Wizard's End 2013 and Other Monday Musings

Cast four Wizard was incredibly performed by Jaj Jones.  He is an  extraordinarily talented actor and singer AND he nailed the personality for the Wizard.

Jaj' s daughter Kasie Jones was was an exceptional Wicked Witch of the West.  Her delivery of the poppies line may have been the single best delivery of a line in all the children's theatre I have seen.  The movement of her face, the inflection and timing of her lines - it was a thing of beauty!

It was a great run at the Flying Dragon involving many children getting the opportunity to take a leading role.  Some did not step as well as others, but all children are on a trajectory of improvement...some were just farther along that path than others. My biggest disappointment was that I did not get to see Kayla Peacock perform the Cowardly Lion as although it was her cast, she did not do the part on the Sunday afternoon she was scheduled to do it. 

We bought a new bed for Benjamin and should have it fairly soon.  It has plenty of storage, which still may nor prevent him from storing most of his stuff on the floor.This will enable us  to put the bed he has now into the guest room.  So we are a step closer to having you over!

I have ended my Glenwood series, but we are still futzing around trying to finish up the house. That is going steadily but slowly.  It may be awhile that our dominant theme is packing boxes.

The sequester came through with less fuss from the American people than I thought.  It may take a little longer to sink in.  Or unless it effects them personally they may not have any recognition of it at all.  But as this and other austerity measures slow the economy, let's just hope they are at least alert enough to know that it is misplaced austerity measures that is causing it, and not blame poor people who are getting a small amount of food assistance.

I have had a number of friends experience loss and/or setbacks and/or health challenges this week.  My heart goes out to them all. May God guide you and comfort you.  Hold your family and friendships near and dear.

A Crowley Celebration of Longevity

She was surrounded by people.  Except for a rare occasional visitor, this now only occurred once a year. On her birthday.

It was Rachel Compton's 105th, and dozens of people were gathered at the Crowley Baptist Retirement Village in order to celebrate.  They included children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren (even one great-great grandchild thanks to fifteen year old Josie Evans).  There were also town dignitaries like Mayor Terry Caldwell, and Violet Ridge, the reporter for the Crowley Gazette.  And there were many of the residents of the retirement village, including Crowley's next oldest resident, 102 year old Mattie Goodkind.

There had been a story each year on Rachel ever since she hit her centennial birthday.  Centenarians were rare in Crowley, and she quickly became a legend of longevity.  Her full name was Sarah Rachel Crowley (her maiden name - yes, her family went back that far) Franks Steel Compton, having kept the last names of each of her three husbands.  Robert Franks died at 43 when Rachel was just 37, collapsing at the County fair from a massive heart attack.  Tommy Steel died at 67 when Rachel was 61, having been run over by his own tractor while trying to get it started,.  Then she married Grover Compton, who died at 99 with emphysema and pneumonia (smoking finally caught up with him), and Rachel was just 87.  She had spent the remaining years alone.

Seven years ago, aging children decided to move her to the Crowley Baptist Retirement Village,  Over those years they came to see her less and less.  Her only frequent visitor in the last three years was Franny Goodkind, who was not a relative but was actually coming by to see Mattie.  But Mattie could be cantankerous and Franny found herself actually spending more time with Rachel.  Franny enjoyed the colorful tales of the past that Rachel would weave, more so than her own great-grandmother's stretches of silence punctuated by her berating Franny for not bringing in more contraband, like chewing tobacco and chocolate.

When Rachel turned 100, Violet interviewed her for the Gazette and asked her what her secret for longevity was.  She pulled Violet in close and whispered to her, "Hush now!  I think they forgot about me." The paper ran something instead about clean living and prayer.

She had children by both Franks (three boys and a girl)  and Steel (two boys and a girl), and four of the seven had predeceased her.  One of them, Rebecca Cooper, was an 86 year old resident of the retirement village herself.  Tabitha and Racine Steel, daughters of her grandson Grant, were there.  Racine was there in all her blond, gorgeous perfection, but she couldn't entice her boyfriend Bobby Ray to come.  The boy that was incredibly sweet on her, Adam Garnett, was there, and even had brought Rachel roses.  Racine was friendly with Adam, and Adam of course interpreted that for more than what it was.  Franny, who was infatuated with Adam in turn, looked at them with a melancholy shyness.  She did not know how to break through to Adam while he was blinded by Racine.

Rachel had been completely mobile until the last two years.  But recently she had been unable to get out of her wheelchair.  Her mind was still good, although sometimes she would slur her words in a way that made her hard to understand.  Franny, however, listened carefully to her, got used to the way she said things, and understood every word Rachel said.

Rachel was wheeled in front of a table that held a huge birthday cake that said, "Happy 105th, Rachel" and had a picture of her favorite cartoon strip characters, Pogo and Albert the Alligator, cavorting in a swamp.  Her eyes widened when she saw it, but that had been her only reaction that day.  "Time to blow out the candles, Grammer!", encouraged Tabitha, who was standing by the left side of her.  On the other side was Franny, and her and Rachel were holding hands.

