Brava, Livie!!

Last week, Livie (and 59 other kids) participated in a week-long theater camp at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, in Des Moines, IA. (During this time, we stayed at my parents' place, because they live in the area.) The kids learned about acting, what goes on behind the scenes in a theater, and learned how to put on a musical (Cinderella), which they performed at the end of the week for family and friends.The camp was put on by the Missoula Children's Theater and the educational department at the Civic Center.

Here's the photo tour of Livie's first theater experience! (LOTS o f photos are coming up!)

On the first day of camp, she was excited for me to drop her off! The camp was Monday - Friday, beginning at 9AM and running through 4PM Monday - Thursday. Friday was the long day, with the dress rehearsal in the afternoon, and the  performance at 5:30 PM.

 Because the staff were strict about security, parents (or grandparents or other family/friends) had to wait until 4PM on the dot to be able to head back inside to pick up the kids. So no photos of the "inner workings" of theater camp. However, if you're curious, you can look at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines' blog about Cinderella Camp.

 Finally, it was Friday, the day of the performance. We were allowed into the theater to find our seats at 5PM. 

Here's the stage:

Here are Livie's maternal grandparents, Abuelita and Nonno, studying the program. Abuelita told Nonno, "She's a pumpkin; that's all you need to know."

(We had to wait until the end of the show to take pictures, because flash photography was not allowed.)

Here's the whole cast at the end of the show. (I had to crop it the best I could after another mom unexpectedly jumped in the way of my shot.)

Livie is the smiling pumpkin (the second pumpkin from the left). 

One of the camp instructors told them to make silly faces for this next photo. And they sure did!

Another silly face!!

Andrew and I were given a backstage pass to wait for Livie backstage after the "photo call." Here are directions to remind actors, stagehands, etc, which way is which.

 Another directional photo here (again, I had to crop significantly when a mom, oblivious of my aimed camera, got into the way).

Another backstage view, with stored lighting and other theater necessities in safe places. 

We're heading to a different area backstage to return her costume.

Liv's showing us where she and the other pumpkins sat while they waited for their turn on stage.

Backstage workings.

Liv's posing back stage.

And, of course, she got the t-shirt!

Brava, Livie! We are proud of you and your performance!!

A Brief Break

Livie and I are going to be on the road until Sunday, July 29th. She's going to be taking part in a week-long theater camp in Des Moines, IA!! She's really excited. At the end of the week, they'll put on a performance of Cinderella.

While Livie's in her theater camp (9AM - 4 PM every day), I'm going to be doing my best to catch up on backlogged school work due in August! Ugh.

So while we're gone, I probably won't have a chance to post. (Of course, I've been busy this past week . . . hence the lack of posting.)

But there's one thing I promise: pictures and stories about our adventures when we return!!!

Memory Lane Friday - A Spooky Story

This week's Memory Lane Friday topic is "A Spooky Story." I enjoy this time of year, so the multiple Halloween-themed Memory Lane Friday topics are fun . . . even thinking of a spooky story to relate was fun!

So . . . while I was a student at Lake Forest College (LFC), I was very involved in the theater, mostly as an extracurricular activity (props crews, lights operator, sound operator, stage manager, playwright). I did take a couple theater classes for credit (a "history of the theater" type of class, as well as a joint English-Theater Arts "play/screenplay writing" class), but a big part of my theater experience was just for fun.

Then in mid-May, just a couple weeks after I graduated from LFC in 1993, one of my Culver friends and I headed to the historic town of Gettysburg, PA; we were going to do Summer Theater at Gettysburg College. She has asked for a pseudonym, so in this post, I shall call her "Geena." Geena, by the way, had actually attended and graduated from Gettysburg College, and had been heavily into the theater.

My summer theater experience would actually include acting (mainly children's theater) as well as behind-the-scenes work for both children's theater and main stage production.

Now, as you may know, it's been said that Gettysburg is one of the most haunted places in the U.S. because of the large number of casualties occurring during this Civil War battle.

Needless to say, on our road trip to Gettysburg, Geena told me plenty of "ghost" stories about Gettysburg (both the college and the town).

I wasn't sure what to think, not really believing in ghosts, but hearing all these . . . coincidences and sightings that Geena was telling me about? It got me really curious, and just a teeny bit nervous about what kinds of "ghostly" encounters I'd experience while there, especially since Gettysburg College has so much paranormal activity.

See, Gettysburg College existed during the Civil War (though it was known as Pennsylvania College at the time). So it's natural for spooky things to happen there nowadays.

