Yesterday I got dog poo on my shoe while I was at work. I grabbed my spare pair out of the car only to discover they already had dog poo on them. Then I dunked the digital camera under the tap at camp and dropped it on the gravel. The guy at Van Cam says it's not worth fixing. Drats.
Today is much better. I took the day off work, which is always delicious. Andy took the boy-teen to Playland to ride the PNE rides with no lineups. The day before the fair opens all of the extra rides are operating, and included in your Playland pass.
Drama girl and I went to the musical theatre teacher's house for a choreography session in preparation for the PNE Star Discovery Kids Talent Show. Yup, our daughter is in the semi-finals next weekend. Then we went to Granville Island for the day. We had a great time - a little bit of poking in stores (she bought beads and hemp for bracelets), and some lunching and sitting out in the square watching the boats and the people. Ralph Shaw, the Ukulele King was playing, which delighted me. I asked my daughter if she remembered when we saw him on New Year's Day and she did.
When the kids were little, our New Year's Eve tradition included lunch with friends and a visit to Burnaby Village Museum on New Year's Eve Day. The village is all dressed for Christmas, with musicians and storytellers throughout the day. Daughter first saw Ralph Shaw in Brookfield Hall (the village's vaudeville theatre) when she was 4 years old. I remember he played a nose flute which she found totally enchanting.
So we were back there again when she was 6, and she read on the schedule that Ralph Shaw would perform on New Year's Day at noon. I agreed to bring her back (it was the very next day, but what else did we have to do?) Nobody else in the family wanted a repeat visit so soon, so we went on our own. Well, it turned out that nobody else in the world thought of going to Burnaby Village Museum at noon on New Year's Day. We had the place, and Ralph, to ourselves. Another entertainer came and sat down to listen to his set, because there was literally nobody else there. We sat outside on the porch of the ice cream parlour and enjoyed all kinds of old songs and a bit of chat. Daughter was too old to dance, but young enough not to shy away at this exclusive performance.
The only other time I can remember being the only one in the audience was at a performance of Haunted House Hamlet at Presentation House in North Vancouver. The show was staged in all of the back rooms and corridors of the theatre and on the stage, with scenes taking place simultaneously. It was a sparse house that night, and I found myself in the bowels of the theatre, with three actors performing a scene (I can't remember which). It felt weird be outnumbered, but I liked it.
Today, twelve year old daughter made sure we didn't get too close to Ralph Shaw, and declined to take the coins up to the ukulele case at the end of the show. Of course she didn't dance, but we enjoyed watching a three-year old girl spinning joyfully across the square.
She asked how buskers make enough money to live and I said I thought they also did paid shows like at the village and maybe taught music lessons. I asked her if she thought I might take ukulele lessons one day and she said, "You would!" Then I suggested that if I did I might just haul that ukulele along to parties and family gatherings and yank it out after supper and say, "Who's for a hootenany?" That earned an eye-roll, a nose-wrinkle and a brow-scrunch. I guess she's a normal teenager.
It was a much better day today. When we got home, daughter helped make supper. Husband and son came home tired and happy from Playland. Best of all, Andy's not on night shift for a while so our family gets right-side-up again. I love the movies, but not when they take my husband away all night.
Now I'm going to clean my shoes, load the dishwasher and make some bruschetta (I bought 20 pounds of Okanagan tomatoes just perfect). Ooops! Kirsi just phoned. I'm going to go sit by the side of the road and drink a beer instead.
The shoes (and the poo) will be there later.
The tomatoes will keep.
Too bad about the camera.
I will never play the ukulele.
question: have you ever showed up for a show and you were the only one?
mompoet - maybe the nose flute?
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