Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was full of fun and laughter. I must say, my weekends get better and better. Many memories are being made as the days move towards the end of the year. The last of Winterpast’s “Must Do’s” are cinched up, while her leaves drop everywhere. The garden furniture is tucked away in the barn. The wind chimes are inside. Garden buddha rests in the barn. Even the succulents are now inside.
On Saturday, Oliver carefully watched where I tucked each daffodil “ball” (really bulbs, of course, but to him, balls). I’m sure he’ll remember to bring each and every one of them to me. He worries that I bury treasures in the underground and am too stupid to find them and chew on them awhile. Yes. I’m sure a few of those daffodil bulbs will reappear.
Christmas boxes litter the house now. Easier to transport them in good weather, several trips were made with the furniture dolly to move the holidays a bit closer. Now to find places for everything without overpowering the house. Decorating for Christmas isn’t as fun when one does it alone. None the less, friends will be coming over for this or that to enjoy them with me. Thank goodness this year has blessed me with so many new and wonderful girlfriends.
While working in the garden and moving the boxes, the evening storm was inching closer and closer. By time I left for dinner with the Mysterious Marine, sleet was falling, followed by gigantic snowflakes floating down from the heavens. The unpredictability of Nevada’s high desert weather is perfect for me. You never know what you’ll experience. The only thing of which you can be sure is that it will change quickly to something else.
With the domestic chores completed, yesterday was a day for worship and fun.
A few weeks ago, I found an ad for an upcoming play. Set in Lake Tahoe in 1929, it was an interactive murder mystery in which the audience would help solve a murder. Immediately, I thought back to the days of VST and his role as “Buck Bad-am”, “Seymour”, or even “The Great and Wonderful Oz”. Acting turned out to be a great outlet for him, even though I was the one that had answered the call for actors. We’d enjoy two years with the theater, winning an award at our own version of the Tony Awards on a cold mountain evening. He’d worn his tux and I my Marilyn Monroe wig. A memorable night of fun.
The Mysterious Marine accepted my invitation to attend the Sunday Matinee. We’d attend church in the morning and then scoot across the desert towards the town to the west. Not the the biggest or the littlest, by the way. Just the town to the west.
With no time to waste, we’d grab a burger at the joint where the drive-through line snakes around the huge parking lot. The one with the freshest fries and palm tree’s in their logo. That one.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a restaurant that was brimming with people. The tables outside were covered with Saturday’s snow or many would have chosen to sit in the fresh air. Gobbling down our food, we were left with just enough time to make the opening lines of the play.
Upon entering the building, our first indication that we might be in the wrong place was the age of the audience. Giddy with delight, we were the youngest by a couple decades. It’s nice to feel a little younger when hair color and skin tone has secured one in the “elder” category. The youngest audience member might have been 60. Someone’s child and driver.
The building was a small performance auditorium complete with padded theater seating and stairs heading to top. The theater had seen better days, but was perfect for the play. When the emergency exits were announced, it was obvious that a fire would leave many unable to escape. Not a comforting feeling.
The play itself never came together. It was announced at the beginning that the story took place during a radio show. Because of that, the actors would all be reading from their scripts. Well, shiver me timbers! The whole point of acting in a play is to learn your lines so you can become the character and ACT! I could have easily put on a costume and taken center stage. The scripts were right off a 2022 copy machine. Right then, watching the performance became tedious and uninteresting.
Until intermission, it was painfully clear that this group of people didn’t know much about acting and had even less direction. From the backdrops (video display of Lake Tahoe), to the imaginary props, to the costumes. Nothing was believable or even interesting, including the actors.
Now, the true test of a man is to take him to something like a really bad play and observe his behavior. It definitely wasn’t MM’s customary Sunday afternoon football, which he forfeited to spend time with me. It was something he wouldn’t have chosen to do alone. He’d come out of his comfort zone for me and tried desperately through the 1.5 hours to stay awake. What he didn’t know until later was that I was experiencing the same problem. Giving us lots of laughs on the way home, the play had helped us make another great memory. Just not quite the kind the Director and Cast had hoped for.
Sometimes an event that comes across Facebook can be a wonderful surprise. Sometimes, the event turns out to be a bust. You’ll never know unless you get off the couch and try something new. Find humor in the experience while staying awake, if at all possible. It makes the little lady pretty happy. MM, I owe you one.
Today, I’m off to volunteer at the church to accept Christmas boxes for children around the world. As a drop off location, our church is hoping to collect around 2,000 boxes from the surrounding area. Each box will be sent to a child in a distant land as a gesture of love and good will. Volunteering can be so much fun and this is a great time of year to help others. Feeling down? Get out. Go to town. You are needed. Just remember to smile and have a little fun while you help others.
More tomorrow.