On The Road — Page 136

Goodbye San Diego

July 5, 2009 at 2:22 pm by Claudia

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.

Garden Gone Ga-Ga

July 1, 2009 at 6:47 pm by Claudia

You are looking at part of my overgrown-garden-gone-wild back at Mockingbird Hill Cottage. Unless you have been ignoring all talk of weather, you know that June was one of the rainiest months on record back East. This has resulted in lush growth. However, that growth along with the fact that my husband has left the gardens alone because he is afraid to pull a viable plant rather than a weed has resulted in a lollapalooza of plants. Don has said to me more than once, “You’ll have a lot of work to do when you get home.” Sounds ominous, doesn’t it?

I will be so happy to get my hands in the dirt again. Of course, I will probably let loose with some bad words when I see it in person. But mostly, I will be happy to trim, snip, pull, yank, and shear back.

I see some bee balm, some coreopsis, some catmint. I’m not sure about the rest. There are also garden beds in front of the shed, on all sides of the porch, on the side of the house and by the kitchen. Oh boy.

No, this is not in my garden. This is in front of the San Diego Zoo. I walk right by these elephants (there are two of them) every day. This guy on the right is obviously tired from a day of walking around the zoo. Good place to rest.

Tonight is opening night for Twelfth Night (my favorite Shakespeare play.) It will be fun to watch it without taking notes – just as an audience member.

A Visit to Christie’s Shop

June 30, 2009 at 2:35 pm by Claudia

Okay, enough of packing. It is ongoing – we are all aware of that. I will now let it go.

A while back, I drove up to Laguna and dropped by Christie Repasy’s shop. It was lovely to see more of her art and see her in that environment. I kept forgetting to post about the visit, so here are some photos.

Sorry about the reflection in the glass – I think it is from Christie’s front window. Does the painting in the lower right hand corner look familiar? Yep, that’s the one I bought at the Barn Sale.

Speaking of reflections, there I am with Christie in the mirror. I think that is Alice, her assistant, behind us.

Would you like this mantel that Christie painted? Of course you would.

This is Christie’s adorable dog. His name is Jack.

Christie sent me on to Country Roads Antiques in the town of Orange with the assurance that I would go nuts. I did. It is the most amazing shop I have ever been in. It is huge with fabulous dealers (Christie is one of them) and displays. You will be proud of me. I bought nothing. But that is because I bought a vintage lampshade from Christie – that is now on its way home. I will post photos of it when it is happily home at MHC.

Goodbye San Diego

Garden Gone Ga-Ga

A Visit to Christie’s Shop

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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