Saturday, May 28, 2011 — A performance kind of week

Thursday evening I crossed another barrier by taking myself to an MTC production of Pillow Man. This is the first time I've ventured alone to the theater since Skip died. I wanted to get myself past that point so I went even though I had been warned that it was a very dark play. It was beautifully written, directed, produced and acted. But dark it was. I found myself leaving the second it was over without speaking to anyone. I just needed to get myself out of there. It was undoubtedly good for me to get over my resistance to going to the theater alone but it also only served to accentuate the fact that the discussions one has while driving home and then sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea are an integral part of the whole experience. Reaction has its place. But this was so dark I didn't feel like having that conversation by dwelling on it by myself. So there was a strong sense of something missing or perhaps of having chosen the wrong time to get over this particular hurdle. So be it. It should be easier next time so I guess it was worth doing.

Many Friday nights some of us gather at D'Aurelios Italian restaurant and then convene at my house to watch a movie. We saw one this Friday for which we had seen the promos several weeks before. Something like Made in Dagenham. This is a British film, not a documentary, but very like one. It tells the story of 187 women working in a Ford Motor factory in a working class town in England making upholstery and other textile items for automobiles in hot and generally substandard circumstances and being paid far less than their male counterparts. They become vexed over the fact that they are classified as unskilled laborers. Great cast as is so ofter the case with British films. I think drama is by far their best export. Anyway, this story tells us how some brave and strong willed women won their case for higher pay and eventually equal pay. So well done. Wonderful choice, Mark. A good night for home theater.

The popular Fort Bragg Quilt Show is taking place this weekend. So of course I'm spending some time each day manning the ticket table. A worthy cause where beauty abounds. Tickets last for the whole weekend so there will undoubtedly be some returnees. I look forward to seeing the quilts more closely tomorrow. What an art form quilting has become. All the plastic means shine through in these beautifully conceived and constructed pieces. Design and color, color, color. Well done, all.

When this weekend is over I think I must begin to take the garden situation a little more seriously. I usually just say that I have never had the intention of having the typical "tour garden." That may be true, but, push comes to shove, I must get out there and do a bit more weeding. I've never seen a spring with more rain so I keep using that as an excuse not to "hit the dirt." I think I will try, perhaps with the help of a Google overhead photo, to make a kind of tree map of our yard for the guests. Plants are always changing and the timing of this Art Center tour is too late for the most colorful things in my garden. Right now is when the Rhodies are in full bloom and actually, because of the weekend's wind storm, beginning to be on their way out. But I do have a nice collection of trees. I returned from the city last Monday night to find our large outdoor table umbrella blown all the way across the yard and lying in the middle of the driveway. Must have been a dilly of a storm.. All the blossoms that looked so lovely early Friday morning when I left town were withered and damaged by the winds that occurred while I was gone. Ultimately, mother nature rules. But, of course, as the time for the tour I have agreed to be part of nears, I feel the urge to get down on my knees and do a little of what needs to be done. How about just one week without rain. Eh?