Mercutio!

We will be enjoying another performance of Romeo and Juliet this week at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ravenboy had treated us to many entertaining and playful moments in this ballet, many of them just subtle background scene additions. This time it will be a non-stop barrage of dynamic dancing in the role of Mercutio!

If anyone has forgotten who Mercutio is, he is Romeo's best friend who gets killed by Tybalt thus infuriating Romeo to reignite the feud with Juliet's Capulet family by killing Tybalt. For those who are more familiar with West Side Story, Mercutio is the same role as Riff, Tony's best friend who gets killed in the rumble infuriating Tony to kill Maria's brother, Bernardo.

Below are two rehearsal videos. This was an unscheduled rehearsal for Ravenboy. A tired coworker generously offered his time as a last chance to run the scenes in the studio before going on tour. A very tired Ravenboy took on the chance to have one last moment to polish this integral character.

The first video starts in the ballroom scene just after Romeo (David Hallberg) realizes he is twitter-pated with Juliet (Gillian Murphy). Benvolio (a very enthusiastic Daniil Simkin) and Mercutio quickly separate them and Mercutio does an entertaining dance to distract the guests away from the moment.


The second video shows picks up after Benvoilo does a similar and then Mercutio continues while antagonizing Tybalt (Patrick Ogle).



I can tell this is going to be a totally enjoyable performance and am so excited to share these gems. Thank Luis for recording them for Ravenboy!

Winter Heat

Human footprints other than our own in the snow told us that someone had enjoyed the heat shield garden lately. That made us smile

Cat's Cradle

In September an enthusiastic squirrel chewed through some of the main cords of our hammock. I was pretty upset and wasn't sure if it could be repaired. I folded it up and couldn't bear to take a look at the damage until today.

Much to Birbanto and Miles' delight, I brought the hammock inside to examine the cords. They were so thrilled to sniff all of the scents on it and then wanted to help sort out the woven sections. Toys that had been lying discarded near it on the floor suddenly became very attractive when viewed through the mesh of the hammock.

They took a break after a while and I was able to look at the construction of the main cords, just where the squirrel had chewed and how many cords had been damaged. It was just on the one end and, while chatting on the phone to a calming Maga11, was able to sort out just what was needed to repair it.

Thank you to all of my helpers, it looks like the hammock has been salvaged. We will just have to take it down when it is not in use to avoid the same thing next year.

Five Years Later

My blog is still alive and kicking 5 years after starting it. Some things have changed, others are the same.

I am still lucky to have my family around me, we are all in reasonably good health and are as happy as we have ever been as far as I can tell. Most changes that have occurred for us have just been moderation, excessive energies in any one direction have mellowed, any one focus has found a way to share and allow more broad vision to be enjoyed.

Our son always says, "All things in moderation, even moderation." I am seeing the hills and valley of the past five years pretty much that. I have blogged sporadically some months and rabidly others. It all balances out and I thank you for reading as I continue my pursuit of true indigo.