For instance, Geena told me a story about Pennsylvania Hall ("Penn Hall").  This was one of the College's administration buildings. I'm not sure what it housed before. Maybe it was a dorm?

I haven't heard this story for a while, so the details are a bit fuzzy. But here goes . . .

During the Civil War, though, it was taken over by the Confederate Army and used as a hospital and morgue. You can just imagine what it was like, considering the state of battlefield hospitals in the 1860s.

Well, during the 1980s (if I remember the story correctly), after the building had become the administration building, a couple administrators had been there, working late. Finally, they'd wrapped up and headed for home. They took the elevator, pressing the button for the 1st floor. The elevator started going down from the 4th floor . . . to the 1st, right?

Wrong! As the story goes, the elevator mysteriously bypassed the 1st floor and went directly to the basement. Unexpected, but no big deal. When the elevator doors opened, they'd be in a storage space. Right?

Think again! 

Now here comes the part not for the squeamish.

As the doors opened, the two administrators witnessed a horrific, bloody scene - an 1863 battlefield hospital setting! 

Injured, dying (or dead) men all about . . . red-stained doctors and orderlies rushing about, doing what they could to save as many lives as possible.  

These two administrators were understandably FREAKED OUT!! They tried pushing the buttons, frantic. Just as the doors closed, a doctor looked directly at them, silently beckoning them, as if wanting them to  help.

Ugh, too creepy!!

Okay, so that story would be enough to creep anybody out, right?!

Well, there are many other ghost "encounters" that happened at the College and in the town itself. Geena, of course, had relayed some of them to me as we drove to Gettysburg. Most weren't quite as creepy as the Civil War hospital scene, but they were jolting nonetheless.

Here's one more example.

Since we were going to Gettysburg College to participate in summer theater, Geena told me about the "resident" ghost of the College's theater, simply known as "The General." Seems no one knows who he is, but he apparently enjoys watching stage productions from a seat in the house, or sometimes from a catwalk above the stage. 

Well, early in the season (having been there a few days, maybe a week), another summer theater participant (we'll call her "Sue") and I were in the theater one afternoon. I don't remember what we were doing. I think Sue had given me a quick tour (filling me in on stuff Geena hadn't shown me yet). Then we went to the green room, to work on a project.

Since it was warm out, we had opened the door leading outside, propping it open with . . . a door stopper? Something heavy? A cinder block?

You know what? I seriously can't remember what it was, but since the door was kinda heavy, it must've been either a door stopper (you know, one of those wedge things you stick underneath it) or something heavy enough to keep it propped open.

We also had the door to the costume shop opened at the other end of the hall, just to get a breeze going through.

Now Sue had really been apprehensive about being in the theater alone, because everybody knew about "The General," and Sue didn't want to be there by herself because of "The General."

Actually, now that I think about it, I think she'd originally asked me to go with her to keep her company as she worked on a project. I was up for it, partly because I didn't really believe in ghosts, partly because I wanted something to do, and partly because I was curious. I mean, come on . . . was there a "General" haunting the theater? Really?!

Well, I think Sue and a number of other people had had unexplained events happen while at the theater. Maybe "The General" or maybe something else. I dunno, since I hadn't been there. But like I said she wanted company, just in case . . . she didn't want to be there alone.

So, we'd been there for a bit . . . maybe an hour or so. We had some music playing. She was working on the project, and after I wandered around, checking out the place, getting a feel for it, I was sitting in the green room, reading. A nice, quiet afternoon.

Well, it had been a nice, quiet afternoon.

BOOM!! The doors slammed shut! Both doors - the costume shop door at one end AND the door leading outside at the other.

The noise startled me, so I'd jumped. Plus Sue had let out an excited utterance. She was sure it was "The General."

I was sure I had the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. I hadn't seen anything, but then again, I hadn't been looking for anything.

We investigated, together. Couldn't figure out how both doors slammed shut - the heavy outer door was held open securely. At least we thought it was secure.

Now I can't say for sure that this event was caused by "The General." Maybe the doors weren't as secure as we thought they were.

But then again, I can't say that it hadn't been caused by "The General."

Ooooooooh! Spooky, huh?

 Okay, here's a Children's Theater group shot with a bit of  Penn Hall in the background.

I'm the "bunny" in the lower right hand side of the photo. 

Here I am as "Missy Mouse," again with a bit of Penn Hall in the background.

Here's Little Round Top. Fighting took place here. 

Downhill to the left is "Devil's Den" (for those of you history buffs).