Sarah Rachel Crowley Franks Steel Compton reared back slightly and took a huge gulp of air.  Everyone waited for the exhale.  It did not come.  Instead she pitched forward, landing directly into the cake.  She had breathed her last, the frosted pictures of Pogo and Albert smeared on her face.

As the horrified crowd weeped and struggled to find medical care for the deceased Rachel, the new oldest resident of Crowley, 102 year old Mattie Goodkind, turned to the woman in the wheelchair next to her, 97 year old Grace MacDonald and said, "Well, believe you me, my 105th is going to have a lot more dignity than THAT!"

Congress is NOT Talented and I Hope We're NOT Dumb Saturday Political Soap Box 56

And now, a slightly altered, PG13 version of a quote from Blazing Saddles:

[the Johnsons load their guns and point them at Bart. Bart then points his own pistol at his head] 
Bart: [low voice] Hold it! Next man makes a move, he gets it! 
Olson Johnson: Hold it, men. He's not bluffing. 
Dr. Sam Johnson: Listen to him, men. He's just crazy enough to do it! 
Bart: [low voice] Drop it! Or I swear I'll blow this man's head all over this town! 
Bart: [high-pitched voice] Oh, lo'dy, lo'd, he's desp'it! Do what he sayyyy, do what he sayyyy! 
[Townspeople drop their guns. Bart jams the gun into his neck and drags himself through the crowd towards the station] 
Harriet Johnson: Isn't anybody going to help that poor man? 
Dr. Sam Johnson: Hush, Harriet! That's a sure way to get him killed! 
Bart: [high-pitched voice] Oooh! He'p me, he'p me! Somebody he'p me! He'p me! He'p me! He'p me! 
Bart: [low voice] Shut up! 
[Bart places his hand over his own mouth, then drags himself through the door into his office] 
Bart: Ooh, baby, you are so talented! 
[looks into the camera] 
Bart: And they are so *dumb*! 

Once again, my favorite movie Blazing Saddles comes through in the clutch!  This is the perfect quote to describe me feeling about the sequester, probably the dumbest moment in the history of Congress (and trust me, this moment has A LOT of competition!).  So they put a gun to their heads, we let them bluster and delay their way to the stupidest round of budget cuts ever, and now some of the Tea Party people are behind closed doors gloating about how talented they are and how stupid you are.

The question is, are you going to let them get away with it?

Is the President to blame?  Yes!  For having EVER given in to these people in the first place!  By trying to compromise with them, by ever conceding to put the debt ceiling as a negotiable item, he made them think they could get away with this nonsense!

Are the Republicans to blame?  Oh, you betcha!  They have let the tea party lunatics run roughshod over the whole process.  They have so thoroughly gerrymandered  congressional districts that in most places EVEN moderate Republicans don't stand a chance.

Are the American people to blame?  YES!  Stop electing politicians who you think will give you everything you want while depriving the OTHER of anything they want!  It doesn't work that way.  If you want medicare and social security and roads and education and defense and America to be first in research and science, YOU"RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!

And you can't budget cut your way to prosperity.  Austerity doesn't work.  Really, don't even talk to me about deficits AGAIN until unemployment falls below 6%.  Then yatter away about all you want!

So wake up, America!  Put the blame where it primarily belongs, and be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.  It's Tea Party Amerika, and don't forget it!

My Dog Spot

I really only had one dog growing up.

We had a "starter" dog for a few weeks. a small terrier that we borrowed from my Mom's parents.  But it was a mean little dog that snarled and bit at us, and we gave it back to my grandparents.

Then when I was eight my Dad took me and my sister to the dog pound.  This was not a humane society or a no-kill shelter.  This was a place where the dogs had a few days and then, as more dogs came in, they would be killed.

I know there must have been other dogs there.  But I don't remember them.  I just remember seeing this mostly white puppy with a few brown and black spots, looking up at me sweetly, wagging that amazing tail.  What was it?  Beagle?  Pointer?  Spaniel?  We didn't know and we didn't care.

We took him home, and I got it in my head that I should be teaching him tricks.  The little dog gamely tried to do what I was asking, but I soon discovered it was more fun just to be with the dog than to try to get him to be Lassie or Rin Tin Tin.

I named the dog.  Using my incredible powers of imagination, I named him....Spotty Whitey Strait.  Fortunately for all concerned, it quickly became just Spot.  A common name, I know.  But all the other dogs that had been called Spot didn't matter.  This was our Spot, and it would be the one I always thing of when I hear that name.

