The Devil is in the Details

I have a love/hate relationship with some aspects of research.  I actually love knowing many totally useless facts and could probably publish a tome on the topic. Right now I am doing some fact-checking for my new show. I find myself trying to find anything else to distract my poor, tired brain. (Something like blogging?)

The devil is in the details.

The term “the devil is in the details” has a number of different meanings that can be boiled down to the fact that it is often the small details of something which make it difficult or challenging. These details can prolong a task (ahem, really?).

I am working on Flora and Fauna Phenological Charts for all the animals/plants in our newest show, Little by Little. Pheno-what? In layman’s terms, I am working on timing charts for all the plants and animals to make sure that I do not have nocturnal animals who hibernate gallivanting about in the snow during a scene. In doing this, I vacillate between total boredom and utter amazement. Yes, filling in all of these boxes on the chart is an exercise in tedium, but then I come across some arcane tidbit of knowledge about the natural world that leaves me breathless…

Woodpeckers can drum up to 20 pecks per second! Slugs have four noses, none of which are visible. Duck quacks do not echo (and we don’t really know why that is). Polar bears are left-handed (I wouldn’t want to have been the one to verify that!). Hummingbird eggs are the size of peas — can you imagine a tiny, winged creature emerging from an egg that small?

Baby Hummingbirds -- tiny miracles!

The devil is in the details — but so are many barely visible miracles. So, yes, I am a bit bored.  And I am also in awe.

The Name Game

What’s in a name?

Perhaps you do not know the agony I experience when “naming” a character in a show that I am writing. All the meanings of names…and children (my audience) always remember the names of characters. The name is so important to them! They actually become upset when I do not name a character: the hippo that I call “Hippo” is, I’ve sensed, a bit of a disappointment.

So I made a few changes to my script this week — most notably, I’ve done some gender bending (it’s a painless process with puppets). I am always careful when selecting the gender of puppets. (You can do it with almost 100% accuracy when you’re a puppeteer!) I feel it’s important to have gender balance in a show for many reasons. Young people watching the show need to have characters they can relate to, and gender is one way of doing this.

In my new show, “Little by Little,” I have lots of animal characters. Two of the main characters are a young squirrel and a hummingbird. They are friends. I’ve always had the hummingbird as female and the squirrel as male. Now I’ve switched them…for a number of reasons.

I can go into the reasons later (if anyone is interested), but I need to rename the hummingbird. It’s a ruby-throated hummingbird. I’m looking at names with meanings that relate. The show is set in Appalachia — in a forest.

Here is my list so far: Rufus, Russell, Rusty, Gilroy, Roy, Flynn, Flannery, Rupert, Gilbert, Jasper, and Rudy… Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

Inquiring minds (well, mine, anyway) want to know!

Feeling a bit Sheepish: Navajo-Churro Sheep

Everyone needs to do a “sunny-day” dance or something to hold the rain off for just a bit longer…tomorrow must be sunny and dry!

I’ve been trying to go out to Black Twig Farm to see about helping with the shearing of the sheep and processing of the wool for a few weeks. The weather combined with family commitments has been thwarting my plans!

Navajo-Churro from Black Twig Farm

I first picked up some Navajo-Churro fleece at the Fiber Festival in Montpelier, Vermont last Fall. At Black Twig’s booth, as I looked through the bins, I chanced to glance up to notice a felted wall hanging of a tree. I was hooked! The fibers are more coarse than, say, a Merino or Cormo, but the staple is long (but not curly like a Lincoln, which is also love!!). When I played around with the wool, it felted quickly and had a lot of structure to it. I don’t know if “lots of structure” is a technical term used to describe wool, but it’s a characteristic I am looking for! This is one of the wools I see has having great potential for scenery for puppet shows. Lincoln has a similar quality, but it’s curlier (and makes neat whorls when felted!).

Black Twig Farm is in Crozet, Virginia; just a few hours west of Richmond. Rachel is a weaver (and fabulous gourmet wedding cake maker!) I love the idea that I’ll be able to have some local, Virginia wool as part of the puppet show. I’d like to find a local flock of Lincoln, too!

I’ve been working on lots of samples for different breeds. I have done Navajo-Churro, Lincoln, Leicester, Merino, Mohair (goat), and Cormo to date. I think I have a bit of Coopworth to do today! It’s really fascinating for me to see how the wool felts up with different textures. I’ll post up some samples soon!

Meanwhile, pray for clear skies and sunshine!

Snow, snow, snow…and Trees!

Well, Richmond is once again being coated with snow. We have had to reschedule our performance for today and will likely have to do the same for our shows next week. Richmond, Virginia usually doesn’t have to contend with a lot of snow. This year, we have it in spades!

Twelve inches last week, a projected sixish inches for now, and another snowfall predicted for next week! This has allowed me to work on my script, and I have made good progress on that today.

As part of my scripting, I’ve been researching a lot about trees: I mean, the show is about an oak tree, so it makes sense. I have been trying to figure out what specific kind of oak tree the narrator is to be. Black Oak? White Oak? Red Oak?

Those are the three I’ve narrowed it down to. They are the most prolific along the east coast. I like Live Oaks a lot, but they are limited to coastal Virginia and into the Southeast. There are so many kinds of oaks — it’s truly amazing! Blackjack oaks, burl oaks, pin oaks — all with different types of acorns, leaves, bark!

I think we are going with Red Oak…

Rings on a Red Oak

Our continuing adventures in Beantown…

We had our second performance of “Little Red & the Gingerbread Man” today. As promised, Paul Vincent Davis (only the best hand puppeteer in the country) was kind enough to come and watch the show and talk with Heidi (err…that’s me!) today. He had some great feedback and I look forward to incorporating his suggestions into the show!

My husband, Sam, (who is also my roadie and sometime performing partner!) has ventured into Beantown with the children and his sister (aka Aunt Katy). Destination: The Children’s Museum. I look forward to a full report! We have become quite the children’s museum connoisseurs (had to spellcheck that word!), having seen many throughout the country. We have our favorites — I’ll post up more on those later!

I am working on the script for the new show and then will head off for a yoga class (Bikram yoga — the hot kind where you go into a room that’s over a hundred degrees and sweat for 1 1/2 hours…don’t knock it ’til you try it!). Being up here in the cold has really made me yearn for a class, so I am delighted to discover that there are three Bikram studios in Boston.

Our new show, "Little by Little," features a feisty hummingbird as one of the main characters. Portrayed as both a show puppet and a hand puppet -- the above is a sketch for the shadow puppet version.

The script is coming together nicely — all the dots are connecting properly and the characters are beginning to assert themselves. You might ask…How does a character begin to assert itself? Sometimes the dialogue begins to write itself in a very easy, fluid way. Then the real fun starts when you can “hear” the voice of the character. Do I hear voices? Well, technically, yes. But don’t worry, it’s just the puppets! Really. Seriously. Just the puppets!