Typical Day on the Road

October 2004

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Oct. 1

Still at the campground in Greenbelt, Md. Made the acquaintance of a wonderful Canadian family a couple of campsites down from us.

Oct. 2

Got a very early start driving into D.C. for our performances at The National Theatre. Arrived at 7:30 and staked out a parking space in front, even though we didn't have to load in until 8:30.

We did two performances in the Helen Hayes gallery, facing the large portrait of the actress after whom the space was named. This theatre, which is only three blocks from The White House, has a great deal of history behind it; every single president has attended a show here at one time or another. And it has hosted the world premiere of a number of great Broadway musicals, including "Show Boat" and "West Side Story".

But for us, the most impressive part is not the main-stage theatre, but here in this very gallery, which used to be a rehearsal hall. One can almost see Jerome Kern or Stephen Sondheim or Leonard Bernstein pacing around, scratching their chins and revising a line here and there.

Our new friends from Canada came to the second show, and afterward we met up with them to tour the Smithsonian museums. We went to an exhibit about the Beatles, but it was just some photographs. What was more interesting was an adjoining exhibit of photographs by Mike McCartney, Paul's brother.

We also tried to get into the brand new Native American museum, but the lines were incredibly long outside. 

Oct. 3

Left the campground and drove to the Lancaster, Pa. area. Zephyr wanted to investigate the Field Of Screams, a well-known haunted attraction that he's been reading about online. We arrived a couple of hours before it opened, because he wanted to talk shop with the operators. He expressed an interest in volunteering as one of the costumed characters, and presto! They put him to work. He masqueraded as Dr. Mal Practice, one of the characters he'd read about. He was in hog heaven, and his parents decided they had to tour the haunted house where he was working to see him in action. He was quite impressive, as was indeed the entire attraction.

Oct. 4

York, Pa. Went to the YMCA, and spent some time at Borders. No, we don't get paid to say that.

 Oct. 5

Returned to perform at Connewago School, near York. Then drove to Allentown.

Oct. 6

Ramsey, N. J. Spent a good part of the day rehearsing our Japanese story, which we've performed once before, but never with musical accompaniment, which we are scheduled to do tomorrow.

 Oct. 7

Returned to the Ramsey Library for the fourth or fifth time, and our second premiere of the Japanese story went capitally.

 Oct. 8

Two performances of our poetry show at Tappan Zee School in Piermont, N. Y. Then we headed toward Stamford, Ct., stopping on the way in Sleepy Hollow.

 We arrived in Stamford and picked up our nephew to go to Borders for awhile. (We're still not being paid to say that.) Picked up some excellent Thai food to take home for dinner.

 Oct. 9

We all caught a train into New York City, thinking we might see a Broadway show, but uncertain about which we should see, or what we could afford. Finally found ourselves near Times Square and checked the available shows at the half-price ticket booth. Decided upon "Chicago", in part because the male lead was Wayne Brady, an astounding multi-talented performer we'd come to admire after seeing him on "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?". But we were a bit disappointed with his performance today-the role itself just didn't seem to provide a big enough challenge for him. The production itself was very good overall, though not outstanding. And it was probably not the best choice for our nephew and his fiancée, who'd never attended a musical before. We probably should have chosen a show with a great deal of color in it, but this production was mounted entirely in black and white, like an old movie.

After the show, we wandered around Manhattan a bit, including a stroll to Central Park. The city is always crowded, but this was the most packed we'd ever seen it.

 Oct. 10

Today is Kimberly's birthday. We said goodbye to our relatives in Stamford, and headed back to New Jersey.

Oct. 11

Received the sad news of the death yesterday of actor Christopher Reeve. He was born on Zephyr's birthday, and died on Kimberly's. Talented, dedicated, determined, passionate and compassionate, he was a true Superman in every sense.  

Oct. 12

Performed at a school in Highlands, NJ, a picturesque little community near the seashore that probably gets a heavy tourist trade during the summer. At the school, there had been a communication problem, and the staff had put folding chairs in the gym for kids to sit in. We prefer kids to sit on the floor, and we absolutely abhor folding chairs, which are terribly noisy. At our discreet request, the chairs were removed again, but it appeared that some people were unhappy about it. Yikes!

Oct. 13

Performed at a school in Blue Anchor, N. J. Then hit the YMCA in Woodbury-a town that holds fond memories for us because of the time we found a Band-Aid in our salad.

Oct. 14

Two performances at a school in Williamstown, NJ.

Oct. 15

Performed two shows at a school in Ambler, Pa.

Oct. 16

Performed at the library in Wayne, Pa. Then we whisked Zephyr back to Lancaster Co. so he could volunteer again at Field Of Screams. Encountered horrendous traffic and arrived after opening time, but there was still ample time for him to get into costume and set about the serious task of frightening people out of their skins.

Oct. 17

Went to Hershey, because Hershey Park was having a special Halloween festival. Admission was free, and patrons paid for each ride or attraction. Zephyr rode several of them, and Kimberly rode none, having a neck problem left over from the last amusement park we went to. Dennis only rode Great Bear, which is one of our favorite coasters in the whole world, It's fast and furious with lots of loops and twists, but it's incredibly smooth. We also attended the costume contest, which featured some highly imaginative costumes.

