Saturday was Mer’s day, and she had a mellow and puttering day planned. That worked well, as I was able to go running 13 miles in the morning with one of my new running partners, LT Newland, who teaches Bible at CVCA. I am helping him to train for the Cleveland Marathon, along with another colleague, Jordan Samsonas, who teaches social studies. It has been very good to have running partners, as this winter has been snowy and very cold, which usually means I would have a hard time getting out to run; with partners, there is someone counting on you running, so I have gotten out pretty regularly this winter.
Happy, Mer slept until I was done running, around 10:00. It had been weeks since she had had a chance to sleep in, so that was a good thing. Mer went to get groceries while I took a nap, and we had a mellow day. Mer did have evening plans, though, and around 7:15 we headed down to Akron to Actors’ Summit Theater, to see their production of Bus Stop.
On the whole, I liked Bus Stop. It was really well acted, with eight actors, all of whom did a great job. My only reservation about the evening was Bus Stop was billed as a comedy, and it struck me more as a drama with some comic moments. It may just be a time issue – the play was written in 1955, and it may have aged a bit. The play explored various forms of loneliness, and that was compelling. The characters had well-defined personalities and had strong relationships on stage. I had not seen any of the actors in the play before at Actors’ Summit, but I had seen one of them at another venue. If anything had aged, it was some of the end results of the interactions, two especially. The main plot line is a cowboy wants to marry a dancing girl he loves, but she does not want to marry him. It is awfully close to a kidnapping, and she comes around in the end, but that felt a bit hollow to me. The other plot line that I felt had aged a bit was one where an older professor clearly wanted to sleep with a high school girl who was not aware of his intentions. He does not carry through with his plan after he feels some remorse, and that is well. The part that felt odd to me was that after the professor left and things were explained to the girl, she felt a little scared, but mostly seemed flattered that a man would want to sleep with her. It had been established that she was ignored by boys at school, but it still felt more than a little creepy.
Happily, those two issues aside, the fine acting carried the day and I had a good time.
Sunday was Aunt Mary’s 75th birthday, and Mer’s dad, Dale, thought we should celebrate with some style. I suggested taking Aunt Mary out to the fanciest Italian restaurant I know in the area, Gervasi’s Bistro in North Canton. It is a beautiful old barn that has been converted into a winery and restaurant, and the food is excellent. Mer, Dale, Carlene and I picked Aunt Mary up and made the short trip to the Bistro. As expected, the food was excellent and the meal was leisurely. We had a good time, and headed home for a food-induced nap (at least for me).
