Reefer Madness

Wow.

We are up in DC this weekend with performances at the Smithsonian Discovery Theater. We’ve been here the past four years for the week of Thanksgiving. It’s fun — except the whole traffic thing. This year we are doing something a little bit different by staying in DC for Thanksgiving.

In the past, we’ve commuted to Jersey or Richmond for family gatherings, but this year we wanted to just stay. My mom will be commuting instead and coming up here for our fabulous hotel Thanksgiving. We have an oven. I even packed my Dutch Oven. (Not kidding.)

After my two performances today I played tourist. I wandered around, sort of aimlessly, and found myself in front of the Natural History Museum. I was once a docent there and gave tours to Kindergartners in the dinosaur hall. (That was fun — such small children with such big dinosaurs! We even did a puppet show!)  But the wow? The “wow” comes from the surprise of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.

Backstory: I have been having a love affair with fibers — specifically wool roving and raw silk — of late. Don’t worry, Sam knows all about and puts up with it.  Now I’ve known about this Crochet Reef for years. I stumbled on this knitted and crocheted coral reef on a you-tube clip and just loved the idea. It’s a giant, behometh of a coral reef that has been knitted and crocheted by people all over the world. It was started by two sisters who had a concern for the oceans and nimble fingers.  I can’t explain it, but I was so excited to just stumble upon it today. To see it all in person. I even called some friends. Nobody was home! My family was off at the zoo for the day — it was just me!

My family, for some reason, did not seem to share in my ecstatic joy. Oh well.

I could hardly contain myself.

This just confirms my fiber addiction problem. I need help…or shopping fiber therapy, perhaps. I think that would work. I could just live in my studio in December…maybe my family wouldn’t notice? Hmmmmm……….

Another “Day in the Life”

O.K. There are days…and then there are days.

12:22AM: Weather alarm goes off, and we notice the giant tree outside our home is swaying all over the place. With memories of the hurricane that knocked a tree onto our van several years ago, we decide to go downstairs and away from our bedroom window (the one closest to the tree).

3:15AM: The alarm goes off.

3:40AM: I get up and do all those morning things. Sam makes coffee and does his morning stuff.

4:15AM:We start packing the cooler and getting our ducks in a row.

4:30AM: Our three-year old daughter wakes up too early. She has eggs on toast. She is crankier than usual.

5AM: Our other puppeteer, Melanie, arrives. We load our truck.

5:30AM: We depart for Centreville, VA. Most everyone falls asleep. Well, except Sam.

7:40AM: We are four miles from the school. Traffic is really, really bad.

8AM (back in Richmond) : Our friend, Rey, comes over to watch my oldest when my mom heads off to work.

8:15AM: We arrive at the school. We load in, set up, and eat breakfast (our daughter has her second breakfast — a bowl of yogurt with bananas).

9:20AM: We talk with our school rep to find out that there is a scheduling discrepancy. Our first show won’t be at 9:30AM but 10AM.

9:30AM: I do some yoga. Sam drinks more coffee. Melanie reads. My youngest daughter runs around the gym and climbs all over the chairs.

10AM: We start our first show!

11AM: We start our second show, followed by a fabulous extended Q&A with the students.

12 Noon: Lunch. Relax. Chase little one around the gym. Play with puppets. Drink tea/coffee.  Chill.

12:30PM (back in Richmond): My oldest daughter heads over the her friend’s house for the afternoon.

1PM: I call my friend, Lynn, who is having my oldest daughter over to make sure all is well.

1:30PM: We start our third and final performance of the day (with another extended Q&A session).

2:40PM: We start breaking down the show, loading out, and checking out. (This was a really great school, by the way. We all had a good vibe from it!)

3:30PM (back in Richmond): My mother picks up my oldest to take her over to her Irish Step dance lesson.

3:50PM: We leave the school…traffic should be pretty bad. We decide to make a detour.

4:15PM: We arrive at G Street Fabrics. Heidi browses. Everyone else heads over to Chipotle for an early dinner.

5:45PM: We head back to Richmond. I tell stories to our youngest (a special version of “The Three Little Pigs” and “Goldilocks”). Then we listen to “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.”

7PM: We stop for coffee for Sam (thanks for driving!!!).

8:45PM: We arrive in Richmond. Our youngest is asleep. We unload, unpack, and talk to everyone at home. My oldest daughter shows me her new dance steps and tries to avoid going to bed.

10PM: We all collapse. G’night!