Spot was a loyal and true friend.  He was always warm and affectionate with people.  My mother did more training of him than we did.  He never went beyond the kitchen into the living room.  He learned to beg, and would do so quietly sometimes when we ate supper.  He was on a chain outside (my one big regret is that I could never convince my parents to fence in the yard).  Sometimes he would be out there, see something in the distance, and would sit up and beg for long periods.

Kids being the amazing creatures that they are, got wind of how much I liked my dog.  So on the school bus they would compose songs about how "Spot" was gonna "get run over by a steamroller".  I tried getting angry with them, hitting them back, crying, trying to turn it into a joke back at them, trying to take it stoically.  Nothing I did made them stop.  They found a weakness and they were going to torture me with it for all the time that I would ride the bus.

Spot was excellent with people and was not therefore very effective as a guard dog.  He would sometimes be quite combative with other dogs.  One time while at a trailer rally, Spot was chained to the front of the trailer when a collie passed too close by.  There was a huge kerfuffle before they were parted, and I found part of the collie's tail that Spot had apparently bitten off.

But fortunately, we weren't other dogs, and his loyalty and kindness to us were without precedent. He had some health problems over the years, including a severe case of heart worms.  But the vet performed an experimental, fairly new medical procedure on Spot, one that I believe was even written up in journals, and he lived many years after that.

Spot was there for me, through elementary school, through middle school, through high school, even on until I went into college.  I would come home and he would be there, still happy to see me and bond with me.  We made a secret pact, that he would always be there for me, at least until I got married and started a family of my own.

Spot lived until I was 24.  He was sixteen years old.  I had been married just a few months, when his heart and passion finally gave out.  He had done his duty.  It was now time for him to rest.

I loved that dog with all my heart and soul.  Rest in peace, my dearest, bestest friend.  As long as I live, you will not be forgotten.

Pond Living is the Place To Be

For the very first time
I live by a pond.

Not in the pond.
I can't swim very well.

Nor right by the pond.
That would be too many skeeters.

Like a block and a half from the pond.
But close enough to see it from my house.

Certainly can see it better
Than Sarah Palin could see Russia.

It's a really a small lake.
Kind of a baby lake, actually.

So I call it a pond.
But don't tell my neighbors that.

People like to live by water.
Maybe it's because we're mostly H2O.

And we feel it pull at us,
Attracting us at a molecular level.

I like to think
That I'm above all that.

I'm not.

A Tale of Two Dorothys Part Deux!

Another weekend at Flying Dragon and two more Dorthys make their appearance. Elizabeth Beck on the left performs Friday night at 7 and Saturday afternoon at 3.  Her and family have been valuable mainstays to the Flying Dragon, and Elizabeth has increased in confidence and ability with each performance.  She was excellent in the comedic role of Lady Jane in our recent production of Young Robin Hood.  Anna Greimel on the right is performing Dorothy on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.  She is another fine, growing talent at our theater.  She came into her own last year playing the Tin Girl in last year's production of Te Wizard of Oz.

So please come out and se these shows!  Even if you've seen it before, or even last weekend, these are our all new casts and all the children have worked hard and deserved to be seen.  See you there!

The Pen and the Crayon: The Writer's Guild Meets the Art Guild

Special painting done for the Writer's Guild done by the multi-talented Leslie Crane.

Last night, The Okefenokee Heritage Center Art Guild had as their program the new Writer's Guild.  We introduced ourselves, starting with Leslie Crane reading from her novel The Life I Left Behind (available from the author) and a poem by Xiomara Vargas.

I then introduced our new guild, how it met, and some of the things we hope to do, including collaborative efforts with other guilds.  I read my recent blog entry, The Curious Artistic Life of T. M. Strait, a humorous telling of youthful attempts to be an artist.

We also had readings by Will Jacques (professional illustrator and horror fan, reading a story about giant rats) and Cody Goode (reading about ghosts and his fellow ghost hunters).Guild member Rem Farr introduced some of the concepts that he has been working on.

We were invited to be the program for this meeting by my friend Julianna Lacefield, and I thank her as it was a great opportunity to introduce our group and gain more support.  There were some delicious snacks including some delicious homemade cookies that Julianna prepared.  I brought some home with me, and I think I will have one this morning - the breakfast of champions.

I got to catch up with Frederick Lester Walker III, a great friend who is an excellent artist and participant in the theater community.  Among other things, he turns action figures into celebrity figures and does a brilliant job - I recently bought an Orlando Bloom figure from him for Alison's birthday.

I also got to meet for the very first time the amazing Boatdock Bill Davis, whom is a facebook friend and we have frequently commented on each other's post.  Bill was an elementary arts teacher in Ware County for many years, and is a great outdoors enthusiast, especially biking.  He is also a fellow traveler with me when it comes to politics - very rare in these parts!

The painting at the top of this post was done by Leslie Crane, a beautiful painting with a saying from C. S. Lewis - You can do anything writing!

How true!  Up next - OHC Open Mike night this Thursday!  Be there if you can!