Saturday, August 13, 2011

No Kind of Dancer

We landed in CO with in minutes of our friends from Texas who came in for a visit.  I had a great time this past week with my girl Jenn and her kiddos!  We hiked, rode horses, swam at the lake and more.  Basically we played hard.  There is still more to do so we look forward to their next visit.

Our guests were to leave early, early this morning and I had rehearsal scheduled so we all went to bed early last night.  With in minutes of our heads hitting the pillow; a yowling scream broke the nights silence.  It made me grab my man tighter and every hair on my body stand on end.

"Mountain lion," Aaron whispered.

It screamed again and again and again.  The sound seemed to get closer and sounded to be coming from the direction of Caren's house.  I thought about calling her but did not want to wake anyone up.  Not a single dog barked but as the screams moved on I did hear the dog across the street howl a few times.

"Maybe it was a fox," Aaron mused.

"We've heard foxes though and that was not as staccato.  Needs more bark to sound like a fox."

The red fox makes a crazy sound.  Something like a dog bark, cat yowl and a woman's scream combined. 

Needless to say I did not sleep well.  I googled "mountain lion screams" in the morning.  I did find a recording of a mountain lion in heat that sounded dead on to what we heard last night.  The only thing is that I think they have cubs in the spring and I don't think their gestation period is very long so...maybe it was a fox with a cold or something...Ha!

Since I was so tired I decided to grab a cup of coffee on the way to dance rehearsal.  Though I can not handle caffeine well (blood sugar crashes and arthritis) I knew Starbucks still has a little trace of it in their decaf.  I figured it would be enough to give me a kick.  Plus all that sugar!!! 

Darn the drive thru!  They can never hear right.  I got the real deal this morning.  I flew down the road to rehearsal.  I felt like I was going fast and everything else was going slow.  On top of it all my right eye was aggravated by something.  I had hoped it would work out before I got there but instead it seemed more inflamed then ever.  I removed my contacts and wore my glasses instead.

My prescription is one of those wonky high, high, high kind so when I put on my glasses it's like looking through a fish bowl.  My depth perception is off and my peripheral vision is nill.  When I looked down at my feet they seemed sooooo far awaaaaay.  Add the swirly, buzz, tornado going on in my body from the caffeine and you have one screwed up little dancer.  Woo Hoo!  My poor cast mates.

I'm trying so hard to be a good girl but I can't help but make wise cracks.  It's a stress reliever for me and since dancing is so out of my element the jokes fly.  A few here and there is fun for all but I'm finding myself to be obnoxious and so I'm sure others do as well.  The coffee did not help this either.  Again, I shake my fist at you Starbucks!  I should've double checked before pulling away from there.  Curses!

The effects seemed to wear off just in time for our last dance of the day.  Since I missed last week I was learning a couple of new dances.  This last one is not difficult really but I just could not get it.  I can't stand when I don't know what to do or where to go.  I really can't stand when I can not manage to do very simple moves.  It was extremely frustrating for me.  In one of the dances we move together in a cluster.  In order to stay together we connect with a hand on a shoulder or elbow.  This was helpful because the hand on my shoulder could give me gentle direction and lead me to where I should go.  I truly was grateful for it but also peeved because we could move smoother if I knew where to head. 

"How was rehearsal?"  Aaron asked when I got home.

"I would not have given up our time in NY for the world but it would have been nice to be on the same page with everyone today.  I was a mess.  A total embarrassment."

"You are too hard on yourself.  Everyone knows you missed.  I'm sure they are allowing for your mistakes so you should too."

Good advice, I'm sure, but I felt no more comforted.  Being new to this theater group I feel like this is one big audition.  I totally had it in my head that if I did not get the part of Eva then I would be asked to be in chorale.  I never EVER dreamed that dance ensemble would be an option.  I almost feel like they just want to see what I can do which is rather egotistical really.  I'm sure the added pressure is imaginary.  I am loving it but...whew!  Today kicked my butt. 

I am exhausted from all of the playing we did this week, from that darn mountain lion, and from nearly 4 hours of dancing.  A nap is needed. 

Must. Get. Pillow.

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