...Been on Stage?

This particular blog “Have You Ever?...” is mainly about my experiences from when I was younger and the place I grew up. It is a place where you can get away from big lights of a city and be out in the middle of nowhere with only your thoughts and dreams. I would love to take people from large cities such as New York and let them be alone, miles away from anyone, and let them unwind. Relax, read a book, go fishing in your very own fishing hole on a warm summers day. There are so many wonderful things to do that I plan on sharing. With that said, every once in a while something else comes up that I get passionate about and I feel the need to write about and given I’ve been so busy over the past week getting ready for the play I hardly have time to really delve into much else. Therefore the question is, have you ever been on stage?

 It doesn’t have to be in a city or a place where people take their acting a little more seriously. There are small towns and smaller productions that only come around once a year and the focus of these productions is to have fun. If you do it on the side, make sure it is a place that focuses more on fun rather than the art of it, especially if you have hardly ever done it before. The right place and right fit will suck you in. I love going to practices and pretending to be someone else along side others who are doing the same. Breaking out of the daily grind and going over lines and making things up along the way. Coming up with funny ad libs or actions to provide additional laughter to the audience proves to be therapeutic when you are on stage. Not to mention the feeling of a job well done, knowing you entertained someone if only for a little while plus the accolades you get when you mingle with the crowd. If you need a confidence boost, the stage can make you feel 10 feet tall.

 By the time you are done with the performances you will have likely made some new friends. Every time I’ve done this I’ve met somebody new and am glad to know them. After all, you have come together weekly for the past two months trying to get ready for a production and will likely see each other every day of the week leading up to opening curtain. You leave your work and personal life at the door and check into a new reality that the play brings. For those few hours you are someone else. For those few hours your job is to entertain and when others around you are trying to do the same thing you in turn will be entertained by them, even while you practice. Meeting new friends, stress checked at the door, why wouldn’t more people like to try it?

 I have to say performing in the little town of Reynolds, ND has continually been my favorite. Good people. Good laughs. Great crowds that are there to just have a good time (speaking of, Reynolds broke their old record by having 440 people come to the play this past weekend). If wish you could all try this. Want to? Let me know, we are always looking for new actors! It don’t matter who you are or where you are from!

...Laid on the Ice on a Cold Winter's Night?

It may not sound very inviting but I remember those nights fondly.  I lived out in the “Middle of Nowhere, USA”.  Raised on a farm, miles away from a city or town or even the next farm, the nights were deathly quiet. To give you an idea how quiet it can be there, there is a highway about 2 ½ miles from the farm and over the rolling hills and across the grassy plains, on some evenings, we can hear cars drive by.  No they are not blaring their horns or big loud trucks, it’s the humming from when the rubber meets the road we can hear on some very still nights. 

 Our farm was located on top of a hill so to speak and it overlooked much of the land surrounding it.  Behind the farm, no more than 400 feet from the house, the hill drops off as a small creek has carved out the land underneath it.  It is probably around a 50 foot drop of dirt and weeds that is nearly straight down in some places from the overlook down to the bottom by the water.    Of course in the winter the creek freezes over and it becomes the perfect place to go and look up at the universe and reflect on the things going on in your life.  To some it may sound crazy given your laying on a cold sheet of ice, but when you are bundled up nice and warm and the banks of the creek shield you from any wind, it is really rather comfortable, quiet, and peaceful. 

I remember as a kid, on those nights that were especially clear out, I’d carefully walk down the steep bank, being careful not to fall as the snow gave way under my feet. Sometimes I would sit right down in the snow and slide down the hill.  In the middle of winter, I knew the creek was frozen solid so I didn’t have to worry about checking the thickness so I would just step right on the ice and the ice and snow would crunch under my snow boots. I remember looking around and maybe slide back and forth on the ice a few times as kids like to do.  Trying different tricks and twists an kicking ice chunks around like a hockey puck.  After a bit of play time, I would lay right down on the ice and look up to the large sky above.  Better than any television as it was much clearer and much bigger picture.  With very little light to filter the sky, the amount of stars you can see is amazing! My eyes would scan across the vast universe as far as I could see it. Contemplating the millions of stars it must take to make up the Milky Way Galaxy alone.  Some stars would twinkle more than others and occasionally you would see a satellite quietly drift across or if you were very lucky, a meteor.  God I miss seeing those stars on a clear winters night.  I am not sure why, but the sky seemed cleaner and clearer in the winter.  Maybe it has something to do with the lack of moisture in the air in the winter.  But all I know is it was amazing and a sight that remains vivid in my memory. 

Also vivid were the sounds.  On windy days you could hear strange sounds the wind would make as it would dance across the prairie or get pushed around certain obstacles up above on the farm.  What little grass that was peeking out of the snow would rustle and sway.  The wind is never fun to have around, unless you are lying flat on the ice and most of the wind skips right over you across the banks above.  The still nights were particularly special.  You could hear a dog bark from miles away.  A few nights you could hear a band of coyotes off in the distance and it made your mind race, wondering what they were doing or just how far away they might be.  The farm gave sounds of the cattle and horses grazing, running, or playing. 

These were good nights I look back on and I wish I would have known how special they were.  It was a good place to go and reflect on your day or even your life, particularly if you had a bad day it was a good place to unwind and recharge.  It was just you and no one else to spoil your thoughts or dreams.  I wish those of you reading this could have had that experience.  I would share it with you as I think it would do wonders for anyone looking for a little quiet time and time to reflect.