All Hallows Eve Eve...

It's been a rather busy day for being All Hallows Eve, Eve. Han had a training session which he did rather well on except for his finish from a come -sit-stay. He will get it by next week as that is when he graduates from basic obedience.

I made the choice of getting to class on less than 2 gallons of gas. I got up to class okay, but knew I would not make it back to Norman. Thank goodness for On Cue gas stations. $2.29 a gallon at Council Road. Also thank goodness for Shields Blvd exit and cutting through town. Made good time back to Norman and avoided the traffic tie-ups on the interstate. 

It's a rather peaceful evening, sitting out on the patio. A big 747 FedEx airplane is going in for a landing at Will Rogers World Airport. It passed overhead. 

A nice fall fire

I have a fire going in the firepit as a cold front is starting to pass through the area and it seem right to have one built. It adds a certain ambiance to the air.  Another big jet just passed over, Southwest Airlines. Normally the house is not in the landing pattern of these big planes, however it is kind of fun to see them on occasion. 

A good place to thing and write

I have a nice cup of coffee that I am sipping on while I type this post. It is relaxing out here.  I am so glad I bought the patio table and chairs this past summer. I have always wanted a patio set. Dave and I would come out here after work and have coffee or sparkling water and unwind after work and light a fire in the fire pit and talk about the days events before I would go in and fix dinner. How I miss that, someone to talk to or someone just to sit beside you and to know they understood you and your thoughts even though you didn't say anything. 

Han and Lizzy

The dogs are having a grand time playing. Yes...dogs. I am dog sitting Christie's two pups, Lizzy and Chewie, Han's brother. October is her super busy recruiting month and she is on the road over half the month, so I get to doggie sit the grand pups. 

Han and Chewie always in trouble

The air is getting crisper as this front moves through. Not quite to the jacket stage yet, but soon. I read an article over the weekend saying that we should not rake our leaves up that they are an important part of the ecosystem and they need to stay in place and become mulch. Fine by me.  I never rake. Dave did, but not me.  I let the wind do my raking. Ha!

I was in Longview over the weekend, got to see my youngest grandson play soccer. He did really well.  He has a great competitive spirit and tries really hard. He is going as Miguel from Coco and Noah is Jack Skellington, Maggie is the Ariel from the Little Mermaid. Heather is going as Ursula from the Little Mermaid and J is going as the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.  All Disney Characters this year. Me, I will turn out my light and forget about Halloween as no one ever comes any more. No little goblins for me.  How I miss seeing the little ones in their costumes.  

Ben, my yard man mowed over the weekend saying it was his last mow.  Little does he know, the grass is going to keep growing until we get a real hard freeze. I see at least one maybe two more mows possibly.  If he won't mow, there is a lawn service down the street that I can have come and mow for me. They also trim up trees. 

I have a big red maple in the yard. This year for the first time it is orange. It might turn red but it is a stunning orange-gold. The colors of the leaves are beautiful this year as we have received a lot of rain. The reds are brilliant. The oranges breathtaking and the limes and yellows outstanding while the conifers add that beautiful touch of green that balances everything out. 

My fire is adding a nice bit a warmth to the chilly air. I am needing that jacket now. I hear dogs barking in the distance. That eerie sound of barking that makes you think of the Hounds of Baskerville. There is a good southerly breeze that is setting the dogs on edge with wind whipping through the tree tops. They bark at anything it seems. It's keeping my fire ablaze. 

Well I had to go get my jacket! I love this jacket. It is perfect for evenings like this.  I got it last year while in Kansas City as Christie and I were going to go out and do some star gazing. It was quite chilly and I didn't have the right kind of clothing along so she took me to Cabela's and I got a jacket and a toque. Needless to say I was quite warm as we gazed at the stars at one in the morning. Quite a site I must say.

How fun, I have a little house wren scolding me at the moment, saying why aren't you in fixing dinner, so I can go to bed! Well where is your bed, little bird? I guess he objecting to the smoke from the fire. I do love the smells of Autumn and the smell of a good fire on a crisp fall evening. 

What to fix for dinner? I have some stew meat, cauliflower, peas, rice and onions. I think I can whip something up from that. Time to damp the fire and go feed the pups and start dinner for one. 

To all a good night...

Old Maid and The Thief...A Fun Memory...

It's strange how you will be working on something or watching something and it will trigger a long buried memory. I haven't thought about this for eons, but I was watching a TV show and someone was a thief in this show and it triggered the time I sang in an opera in college. Don't ask how the two are connected but I guess the word thief was the connection.

I was either 18 or 19 and was in my freshman year at the University of Tulsa in an Opera Workshop course. Dan Wright was my professor. Our first production was to be Old Maid and The Thief by Gian Carlo Menotti, A comical short opera in three acts. I was to play the young maid Laticia. 

Oh it was comical that's for sure. I thought Dan Wright was going to have a stroke by the time it was over. After my aria of Steal Me Sweet Thief, Bob, the thief and I rob the old maid. We had this huge sheet and placed all the loose items in the sheet per script. Bob and I carry it up a landing behind a hinged louvered bi-fold screen . This way we could see the audience and the director, Dan Wright. 

What we didn't know was and through no fault of our own, the iron cord was hanging out of the sheet. As we were making our escape up the steps the cord caught the ironing board flipped it which sent it into the bookcase causing it to completely collapse which in turn knocked over a coat tree which fell into a lamp then upset another louvered screen causing it to fall into another bookcase and lamp...in other words the whole set came crashing down like dominos! I kid you not and in slow motion to boot! Everyone held their breath waiting for the next thing to fall.

It was all the audience could do to keep a straight face as Dan Wright kept getting redder and redder as each item of the set fell while he conducted and the music played on and on. The only thing that did not fall was the screen which Bob and I were hiding behind, because we were holding on to it for dear life. My mom had tears running down her cheeks she was laughing so hard, but not laughing. To our horror, Bob and I could see the whole thing unfolding through the screen, yet we were busting up inside. The Old Maid came out and bless her, carried on as though nothing happened. As they say "The show must go on." 

After it was over, we took our bows the audience heartily gave us their approval of the performance even though Mr. Wright kept shooting daggers at Bob and me. 

I got a roll in one other performance, The Marriage of Figaro, the Maid, a very small role. Mr. Wright saw to it that I never got another major roll from that time forward. I guess he was really ticked. It wasn't my fault or Bob's fault that the iron cord was hanging out of the sheet, although it made for a rather interesting performance!

I loved my time at TU and my singing carried to over 10 years with Cimarron Circuit Opera Company with Thomas and Carol Brice Carey.