It's Gonna Rain
On Saturday, we all drove into town for Dusty�s dance recital (I�ve added a few photos to Flickr which, for some reason posted sideways. I apologize for that. I�ll try to fix it at some point but it ain�t gonna happen today.).
The recital was held in a bland, beige strip mall building with almost no signage. Our instructions were to bring the dancers through the door on the left which led to the dressing room; audience members were to go through the door on the right. Problem was, there were three doors. So, which one was the left one? The far right hand door was clearly the �audience door� but which left one was for dancers? The middle one which was left of the right door or the far left one? Turns out it didn�t really matter since all doors opened into the same large, under-construction dance room. An assortment of folding chairs had been placed in three rows in front of closed accordion dividers (also known to ballet aficionados as the �curtains�) that divide rooms up into many smaller rooms. I took Dusty back into a maze of hallways and through a number of doors until we found Miss Corrie, the teacher (a dance education major at the local public university).
Behind the accordion curtains were three painted set flats � or what have you � leaning up against a mirrored wall. This, my friends, was clearly a High Class Event.
The room was packed and I think Dusty�s posse out numbered any other ballerina�s. The curtains were rolled back noisily in their tracks and there were the girls in tap shoes and top hats (no pictures yet of that). They all looked stunned and it was clear they were being coached by Oz behind a folding screen. They tapped to music more or less, they lifted their hats...and ran off to change for the Main Event!
A fairy forest. Little fairies in sequinny costumes holding tall felt flowers. A narration, some music, much frolicking. A queen, a princess, a prince, a marriage, much skipping and dancing. The End. My father brought Dusty some pink roses - ballet pink. He's well-schooled in Ballerina Life since all four of his daughters did the ballet thing. My youngest two sisters were serious dancers for many years.
Really, it was very cute. Dusty impressed me by taking the lead and prompting the other girls when they forgot what they were supposed to do. She was quite the show stopper. Makes a mother proud, I tell you.
All the dancers got a medal with toe shoes on the front and a magenta carnation. We purchased Dusty's blue tutu and she spent the rest of the weekend in either her tap shoes or her soft ballet slippers. Red even walked around in the tap shoes for awhile, grinning as they clattered across the kitchen floor.
In other news � I finally set up my new laptop which...I love! I truly do. Once I set up all my websites and passwords, I�ll be fully functioning. Really, I bought it to write my novel on but, you know, I hate to see all that other stuff just go to waste!
On Sunday, I set up the printer/scanner/fax machine. It�s a flat bed scanner. I can�t tell you how great that is. Or, maybe you already know since I�ve been living under a technology rock for years. But, my world has many possibilities now.
I also strung up some fairy lights in our front yard �forest.� Our forest was created by two rows of bushes and firs (that are about 15 feet tall, I guess) in a squared U shape that are planted about two feet apart making a cozy sheltered pathway. Dusty likes to play in there and make mud experiments. Red likes it too but it empties out at the bottom of the driveway � which is where the main road lies with vehicles (and semis) going 60 mph. So, she can�t go out there unaccompanied like Dusty can.
The two light strands went as far as the first pathway of the forest � the first arm of the U. I�ll probably need to buy at least another 3 strands to finish the rest. Dusty went out at dinner time (it was already raining and dark) to check out the lights and declared them cool. I�m looking forward to walking through the forest lane at night on a dry evening with the lights sparkling overhead. Fairy magic.
Red had a banner day on Sunday with maybe only ONE tantrum. She was otherwise happy and played well with Dusty (and vice versa) and took a nice long nap and ate a dinner that did not consist of saltine crackers (because she had eaten them all up on Saturday). I don�t know how to account for this so I�m not going to over think it, just enjoy the fact that it happened.
More photos coming soon!
