Neighbors

Such a lovely evening we had!  We spent the eveing with our neighbors.  They have two young children and they are a bit...ok, well a lot younger than us.  But they invited us over to thank us for watching their house while they were away.  They were away for a month and a half!!  And it was in the middle of our play, so it wasn't really an easy thing to do.  But it was a giving thing to do.  And honestly, they are just nice people and they deserved it. 

So they thanked us by offering us dinner.  It was a sweet, simple dinner.  We brough salad...lettuce from our garden, parsely from our garden, blue berries from both our garden and our CSA, peppers from the store, and some feta and salad dressing.  It was a lovely medley of goodness.  And they made really good...and I do mean REALLY good, cross cut beef ribs and some lovely bread.  I made a bit of a pig of myself with the meat.  It is rare that I do that, but it was that good.  We sat in their cute yard and talked and drank beer and wine.  The kids had their own table and they had a blast.  They were running around and chasing each other.  Really good KID stuff.  I hadn't realized that my husband hadn't really talked to them before.  He mentioned this morning that he didn't know their names.... :-)  Community...building community.  It takes time.  It is worth it. 

Community Building -- Community Theater

I have a bunch of pictures of our garden that I want to post here...but that will have to wait.  In the meantime, wanted to report that my family and I are part of an awesome community theater producation of Anne of Green Gables (a musical).  I was looking for community and what a wonderful way to build it!  I am playing Marilla...one of the characters that has the most lines...so it has been a busy and very tiring 6 weeks!  We open on Thursday!  Very exciting!  But in the meantime, I have been struggling with the whole view of "Why the heck am I putting myself through this?!!"  I talked to one of my co-actors.  She and her family have been involved in theater since...well at least 8 years that I know of.  She didn't answer right away...here is her response and I think it is lovely.

"I've been thinking about what you asked me last night. You asked for my insight on why we do theatre when it can be seem like punishment at times. Well, to me it's a lot like childbirth. You are giving life to something very special. It may be a painful process, but the end result is worth everything. The experience stays with you and makes you a better person and you get to work with people in a way that you wish the whole world could grasp. The cooperation and determination it takes by a bunch of volunteers to do a show would be a good model for our government to follow. The results would be lifechanging and ongoing. Theatre gives young people an outlet that helps them see their self-worth and can save lives. They realize that they are an important part of the big picture. Those are a few of my thoughts. Hope it helps.
May"