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Thursday, February 19, 2009

the best parts

        Okay, those of you who read this blog know about the tough parts of touring. 


         The away from Drew part. The living out of a suitcase part. The long-distance with friends and family part. The hard to find real solitude part. The away from my piano part.  

         What if I told you about the absolute best parts of my job? 

          Um, besides the obvious of getting paid to dance, sing, and act; to tell a moving story to a brand new audience every day; the honor of being part of such an iconic piece of American musical theater history.

         And last but certainly not least of this list of the obvious best parts of my job is having to work at most, 6 hours a day and at least, 3 hours a day. 

         Yeah, I know. It rocks.

         But really, one of the best parts of touring was presented to me once again. Today. All wrapped up and pretty in the guise of a canopy of blue skies which, after the grey and endless snow skies of Detroit would have been enough for me, but then it had to go and get better with an ocean. A warm ocean that this habitually cold girl could actually swim in for a good long while. 

        Perfect, right? Well somebody didn't think it was quite there yet, so the day was made even richer. I mean, really--what more do you want than a sun drenched sky and an ocean that is actually refreshing?

        Um. Friends.
 
         Laughingrunningswimmingteasingfrisbeeingsnackingtruebluefriends.  

         It was so so good. And don't you worry, me and Kevin were prepared. We aren't dummies when it comes to sharks. We kept a constant and vigilant look-out and were always trying to make sure somebody was acting as our sharkbait.

        Oh, and we threw in a new twist this time. We stuck twenties in our bathing suits thinking to pay the shark off not to eat us if it came to that. Hey. We're all in this recession.  Even the sharks. And they say money is a universal language, so...

       Okay. Maybe we didn't actually swim with the twenties. Maybe we did stick them in our bathing suits, but really just for our walk to the boardwalk in case we saw a snack or something we wanted to buy. Cause hey. We're all in this recession. You think we'd throw away twenties to the ocean

        But we did talk about how Kevin's twenty had a big red stain on it that we called blood and how much more appetizing that twenty was to our would be attacking shark. You know, if it came to that.  

       Right, but we were certainly vigilant in our goal, which was not to be eaten by a shark. 

       So, check.

      Oh, we also saw this humongous horse shoe crab skittering along the bottom of the ocean. And this one wasn't dead, which you may have gathered by the fact that it was skittering.  But for some reason, I think almost every horse crab I have seen has been washed up on shore, decidedly dead.  Sure, we do have fun grabbing it by its tail and trailing it along the shore, making it look like it's alive, a la Weekend at Bernie's, but almost any animal is way better alive than dead.  Or at least more exciting. 

      The thought just occurred to me that the whole making a dead horse shoe crab seem alive might be weird. Oh well, not too worried about it, actually. 

      We also played Frisbee in the water which was so fun. I always think I am going to be better than I actually am at throwing the darned thing. I guess because I am married to such a Frisbee champ I just assume that all that talent has had to have rubbed off on me in the last three years. But no, still not great at throwing it. Still anyone's guess as to where it will land when it flies from my hand.  

    Guess it's time for another lesson, Drew.  

    So yeah, these are the days that make me happy to be here. Seeing the beautiful parts of the world and getting paid to do something I love at the same time. Though I miss so many with a constancy that ranges from a dull surround-sound type of ache to a sharp, take-my-breath-away pain that causes me to again doubt the decision Drew and I made for me to walk through this open door, this is my life.

    That bears repeating, I think. 
    This. Is. My. Life. 

   Right now. This day, the next--they are gifts, not simply a prerequisite to be endured before I really jump in. I don't want to waste it wishing I was somewhere else, or even with someone else (though that one may just be impossible to keep all the time).  What is that saying again?
     
   Let not our longing for tomorrow slay our living for today.  

    Yeah. That sounds about right.        

16 comments:

beingawesome said...

I'm just happy that there are people like you that exist who truly cherish what they do and don't take it for granted.

You put in a LOT of hard work to get there so I think you deserve all of these good things that come to you.

Not to mention that you are an amazing person.

So yeah.


Keep living and loving.

:)

Jessica said...

aw, thanks so much. that truly means a lot...

Anonymous said...

"The best parts" sound pretty good, Jess!

Jonathan Latshaw said...

So nice to hear about your days in paradise why your husband whithers away in his sickness. You shouldn't feel guilty or anything...:)

Anonymous said...

Drew has been so very sick! And jess, even in your paradise there, you made sure he got care and your heart was here with him!

In this world, there are always the times we all go through when the Kingdom of God does not break through. Drew experienced that this week. You have times like that too, I know. We just need to be grateful when the Kingdom does break through. And make sure we nurture our attitude of thankfulness.

Nina said...

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen a live horseshoe crab...

I'm glad there's so much good to help offset the lonely and difficult parts of touring. And a swim in the warm ocean sounds great to me...especially after lengthy stay in wintry Detroit, which just seemed to me like a cruel twist of scheduling fate.

Jessica said...

NOw Jonathan-don't you worry cause my 'withering away husband" will be joining me here in paradise tomorrow and I plan on making him healthy as a horse again...

Anonymous said...

jessica, WHAT are you and kevin thinking?! did you know that florida accounts for the majority of shark attacks in the USA?! and considering how "meaty" kevin is, its just a matter of time before the two of you become another florida statistic!

Anonymous said...

But John--I told you, we were totally prepared; we had our sharkbait out there--as well as our blood soaked twenties...we were taking the risk responsibly!

Anonymous said...

John is completely correct, Jessica. You really should be more careful. Florida is shark central, and they aren't the "oops I'm sorry I thought you were a seal" great whites, who will take a test bite and swim off in disgust. They are the baddies of the ocean, the bull sharks, the ones who MEAN to bite you and will eat you and enjoy it.

They're nothing to toy around with!

Jessica said...

actually, somebody recently left me a link to an article on my FB page that cites how shark attacks are at an all-time low due to the economy causing tourism at all the beaches to plummet.

Can you believe it? Even the sharks are feeling this recession!!!

Anonymous said...

I guess, for sharks, it's not a "bull" market, either.

Jessica said...

touche, kathie! ;-)

Anonymous said...

LOL--Jason the sage big brother, lecturing little sister "S" on his absolutely favorite subject!

Jessica said...

Jason--the CRAZY big brother--who would opt to GET ATTACKED BY A SHARK if he could guarantee his safety...

Anonymous said...

Hey here's an idea for an Iphone app: graphic descriptions of what it would be like to be attacked by some kind of wild animal, followed by specific ways to avoid such attacks and what to do if an attack seems imminent. What do you think, Jason? Brian F. wouldn't like it, of course, but oh well. Maybe this info could be included into Lethal.