Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Pink

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I love that limelight hydrangeas turn pink. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect to happen in the spring – pinkish pastel flowers – but no, limelights turn everything upside down and give us this delicate pink in the fall. What an unexpected treat.

This week has been quite beautiful, with temperatures in the 70s, cool mornings, and abundant sunlight. We’re still in a drought and the rivers are very low. This is a repeat of what happened last year. I’m not so stressed about it this time because I know at some point we’ll start getting a ton of rain. Just not now.

I’m reading Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang. It’s quite magical, in fact, it’s about doctoral students at Oxford University studying to be magicians. It’s much more than that, though. Two of them travel to Hell to bring back their recently deceased mentor. The first Kuang I read was Babel. I really loved it. I then tried The Poppy Wars Trilogy (maybe her first books?) and I got about halfway through them and lost interest. Then I read Yellowface, which was wonderful. And now, Katabasis. Rebecca is a truly wonderful author. I love the way her mind works. Fantasy fiction is not a genre I am drawn to, as a rule, but Babel was so impressive that I vowed to read more of her work. And she is impressive. If you ever read her bio, you’ll see what I mean. I can’t conceive of accomplishing all she has at such a young age. I’m reading at least 100 pages a day so I can finish it and get to the next book in my queue. Katabasis  is due on the 25th, and The Hallmarked Man  is due on the 30th. A note about the latter book. It’s written by Robert Galbraith who is really JK Rowling. I’ve read all the books in this mystery series, and hesitated about this one because of Rowling’s hateful anti-trans stance. I’ve been disgusted by her actions. So, I vowed not to buy the book and I haven’t. No more money in her coffers. I got in a queue for it in our library system. It clocks in at 897 pages, so I’ll have to do the same kind of scheduling I did for Katabasis. Luckily, I have a fair amount of free time at the moment.

I also have the newest in Mick Herron’s Slough House series, Clown Town, which I preordered a few months back and promptly forgot about. It arrived here last week. And Louise Penny’s newest is on the horizon. It’s a good time for losing myself in books, and heaven knows, I need that. We all do.

Tonight is opening night for the play. Break a leg, my friends! (I’m also happy because that means I will get the second half of my fee and a check for travel reimbursement sometime next week.)

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

Fall, Books, and Redford

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The landscape has changed so much! Leaves on the ground, flowers decreasing, the light changing. It’s definitely autumn around here. I have to get out and do some weeding, but I’m still a wee bit tired from the job in New Jersey. Don has been urging me to rest.

I love autumn, but it leaves me a bit melancholy, as it means winter is just around the corner. But mostly, I love it and it’s always quite beautiful around here. The black walnuts started dropping leaves a month or so ago. The maple leaves are turning gold, and the limelight hydrangeas are turning pink. (I’ll get some pictures today.)

I just finished Daniel Silva’s newest mystery and returned it to the library yesterday. While I was there, I picked up another book I had on hold. I now have two rather large tomes to read before the end of the month. One is due on the 25th, the other is due on the 30th. I have mapped it out; I have to read a certain number of pages a day in order to finish both of them on time. Will I finish them on time? Stay tuned.

The news that Robert Redford passed away has left me feeling so sad. Don, too. What an amazing man he was; so talented, so dedicated to his work and to Sundance and to the environment. His was a noble life and we are all better for ‘knowing’ him. I had a poster from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  on the wall of my dorm room. Three Days of the Condor  and All the President’s Men  are two of my favorite films. And his direction of Ordinary People  was simply exquisite. He was a true movie star in the best sense of that phrase and there aren’t many of them left. He was also an extraordinarily good man. Rest in Peace.

The girls are getting a change of clothing. Four down, many more to go.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday,

 

Back Home

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I’m back and my work on the show is finished.

I’m really tired. But the experience of working with Darko and this wonderful cast of actors was so satisfying. Gems – all of them. Saturday was the first preview performance and the house was full. Oh my goodness, what a reaction! They got everything – every bit of humor, every bit of mystery (there were several audible gasps.) It was so exciting. I was sitting next to Darko and what happiness to see the joy on his face. This is his baby. As he says, he is wearing two hats – playwright/adapter and director. I think both were very proud.

There’s still work to be done as is normal in the theater. There will be preview performances at night through next Thursday. During the day, they’ll be rehearsing, fixing things, adding things, playing with lights, etc. Though Darko does sometimes ‘freeze’ a show a couple of days early. It just depends. Opening night is next Friday.

I’ve loved coaching again; working with actors, watching, noting, communicating. I love my work.

The exhausting part came from the logistics, the insane drive in New Jersey, trying to eat as cheaply as I could while staying in a hotel, that kind of thing. I’ve driven over 700 miles commuting back and forth, much of it on the Garden State Parkway, a road I will studiously avoid in the future. I have several more gray hairs because of that parkway.

So I’m tired.

But when I said goodbye to Darko, I thanked him for bringing me on board and he said “Until the next time.” So I know he’ll use me again. That makes me happy. When Darko discovers that he likes and respects you and wants to work with you again, you are gathered into his circle, his family. He is very loyal.

I don’t need to work a lot. But I do need to work.

And I can still do it.

After a year and a half of no work, I cannot tell you how satisfying this experience was.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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