Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Grey Skies and Poison Ivy!
....Couldn't sound more dismal, right? Grey skies AND poison ivy? Well, that sort of sums up how this day is beginning....I cut back some treacherous vines two weekends ago, from a lovely berry bush in our front yard, and the vines got back at me: poison ivy, subtle , in odd places around my body, and oh so very itchy! Hate the damned stuff! But I was hurting it, so it found a way to hurt me back! Seems only fair. And this won't kill me (will it?) the way I killed it...so, I don't mind suffering a bit. AND, as it has been for days now, the rain is spitting down on us in a sort of spoiled -brat fashion, not quite letting go, but reminding us it's there for sure. It comes from unforgiving grey skies, and creates a bio-dome of humidity and discomfort. How lovely.
Peter and I are guests this morning on a taping of cable TV show called Kingsport Chamber Zone, hosted by our old pal Bob Feagins, for whom we've done several Kingsport Chamber Diner entertainments. A few minutes on-air to talk about the Barter Fall line-up and a bit about Season 2010.....taping out on the Emory & Henry Campus,in Byars Hall. Shouldn't take up too much of the morning, and we both like Bob so very much, it's a pleasure. Later this week, I've been asked to be a Guest Host on a local morning TV show called Daytime Tri-Cities with its ebullient and funny host....and i look forward to that little adventure. I've never hosted an entire hour-long show before, so it should be fun....an exercise in improvisation! And play!
We're hoping to have a two -day yard sale this coming weekend, and the house is littered with piles of stuff to go into the sale, however, more rain is predicted for Saturday, with all sun for Sunday....we'll see how that goes! I'm praying against odds that the rain will not happen....but if it does, we need to have plenty of clear plastic tarps on hand to put underneath stuff and cover stuff well.....or should I postpone this thing? Or only have it on SUnday, for which sun is supposed to shine? Hmmmm......life! And it's complex problems.
Another wonderful Adult Acting CLass last night, and along with some really particular and specific work on the Chekov scenes we've been studying, there was a luscious birthday cake for Kristen B. , one of our lovely students, and of course we all had to have some! But we did not indulge until after some seriously specific work was done on a couple of scenes...this is a genuinely hard-working class, and even though I threw some tough Chekov stuff at them, they all not only caught it, but have been running with it as well. In another week or so , we'll start on some Shakespeare, studying the verse structure,etc, and before we know it , time for these particular sessions will be done. And I will plan another for the Spring, I think...we'll see.
But before anything other planning, I need to simply say that these people in this class - and the one we did last Spring as well- are wonderful. In so many ways. Fun and funny. Curious and willing to learn and grow. This is so inspiring to me. THEY are so inspiring to me.
If there is one thing that consistently and continually makes me glad to be breathing, it's being in the presence of people who are willing to learn new things....who let down their guard and allow wonder and awe and curiosity to guide them....people who do not defend anything, but who invite change and welcome the "I-don't -know" into their lives, so that true learning is actually possible. This freshness, this peacefulness (because I believe it takes genuine personal peace to allow this) is so lovely to be in the presence of.....i like it. It's what makes humanity not kill itself with rage defensiveness. It allows for others. It requires others' knowledge, and admits true listening. It allows for possibility because ti does not shut down, it opens.
So out of this grey sky and poison ivy day comes to me a realization: good things ,quiet and hard-working , make the sun shine , even so.
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