The amazing Susie Q

So my darling Susie Q had her second of three rounds of chemo therapy last Friday. It got her down a bit and made her feel crappy. So what does she do? She enters one of the biggest tennis tournaments in Las Vegas and plays her first match last night and wins in three sets. She sounded completely wiped out on the phone afterwards and even turned down a chance to have dinner with one of her girls.

But that's just like her. She is not only the prettiest 53 year old on the planet, she is smart, astute, caring and very very competitive. There was no way she was going to play that match half-heartedly. The first two sets went to tie-breakers. The third she won 6-2. Her opponent was probably half her age. She had to take off her scarf because of the heat, leaving her with only a cap on her smooth head.

She is an amazing woman who proves every day that she is someone to be contended with.

grass/no grass

I took a little walk in Greenville Sunday morning. It took me to a very nice neighborhood with very nice houses on big lots. It was a relatively new neighborhood with houses that looked to be no more than 10 or 15 years old. They were big and (at least in the eyes of their owners, I assume) beautiful.

I have a hard time accepting the need for great big houses. Let me say right now that in the past I was the owner of one. But in my current phase I find it wasteful and non-simple for families to wallow in over-big homes.

But that isn't what I want to discuss today.

Many of the yards were a combination of natural (woodsy) areas and grassy areas. Some were all woodsy some were all grassy. Many of the grassy areas still has trees, many didn't.

I found that I preferred the natural look most. They were natural, clean and tidy. The ground cover was mostly old fallen leaves. There were many naturally occurring (or so they appeared to me) bushes, some thick and impenetrable looking.

Even though I didn't see one child frolicking or any grass picnics I saw at least three lawn maintenance crews. I was saddened to consider what had been removed to add the grass. I was saddened that the grass wasn't added for any practical purpose. I was momentarily happier to know that some people gained employment in the installation and upkeep of the seas of grass. But all in all my predilection for simplicity found it hard to justify the (maybe far too harsh a term) rape of the woods to conform to the neighborhoods and societies expectations. My hat was off to those who let well enough alone and wound up with a beautiful, cost effective, natural environment.

We flew to Oklahoma City today. A very short night. We finished loading-out at 12:30am and had a 5:40am limo. And, since the trucks won't make the long trip in time, our usual 6:00pm Monday move-in has been moved to 3:00am. We usually load-in four hours on Monday then get a night off and finish up at 8am Tuesday, working through the show that night. So we will now work through from 3am till the show is over around 10:30pm. It makes one tough.

first try

Well, I'm brand spankin' new to this blog thing, but I'm going to give it a try. Since I am in a different town most every week I think I will try to give an impression of each, touching on the theatre, walking ease and tennis scene in each.



I am in Greenville South Carolina this week. I haven't gotten to do much because my crew did work calls Wednesday and Thursday but I do have some impressions.



The downtown area is very picturesque with a tree lined main street, nice little river, a mixture of old and new buildings. There is a very interesting pedestrian bridge that is fun to look at from an engineering standpoint. There are several fun eateries on the main street. I ate at a barbecue place and a Mexican place that had a great vegetarian burrito.



My mote is away from the center of town and have found walking very problematic. I try to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps a day. There are very few sidewalks out this way and the roads are narrow. Fortunately the drivers are polite and move over to make way.



We are playing in the Peace Center Theatre. It is a very nice space with lots of backstage space. Everything upstage of the back wall is in a converted mill building and very pretty. I love the name of the place and wear one of my peace sign hats most ever day. The lighting positions are very accessible and the follow spots are in good shape. Friendly crew.

It rained every day this week so far. We are experiencing the effects of Hurricane Fay. We braced for Fay last week in Tampa but she went around us. We hope to elude all hurricanes next week in Oklahoma City.

Susie Q is having her second chemo therapy session today. She is amazingly brave.