Last Week (of Summer)

Since I spent all of last week blogging about Vancouver, the week itself will need to be condensed here so that I can get back up to date.

Week of August 8-14th.

Sunday the 8th: Sunday was our twelfth anniversary, which is what the Vancouver trip was all about. Since we got back to the house in the late morning after being up for almost 24 hours, we spent much of the day asleep. It may not have been much on the actual anniversary, but we’ll both take it for the week that led up to it.

Tuesday the 10th: On Tuesday, we went over to Nate’s parents house for a family dinner. Nate is our colleague and friend and one of my running partners, and Nate and Rachel invited us over to Nate’s parents’ place a few weeks back for supper. It was a nice time, so we went back. Nate’s family never even blinked at us being there – they were very friendly and hospitable. The only thing that went wrong was that Mer’s car’s alternator stopped working on the way to Nate’s parents’ house, so we left the car there and Nate gave us a ride home and he offered to fix the car, which he did on Thursday.

Wednesday the 11th: Wednesday was Mer’s last day of summer in that she had to report to school officially on Thursday. I had promised I would take her out for ice cream at Handel’s as an end-of-summer treat, but her car was still broken down. So, I borrowed a truck from Jerry (another friend), and took her to get ice cream. I did at least get a quart of ice cream for Jerry and his family as a thank-you.

Thursday the 12th: All the teachers reported back on Thursday, so CVCA was busy with activity. After school, I went with Nate and “helped” (aka, watched him) fix the car. For a good 30 minutes, we lost a bolt which Nate eventually found by luck and prayer; otherwise, replacing the alternator went very smoothly. I did lose Nate’s watch for him, though. He had taken it off, and so that it would not get stepped on, I hung it on the passenger-side mirror, and we both promptly forgot about it, so it got lost when I drove off. I felt bad about that, but Jason gave Nate his old watch which Nate likes better, so I guess it all turned out okay. Since I got home late, I did not feel like cooking, so I took Mer up to Hudson to Aladdin’s. Mer’s former student Cara was working, and we were her only table (it was 9:00), so we had a pretty good visit with Cara.

Friday the 13th: We had five students and Dubbs and her friend Jen over to the house for an 80s party. I had promised one of my Fools (and one of Mer’s students), Faith, that when we sold the house I would throw an 80s party. It was a good time – we had tons of food, and Dubbs supplied the 80s music (and very funny dancing with Jen), and everyone came in costume (and looked great, in an 80s sort of way). We watched Footloose as a good example of an 80s film, although I was a bit embarrassed in that the movie used a lot of swearing (a LOT), and I had not remembered that. I guess 80s PG-rated films really do need parental guidance.

Saturday the 14th: Saturday I went running with Jason, but it was really hot and humid, so we both struggled. We did manage a 13-mile run, but it was very difficult. After I got home and showered, I took Mer to Wally Waffle for breakfast, where I had them add pecans to my usual chocolate chip waffle. It was good, but I think I like the plain chocolate chip waffle better (and it is two dollars cheaper to boot). I took a nap in the afternoon while Mer went and got her hair done and got her back-to-school pedicure. In the evening, we went to see King Lear at Stan Hywet, on the grounds in the old quarry.

King Lear is Mer’s favorite Shakespeare play, and she knows it quite well. We had recently seen a movie version of the play, as well as had hosted a reading of the play at the start of summer, so I was familiar with the text as well at this point. On the whole, the company did a nice job. The pre-show was Hamlet, the Musical, a tongue-in-cheek 15-minute summary of Hamlet done with music (mostly set to the 60s song “American Pie”), which was much fun and very witty.

For Lear, the actors who played the loyal servant Kent and the loyal son Edgar were both amazing. Kent was a great stage presence, and switched back and forth between his normal speaking tone and a convincing (to me) Scottish accent for when he was in disguise for much of the play. Edgar, who had played Petrucchio in Shrew, also did a great job of switching between Edgar and his disguise of the mad beggar, Poor Tom.

The rest of the cast mostly did quite well. Lear was average – Mer and I both felt he rushed his lines at times, and he was not angry enough at times, when the play calls for Lear to be very angry. We both had problems with the portrayal of the good daughter Cordelia. Cordelia is supposed to be sweet and loving, but the actress delivered her lines in a bombastic way that made Cordelia seem brash. She also rushed lines at times. She did do a nice job of choking back tears when Lear tells her she is to be banished from him and he will never see her again.

We did enjoy Lear very much, and we love the outdoor setting of Stan Hywet, and it helped quite a bit that we did not get rained out this time!

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