Coalhouse Walker & Sarah
Molly was the Company Stage Manager for the Newton Summer Stage production of Ragtime. Newton Summer Stage is a summer musical theatre intensive program for high school teens with a mission to create a professional quality show. In past years it was called The Drama Training Institute but they changed the name to break off from the morning program that does non musical theatre training. Here are Dan’s and my photos.

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Mark created the problem when he drew that white door into his garage plans. The door asks for a platform with stairs. Jan thought why not a full width deck maybe wrapping around the back side, Adam wanted parabolic curves and I, a staircase that lands on the driveway. Mark ended the discussion when he pronounced it would be an eighteen by ten foot rectangle with a short set of stairs landing near a cobbled path that snaked through the woods.

At lunch, after weíd erected the posts and the bearing beam, Jan asked me, ìDonít you think a two level deck would be great?î

Looking out for Mark and my own limited free time, I stopped Jan with, ìI hate wood.î

ìBut youíre a carpenter.î

ìAnd I hate wood. If you want another level, make it out of stone. Something, anything that doesnít require maintenance.î

As requested, more photos of Bertha .

Chris Radulski is reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, the best seller about punctuation, and the same book I thought Iíd get from my local library, except that I was the four hundredth in line. I hope Iím next in line for Chrisís copy. Here, however, is a contrarian view which inspired this defense from the Guardian.

Bertha

One more from the airport. Maley hugs Hil, Robby watches.
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The first day on the job, I taught Chris the fastest way to pass anything is through the air. Ask for a hammer and you better look up because itíll be sailing in your direction. Need a hand saw? Are your hands free? They better be. Monday we needed to clear one of those upper decks of piles of household junk in order to stain it. I stood above and to the back of the deck, while Chris was below on the ground. Perched on the railing between us were flower pots full of blooming impatiens, which made it impossible to know exactly what was coming before it had sailed over the railing.

ìAre you ready?î I donít always give a warning.

ìYes.î

Into the air I launched a stream of stuff : a rake, a broom, a shovel, a plastic plant container, garden hand tools, towels, two coolers, everything but the chairs and the gas grill. I couldnít see what was happening down below, but other than one shout of, ìDonít throw the pointy end at me,î I think he caught most of it.

That was not my retribution, oh no.

With the deck clear, and needing to stain the outside railing, we set our long plank on the tops of two ladders – that place with the warning sign, THIS IS NOT A STEP. We climbed up on opposite sides and I spied a long, brown, fat, juicy slug slinking along my end. I picked it up, looked at Chris who had not seen it, and winged it at him. Like a pitcher protecting himself from a line drive he snagged it, hard, at chest height.

Then he opened his hand.

Egdelina
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Iíve received many emails from fans of the blog (fobís) asking why I continue to tell stories about Chris, now that Matthew is home. ìSure, we like Chris,î they write, ìbut letís hear more about Mattís trip. ëMatt on horseback, Mattís house in Esteli, Mattís classroom, Mattís teacher,í boring, boring, boring. WE NEED MORE DETAILS!í î Iíd be happy to comply, but here is the deal. I saw Matt on Friday night when he deplaned, I saw him once on Saturday, not at all on Sunday, and briefly on Monday. And that is how it is. Today, he and Daryl are going to Joeís house in NH, and I wonít see him again until this coming Saturday….maybe. If you want more Matt stories, you have to write and tell him to stay home.

The Bazar Fez is owned by Matt’s home stay family.
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The other day, Karen, Chrisís mom, introduced me to a family friend as Chrisís boss. I kinda like the sound of it, but you know times have changed since I was his age. If you told me to do something Iíd jump up, salute, click my heels and then run off to complete the task.

Nowadays, Iím reminded of our friend Dan’s marriage to Linda. Dan brought one son to the marriage; Linda, two daughters. Her youngest daughter, Rebecca, at maybe five or six, sized-up this new authority figure and said, ìYou are not the boss of me.î Thatís pretty much how it is these days.

ìChris, could you please get the can of brown stain from the back of the truck? If you do Iíll buy lunch and give you a raiseî

ìWhat do you think I am? A dog and youíre playing fetch?î

Yeah, I too thought that was a pretty snappy comeback, but I got that last laugh. Tomorrow I’ll explain how.

Matt on horseback before galloping through the forests.
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Two short movies that should be viewable even with dialup connections. The first precedes the second, and the second …..well, go figure.
Language lessons (2.4 MB)
Chicken flap (1.2 MB)

Emma posing with her new Go Kart.

I laughed when I watched Rodd insist Emma wear a helmet, shoes and a seat belt. I stopped laughing moments after she stomped on the accelerator pedal. Here, Diane clears the yard of mosquitoes.
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Matt’s teacher.
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Matt’s classroom for the first week.

Matt’s home, the house with the balcony, in Esteli.
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Hil’s living room.

The congenial, collaborating, conquering captains of their own destiny, arrived, mostly on time, vivaciously voluble, hiply hirsute, steeped in stories, and full of photos (361 on Mattís digital camera). Matt looked like his uncle Peter, freshly from a weekís camping trip in the high Sierras, while Hil appeared ready for a magazine cover shoot. Tell me again, why we were ever worried about these two?

From the airport, we (Lew and Jennifer, Maley, and Robby) drove as directly as we could manage to the Village Smokehouse – Hilís request – and our favorite after MFA stop. There we met Mark and Ginger, who had both been roused from deep sleep to join us, and ordered dinner but minutes before the grill closed at eleven. Home after midnight, and in bed by 2 AM after one long, luxurious, hot shower.
For the moment Diane won’t be asking, “I wonder where they are today?”

Maley hugging Matt, while Diane and Jennifer watch dad and daughter embrace.