so proud to be the one who solved a walkie-talkie mystery story from clues bandied back and forth between the vans!

Fatigue, however, was overwhelming. At one rest stop, Kevin, the driver of one of the vans, stumbled from the driver's seat onto a divider and promptly fell asleep in the middle of the day lilies while the rest of us used the restrooms and bought sustenance from various nearby food places.

Did I have fun. In a word: YES!! (And I've been sleeping for 2 days)

Fired

Today, I got "fired" from one of my freelance jobs. Truth be told, I should be fired by all of my employers for negligence, irresponsibility, and tardiness.

The real issue is not having my priorities well defined and consequentially over-extending myself with WAY too many commitments. My friends and family know this well about me, but I never seem to learn.

Last week, I dropped EVERYTHING and headed off to Ashland for five days at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. When I arrived for the early morning departurel last Wednesday, the friend who had extended the invitation hugged me and said, "Patricia, who always says YES!"

WHOA!! That would be me!

So I had this marvelous, cram-packed, sleepless, fired-up adventure in theater-land and came home to an early morning IM session with an editor who gently explained that she had reassigned a project I was working on to another writer.

Hey, I get it! I can't have it ALL. Why would I think differently????

As I told this editor: "Maybe I can work for you when I'm 70 and have more time. NOT!"

This little anecdote falls thematically under the message embedded in "Our Town," the last play we saw while in Ashland. I'll report more about that play and my trip during the week. But right now, I have to get ready to go, go, go . . . it's homeschool today, and after that I promised to cook dinner for Cindy and her mom and dad who are here helping her with a job (because I was unavailable) . . .

What does all this say about priorities??? I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Hope Cindy doesn't fire me in the meantime!

Happy Anniversary Twilightme

One year ago on October 9, 2007, I started this blog with a post called Shakespeare TaDum, describing what I'd learned during a trip to Ashland OR at the Shakespeare Festival.

Amazingly, yesterday I was offered a free trip to Ashland exactly one year after writing that description. I had decided that this year that I couldn't afford the annual trip offered by the college, but I guess the universe has something else in mind, for I happened to be in exactly the right place at the right time yesterday to receive this offer.

I made a few phone calls to rearrange my plans for the next few days and last night I packed to take off for 5 days. I'll be seeing three Shakespeare plays, "Othello," "Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Comedy of Errors" plus two additional contemporary plays: "Our Town" and "View from the Bridge." (There is a sixth play that I'll miss because I have a date for a radio interview about my book on Thursday afternoon.) Also included in the trip is an actor's workshop, conversations with actors, a lecture on design, and a backstage tour. It's a cram- packed 5 days that was simply incredible last year.

To top it off, I've arragned to have coffee with a cyber friend and fellow author who lives in Ashland. I've never met her face-to-face, but I've read two of her books and she's given me great assistance with suggestions for book promotion. Now we meet . . .

I just printed the blog post from last year to read on the bus on the way to Ashland. I remember the post included creative goals that I hoped to accomplish following the trip and in response to all that I had learned. It will be fun to read the post and reflect on last year's trip and how I anticipated stimulating my creative life.

Happy Anniversary Twilightme!

WHOA!!

Michael is taking on bigger and bigger jobs now that he's got his contractor's license. I don't think I sent out a big HURRAH when he passed his test a few weeks back, so a belated CONGRATULATIONS, Michael

His new gig: Digging trenches all over the county.

Open House

Andrea and her office mate Katherine held an open house at their downtown Sonora space this weekend.

Climbing the steep stairs to a suite of offices above Hammond Shoe Store, I wondered what this space would look like. Cindy and I followed the sound of children's laughter and adult conversation. We found chairs set up in the hallway along with a table of goodies (chocolate covered strawberries and strangely spiraled slices of raw beets to name a few).

A quick turn at this point in the hall takes visitors into their office where amazing light flows through casement windows that open onto Courthouse Park. The light is yellow-green from the leafy boughs of trees and mingles wonderfully with the decor of the room which centers around a colorfully upholstered chair. A big cushy couch and an interesting array of artwork make the first room quite inviting. Add a small table for kids' play and a book case with baskets of art supplies and toys and you've got a perfect setting for pre-natal visits with Andrea.

Katherine's massage table sits in the center of the second room. Gauzy fabric drapes from the ceiling and once again the light in the room would coax ease and relaxation out of even the most uptight. A small closet houses a cute little sink. Both rooms have pictures of children and family which made the small children sprawling on the floor amidst grown-up chatter a clear statement about how these women combine family and work.

We planned on staying for 15-20 minutes, but the setting was so inviting we lingered for over an hour. I'm sure Andrea & Katherine will having thriving practices in this space, gifting the community with their gentle expertise.

Sunrise

A few weeks ago my grand-daughter Anna Mae, who is 11, asked me why I called my blog Twilightme. I explained to her that metaphorically, I was in the twilight years of my life and my blog was about the things I'm doing during those years. She's been learning about metaphor in her writing class at Little Red Schoolhouse, so she totally got what I was saying.

Imagine my surprise and delight when she sent me an email last night announcing the launch of her BLOG called Sunrise. Welcome to blogland Anna Mae.

15 Years

Michael and Jennie Lou celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on October 2, 2008!

What I remember about their wedding day was waking up to their friends sleeping everywhere-- on the deck and all across the house on floors and couches. The day dawned unseasonably warm-- in the mid 90s, not unlike Oct 2 this year.

If I remember correctly, JL had spent the night at the yurt so she could have quiet contemplative time before the wedding while Michael stayed at our place amidst the social bedlam. Their friends had been cooking in our kitchen for two days, making delicious contributions for the pot-luck reception AND a gorgeous layered vegan carrot wedding cake.

At the church, my memory is mostly blurred by tears of happiness. I do remember that Michael's mom and I lit the unity candle and Raymond and I walked JL down the aisle. I remember the lovely dried flowers and apples decorating the pews, and JL and Michael kneeling before Father Ryan during the wedding mass. I remember that Culley drove in that morning from Santa Cruz and Raleigh rang the bell at St. Joseph's to announce the marriage.

At the reception, I remember Allen being the wedding "manager," making sure folks parked well on Linda Du's gravel road and driveway, that the food was arranged on tables on the covered car port, that the toast happened at the right time, and the musicians kept the music going. I remember the canopies all over Linda's lawn and my little sister taking care of my dad who wore plaid pants and was pretty shakey but smiling and joking. I remember that Mackenzie caught the bouquet.

I remember after the wedding, my friend Carol and I spent a very long time sorting through the garbage, dipping our hands into a mess of discarded cake and dripping punch cups to pull out the recyclable materials that had been mixed in with other garbage. We laughed and laughed as we worked, giggling about the marriage symbolism in digging through garbage for the recycling.

After 15 years, Michael and JL undoubtedly are conscious of huge amounts of recycled love amidst the discards of each day of married life. Congratulations dear ones!