I have two favorite trees here in Balboa Park. The other is a Eucalyptus tree with sprawling roots. This beauty is a fig tree that I pass by everyday. Huge, glorious, full – it is a miracle. Every time I walk by this tree on the way to the theater, it is bathed in this beautiful light. I will miss you, wondrous fig tree.

I am nearly packed – all the boxes have been sent off save a few that the Theater is sending for me. Tonight Coriolanus opens…I go to the Opening Night Party for all three shows in the Summer Repertory…and I say my goodbyes.

It is with mixed feelings that I leave San Diego. I used to live here and I am reminded every day of why I loved it here. The weather is beautiful, the daily sunshine makes a huge difference in my mood, the ocean and beach bring relaxation, every time I walk down the back road to the theater I am reminded of how much I love this place. However, things are changing at the Theater. It is not the same place I worked in several years ago. Things change, people come and go – that is the ebb and flow of life.

The Summer Repertory? That is a thing in and of itself and it is wonderful. We have 3 marvelous productions this year that everyone is justly proud of. I really love what I do. I love the wonderful creative people I get to work with, seeing a production grow from rehearsal to its life onstage with everyone doing their best to create a memorable production. The other night I stood in the back of the theater during Twelfth Night. For once I wasn’t taking notes and I watched as wave after wave of laughter convulsed the audience. What a magical thing this is – a group of strangers coming together to watch live theater – sharing energy with the actors, laughing, crying and standing to applaud the whole experience. The audience gets to travel to a different time and place and be transformed for the space of an evening – and maybe even longer. That is why we do it.

I will miss all my friends; the crew, the designers, the stage managers, the directors, the actors – and all my old friends from years back. I will miss my students so much. The Artistic Director, a man I admire greatly, has given notice and is leaving this week. That is very, very sad news for the Theater. He is wonderful and I hope I work with him again someday.

So goodbye to my students, my friends old and new, my colleagues, Vignettes and Lori, Cottage Antiques, the Barn Sale and everyone connected to it, the Theater, Balboa Park, the beach where I met my husband, and to glorious San Diego. Thank you for a great six months. If I had to be away from my home and family, this was the best place to be.

Thank you.