Hello Friends, Earthlings, and celebrating Lutherans, (and no, the groups are not mutually exclusive!)

Today’s mantra is,  “I will not eat the rest of the Halloween candy. I will not eat the rest of the Halloween candy.”

I may stick the bag in the back of the car for an emergency chocolate stash.  You know, in case I get stuck in a snowstorm.  In the car.  Out in the country.

And it can be stored right  next to the candle in the coffee can which needs to be replaced after it melted in the summer heat. ( Who thinks to remove it to the freezer in June??)

And the blanket.  And the small shovel in case I need to dig out the exhaust pipe from the snow. Although I know that you can dig with your hands.

Actually I had to do that once after skidding one way then the other on black ice while passing a truck on west  I 90 in South Dakota.  We ended up facing east while slamming into the median  which was a thankfully wide ditch  of knee deep piled snow. I know it was knee deep because I was the one who got out of the car to dig out the exhaust pipe. The guy in the back seat didn’t think it was important. Other trucks stopped to help us, but since I had little voice due to the flu that was going around the schools that winter(another story), and the wind was blowing fiercely, I waved them on.

Meanwhile, the driver of our car was getting a ride into Mitchell with a kind, young truck driver who stopped.  And, she did come back with a tow truck.  I don’t recollect anything about the trip into Mitchell, but we stayed in a motel there that night, I danced in the bar, and there was Yukon Jack involved.

And the kind and young truck driver was thanked by our  driver in the age old manner that women have used when they don’t have much money.

Yep, it was an eye opening trip for a kid whose idea of excitement was a slow dance  at church camp get together.

I was touring with two plays, The Birds for the senior high school set  and Peter Pan for the elementary kids. No, not Hitchcock’s  version, Aristophanes’ play.  Think togas.

We were driving all over MN, IA, and SD that winter from January through April, the three of us playing multiple roles.  It was a memorable experience from the record breaking snowfall to the record breaking temps below zero to the record breaking number of  school closings due to the flu.

And we didn’t get paid if we were there and the school was closed due to the flu. We only got paid for the performances we did.

Money was scarce. We tried to save by sharing a motel room. Three people, two females and a male. Two beds.  Hmmm.

Yep, one of us rotated to sleep on the floor, often right under the heating/AC unit.

Some days we only had one performance and were done by noon, and some days we had a morning performance in one town and then drove to the next for an afternoon performance.  But whenever we checked into the motel, as soon as we entered the room, the guy in the group, flicked on the tv, not for any particular program. Just for noise.

And, remember now, this is 1979. Game shows, soap operas, talk shows and commercials. Now, I like noise as much as the next person, but twelve hours a day can get to be a lot.

They say that familiarity breeds contempt and that certainly was true because for the last  month of the scheduled tour even though one person was being paid extra to drive the trio, we all drove separately. We were all losing money with this venture.

But I did learn a lot from the experience.

I learned not to trust people, for when I was sleeping in the back seat trying to get over the flu so I had a voice for Mrs. Darling, Wendy and the pirate Smee, the two in the front conspired to smoke some dope during the long and snowy Sunday evening drive.  Now, I’m fairly liberal, but I didn’t think that was a good idea, considering the roads and the night driving.

And the past driving experience  of our driver was not cause for trust, either.

You see, I had watched as she had her hands at the bottom of the steering wheel while trying repeatedly to strike a match to light her cigarette  during a blizzard as a semi appeared large as a house 15 feet in front of us. We were in the oncoming lane and didn’t know it.

She had also lost a hundred dollar bill somewhere because she kept it folded in her back jeans pocket. The same pocket she kept her wallet in.

She would also often greet  us as she picked us up on Sunday night by saying, ” Sorry I smell like sex. That’s what we did all weekend and I didn’t have a chance to take a shower.”

TMI.

Seriously.

I also learned about the extent that professional jealousy can take  as Captain Hook’s wire hook came perilously close to the pirate Smee’s eye on stage during one performance for the kiddies. It was just  after I was notified that I had a job interview at the Guthrie near the end of our tour.  Nothing came of the interview, I didn’t get the job. But I still remember that hook coming closer and faster than it ever had before during that song.

I learned about the resilience of the body as I stepped back on the aforementioned toga hem during a quick move in The Birds, having my feet go out and up ( I can still see them in front of me with the spotlights in back of them!)and coming down hard on my tailbone.   Good thing we were on a wood floor that gave a little, instead of the cement floors of the cafeterias we often performed in.  And yet another time after finishing up a performance of Peter Pan, foregoing the Q and A after the show to go lie down in the nurse’s office and with  blood shot eyes that probably made the kids in the front rows think that Smee had been partaking of the ship’s store of rum, and a temp of 103, I had caught the flu that ran rampant that winter.

I learned how not to talk to school personnel.  I saw the face of the principal who was proud to show the visiting actors from the big city where they would be performing. And I saw his face  fall as the guy who played Captain Hook strutted into the area and proclaimed that , “It would do.” Seriously. How can you be so unaware of what a jerk you are being?

I learned how to enjoy the fun moments when the kids were caught up in the make believe. That was the best of all.

That, and when the kids thought I was Vicki Lawrence, from the Carol Burnett Show.

And, most importantly, I learned that this was not a job for me. As much as I love acting, this was not how I wanted to earn a living.

Whoa! Too serious!!!

I am proud to tell you that I have not eaten any of the Halloween chocolate while writing this post.

But in all honesty, my resolve is wavering.

I do need to report that I did find another bathroom with ALL non touch functions: water, soap and towels. This refers to a blog post I wrote a long time ago about how most bathrooms had one non touch item, but not all three, which didn’t make sense to me. I did go on to say that there’s a theatre in Bloomington with both water and soap being touchless.

And now I can add the Pizza Luce in Roseville. Kudos to you!!!!! And your pizza is great, too!

Still have not touched the candy.

Well, I’m off to work on a baby blanket, bib and spit cloth for the baby across the street who is due today!

Have a wonderful Wednesday and try reading the Longmire series. I know it’s on Netflix, but the books are different and well worth reading.

Love,

Janet

P.S. It’s good to talk to you again. JW

P.P.S.  These socks go good with my O-Cedar 2500.  J