Day 380: Pat and Michaela

Since this is Pat's first musical, he doesn't know me or that I photograph everything during the musical. He and Michaela were rehearsing the scene where they kiss for the first time.  The aud was nearly empty, perhaps to help them get more comfortable without a hundred kids watching and giggling.  I took six shots of the kiss and none of them were good.

We evaluated all the dresses to see what we have and how many we will have to buy or make.  It looks like the costume sweatshop of 42nd St. may return.  We'll also be buying lots of wigs.

Jimmy and Miss Dorothy

(brother and sister)

Millie

After four hours, I am still not quite finished with the leadership chapter. It will probably require two more hours.  What a treat!  I had a surprise visit from Lee tonight.  He was cleaning and found a news article from the backpacking trip for House 1 in 1978.  It had quite a bit of new information that I'll have to inject into the history chapter.  That trip was brutal!  Nine days and 75 miles!  No wonder it almost killed me.  I guess I blocked out the details.  All I remember is bleeding feet, leeches and the death of my friend's brother in a car accident. 

The one day hike was 13 miles.  The weekend trip was 17 miles in three days and two nights.  

The third trip was a total of 45 miles over five days! We departed from the MS and walked to the Renswick property on Seymour St., very close to where we camp now.  The second day we hiked to Cassadaga Country Club.  The the third day we covered 15 miles on the way to Cockaigne.  From there, we hiked overland to the state land where we currently camp on Thursday night.  Finally, on the fifth day, we walked to the Policeman's grounds where the trip concluded.  After that trip, Lee did more research on how many miles were appropriate for a young teen to hike in a day.  It wasn't 15!

Day 379: Perseverence

On Sixty Minutes tonight, Scott Pelley interviewed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice on the court.  She talked about the strong streak of stubbornness she possesses and how it helped her achieve her goals.  At age 10, she decided that she wanted to become a judge.  Because of her type 1 diabetes, she couldn't be a cop, but she was so intrigued by the lawyers and judges on the old Perry Mason tv show, that she wanted to capture that excitement as a lawyer.  Princeton recruited her as part of the affirmative action program and her school nurse was outraged that she was selected over other students.  She said that experience was repeated in her confirmation hearings.  They questioned whether she was good enough or smart enough.  So she perseveres, questions and works for the people.  She visited her old neighborhood in the Bronx, an immigrant neighborhood, where they welcomed her home.

Stubbornness is an often undervalued trait.  In school, it's sometimes punished rather than rewarded.  One of the great things about Quest is that we teach the kids to keep going, that they can overcome obstacles, push through pain, carry more than they thought, work as a team.   Although it's on a very small scale, it's such an important lesson.

I put in about six hours on writing today, maybe more.  We broke it up with two long walks on another unseasonably warm, though rainy day.  Tomorrow, I will have to cook again, I guess, since the spaghetti sauce and meatloaf are gone!  The leadership chapter is taking more time than expected because I went back and reread interviews from two superintendents, Lee, Rick, and a few others to include their thoughts on the topic.  I hope to finish tomorrow, but it may take two days.

 

A red tailed hawk high in a tree on Johnson St.

Day 378: Spinning chairs

For two dance sequences in Millie, they need a dozen chairs to spin on casters.  Tom H. built the frames and attached the chairs, then Steve and I put on the casters.  Today, our amazing crew taped off the chrome, spray painted the plastic chairs, attached the desk surfaces and then painted some of the desk tops.  About twenty students turned out to work this morning and we got a ton done.   We were able to spray paint because the  temperature was 62 degrees!  I didn't think we would get those chairs completed until March.  It's a good thing we finished because an Arctic cold front is moving toward us rapidly and outside painting will be impossible.  It will help the dancers to have them for rehearsals in the coming weeks.  The performers have made incredible progress very rapidly.  The dance numbers are so lively and fun to watch!

Fathima and Lauren spray painting chairs

January thaw

East side of science building

After we got home, we were took a long walk through town and campus and checked out the fast moving creek and the progress on the science building.

Day 377: Lincoln

One of the village ornaments

The film Lincoln was very powerful.  I cheered when the 13th amendment finally passed and wept when hospital workers tossed a wheelbarrow full of legs into a pit.  When the announcement that Lincoln had been shot came in the theater, our audience gasped.  Even though I have studied history for most of my life, I always enjoy a film that brings the characters to life.  Daniel Day Lewis was extraordinary as Abraham Lincoln.

I worked on the organization and expedition leadership chapter today and added 300 words.   Progress! This is the 11th chapter!

Day 376: My writing partners

Mr. Cardinal watching me work.

Paddy is doing his part to keep me on track.  He was a big help, because I finished another chapter today.  I think I will tackle the leadership and organization chapter next.  It needs significant work so it will probably take the rest of the week.  There are also a couple interviews that I haven't transcribed yet, so that must be done because I need to include some new voices.  I have realized that there were a few questions I never asked anyone so I'll have to conduct more short interviews.  But at this point, the book is nearly at the point where I feel confident submitting sections of the book to publishers.  

The remains of the tree that was being cut down yesterday.  It wasn't rotten and did not seem to be in the way of the power lines, so it's uncertain why it was removed.  

Day 375: Asplundh

All over town, the power company is trimming trees away from the power lines.  Several at critical locations have been removed entirely.  The main trunk line that crosses the creek is always in danger so they took down three trees near the creek and one at the corner of University Pk.  I hate to see trees harmed at any time, but it's also important to keep the power lines clear.

I nearly finished the chapter on recruiting and enrolling students.  One more perusal tomorrow and then I can move on to another chapter.  I was thinking today that I have to find a title!  I've been using a working title, but I don't like it and intend to create something catchy and memorable.

Day 374: Dods and Maytum

We decided to park at the college and walk the cleared sidewalks rather than risk our necks in the village.  Very few people were out again today despite the warm temperatures.  

The new windows are finally installed in Maytum so it may be able to reopen soon.

Dods Hall

I decided to begin work on the chapter on recruiting and enrolling students.  I had written five different sections on student meetings, parent meetings, the preliminary meeting, enrolling, and the value of the video.  After putting them all in one document, there were 21 pages with lots of repetition, but I got it down to 15 pages.  There's still more to cut and then spice it up with some other perspectives.  I'm hoping to finish the chapter in three days.  

Our book club is reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Godwin about Abraham Lincoln.  Tonight I read about the backgrounds of the four main candidates for the Republican nomination for President in 1860: William Seward, Salmon Chase, Edward Bates and Abraham Lincoln.  Their childhoods were filled with challenges, loss and opportunity.  Lincoln's youth was so hard, but books transported him to other times and places and offered an avenue of advancement.  He said, "The book, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places....Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing."  If only more children today understood and appreciated the possibilities that intense study and effort can bring.