Memory Lane Friday is hosted by Two Bears Farm and the Three Cubs. Please click on the button below to read her Memory Lane Friday post, as well as other bloggers' entries.

Come back next week when theme is Halloween, Part II.

I'm Thinking of Going Back

A few months ago, I was given a gift - one that allowed me to travel to sunny, dusty, hot, wonderful Mexico, Arizona, and El Paso, TX, places I would gladly visit again, if I had the opportunity.

Let me give you a little background first. See, I spent the summer of 1993 at Gettysburg College participating in summer theater. There are a few of us from that summer spent in one of the nation's most historic locations who are now friends on Facebook.

Months ago, one of them, Molly, would occasionally have a status update that caught my curiosity. She was on a journey that sounded so fantastic, I desperately wanted to participate, too.

However, it wasn't a physical journey; she was actually taking a trip through an amazing book called The Hummingbird's Daughter, written by Luis Alberto Urrea. Her mom had read this book, enjoyed it, and passed it along, sure that she would also enjoy it. 

When she'd post "Hummingbird" related status updates, I would think, Hmmm, I'm not sure what she's talking about exactly, but it sounds like I want to be a part of it, too. So one day I asked her what she was reading, and finally I had both the title and author's name.

She also said that while she was in the midst of reading it, she thought of me, absolutely positive that I would become as engrossed in the book as she'd been. Partly because of the characters' cultures, their language, and possibly the locations . . . if I remember correctly, these were some of the reasons she thought of me and why she thought I'd get into the book.

Excited about reading a book someone thought I'd love, I promptly went online to see if my local library had it. I was so disappointed when I found out they did not. But I could do an inter-library loan. Sure, it would cost some money and take an undisclosed amount of time before I received it, but there was hope that, before 2009 was ushered into the history books, I'd have a copy to read.

Fortunately for me, I'd made a comment on Facebook about having to wait for this book that Molly enjoyed so tremendously. She promised me that she'd send me her copy, as she'd recently finished reading it. So I waited, anxiously.

Finally, I received it!

And I eagerly jumped into it. For the next few weeks, I was intertwined with these characters - Teresita, Don Tomás, Huila, Don Lauro . . . I was thoroughly enjoying being a part of their lives.

Now, I'm not going to talk about specific details of the book itself, but rather, the thoughts and memories it evoked in me. There was something absolutely magic about it, and not necessarily just the mysticism involved in the storyline itself. I mean something else.

For example, I'd read about what they ate for breakfast . . . the warmed tortillas, the huevos con chorizo, beans . . . and I was transported back to my grandmother's kitchen in El Paso, TX. I remembered the smells - that fabulous, delicious scent filling the house with the hope that our delectable breakfast would be ready soon.

I remembered a discussion in the book about flour tortillas versus corn tortillas, and I thought about how I love flour tortillas, warmed, slightly toasty, with huevos con chorizo . . . and prefer the corn variety with my Oma's refried beans.

This food, this Mexican food that I equate with my grandmother's cooking, her home, her endless hospitality - this food is something I always find delicious (if prepared properly - none of that fake Tex-Mex they TRY to pass off as "Mexican food"). And it was something I craved when I was pregnant with Olivia. It makes me miss my home in El Paso with my grandparents, my homes in Arizona and New Mexico, the lands of turquoise, hot, dry heat, and natural beauty. 

There was talk in the book about javelinas, coyotes, arroyos, paloverde trees, and I was immediately back in Tucson, AZ, where I was stationed for two years. While living in the great state of Arizona, I'd occasionally see coyotes in an arroyo while on a  trail ride with Cotton, my Appendix Quarter Horse; once in a while, I'd see them if I were driving somewhere at dawn or dusk. They seemed to come out in packs in the twilight hours. And I'd see javelinas on the rare chance I had the opportunity to visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

So many other things in the book seemed so real as I read through page after page. One night, I even dreamed I was in a dream-scene from the book! Now that was fun!

And this is what made this book so magical, so wonderful to me. It was a literary trip to lands that I love, the Southwest, my onetime home, and to Mexico, a place I've visited long ago, but would gladly visit again.

I read this book, sent to me after Molly finished it, on the promise I'd pass it along to someone else who wanted to read it. I did that; I loaned it to my Mom. However, she had none of the magical experiences I had with it. She has since finished it and given it back to me.

And because I loved the magic of this book, and it's once again in my possession, I'm thinking about going on it's adventure again. Maybe not too soon, but maybe around springtime. Just maybe.