Oct. 18

After two performances at a school near Harrisburg, we went into Harrisburg itself and spent a few hours at Kinko's.

Oct. 19

Performed again in Hometown, Pa. Then we headed toward Philadelphia. We were going to have an opportunity to do something that the three of us had never done: participate in a demonstration. (Only Dennis has ever done it, and that was back in his college days.) In this highly charged election year, we've become much more politically active than ever before. We've been in touch with a wonderful online group called Homeschoolers for Kerry, and they alerted us that they were organizing a demonstration this evening at a theatre planning to show the world premiere of "Stolen Honor", a film that attacks Senator Kerry (reportedly in a very dishonest manner). Unlike the anti-Bush screed "Fahrenheit 9-11", which was released in June and thus allowed plenty of time for rebuttal, this one was being sneaked in under the fence. The plan was to assemble outside while the film was being shown, and then greet the attendees and the media with our signs as the former exited.

We stopped to buy poster board to make some signs, and then went on to the theatre. But when we arrived,  we learned that the screening had been cancelled due to (so we gather) the fear of slander lawsuits from some of the individuals mentioned in the movie. A few of the patrons had assembled in the lobby and were quite angry. When they learned why we were there, they turned their anger on us, calling us "really rotten Americans" and sundry other names. They apparently were under the impression that we were somehow responsible for the cancellation. We tried to engage some of them in civil conversation. But didn't get very far.

A TV crew arrived and, not having a film showing to cover, began interviewing the irate customers instead. After hearing several of them rail about how "un-American" the whole thing was, and how nasty "liberals" are, Dennis reluctantly went on-camera himself to set the record straight about the real objectives of the proposed demonstration, and the fact that nobody was trying to prevent anyone from seeing a movie.

Zephyr went back inside to chat with the manager, and learned that the decision to cancel came from higher up the chain but he, the manager, was catching the blame for it. Caught in the middle of a prickly situation, the poor fellow finally opted to cancel ALL movies for the evening and lock his doors until tomorrow, not even facing the media.

Oct 20

Performed at the library in Mahwah, NJ. A curious incident after the show: a girl from the audience bought one of our tapes, apparently with her own money, and left. Then her mother returned with it and wanted a refund, for reasons that weren't clear to us. A few minutes later, they both returned and purchased the tape again. Apparently, the mother had been under the impression that we somehow had pressured the girl into buying it. But once she became convinced that it was entirely the child's idea, she decided it was okay.

Oct. 21

Spent most of the day driving to Pittsburgh. Spent most of the evening at Kinko's

Oct. 22

Two performances at an elementary school in Freedom, Pa., near Pittsburgh.

Oct. 23

Performed at the library in Butler, Pa. Picked up our mail, which included the packet that originally had been shipped to us at the home of our nephew in Connecticut, but was returned because there was no apt. number on it. Drove on to Kent, OH.

Oct. 24

Spent most of the day at the Kinko's near Kent State University. Then in the evening we went to the MAC Center to attend an appearance by muckraking filmmaker Michael Moore. Special guests included Roseanne Barr, guitarist/singer Tom Morello (formerly of Rage Against The Machine) and Cpl. Abdul Henderson, the marine who appeared with Moore in "Fahrenheit 9-11". Henderson's comments were especially touching, as he talked about how he was facing disciplinary action, and even putting his career on the line, in order to tell the public the truth.

But for sheer inspiration, it's hard to beat Michael Moore himself, whose speaking skills equal his skills as a filmmaker. A handful of Bush supporters in the crowd, finding nothing to hate about him after all, began sheepishly leaving before the evening was half over, even though he made a special plea to them to stick around. Even the Nader backers, who were even more disruptive though fewer in number, finally settled down and showed him some respect.

About 10,000 people left the facility feeling very optimistic that they could help restore a measure of sanity to the nation on Nov. 2.

Oct. 25

Drove to Columbus and - big novelty - did some work at Kinko's

Oct. 26

Still in Columbus. Dennis is working on a new book of poetry and a novel. Zephyr is planning a sequel to the novel he recently completed.

Oct. 27

Went to COSI for the umpteenth time (see previous story) but Zephyr was crushed to learn that the "Adventure" exhibit, which he'd really been looking forward to exploring again, was temporarily (and for an indefinite period of time) closed due to lack of funding.

Oct. 28

Still in Columbus, OH. Had the heater in the van worked on, which took half the day. Fortunately, there was a Barnes & Noble next door.

Oct. 29

On to Richmond, Ind., where we spent the night at a rather pleasant campground.

Oct. 30

On to Indianapolis. Zephyr is putting the finishing touches to his Halloween costume. This time, it's Peter Pan, as envisioned in the recent movie.

Oct. 31

For the fifth consecutive year, we toured the haunted house at the Children's Museum Of Indianapolis. They always do an outstanding job. It was also interesting to see that in the lobby of the museum was a tribute to the late Christopher Reeve, including one of the capes he wore in the first Superman movie.

Then we went to the same neighborhood where we always go for trick-or-treating. Zephyr wore his Peter Pan outfit, which was a shirtless affair (with just a few sprigs of ivy wrapped around his torso) even though it was quite chilly. We carried a blanket to wrap around him between houses.

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