Quote...

"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for." -Louis L'Amour

----------------
I know I've been terrible at updating recently, but I promise I've got some good stories to recount so I'll be back at the blogging soon.

Update from NY

the past couple of days have been scorchers and being up here in Chautauqua where it snows 10 months out of the year they don't have too much AC so we've all been sweltering to death. (although I know I really can't be complaining too much when it's like 95 with 150% humidity in NC!) luckily today has been rainy and it cooled things off immensly so I think we'll all be able to sleep under our covers tonight as opposed to on top of them.

Monday ended the two shows of The Elixir of Love which turned out really great. I went and saw it on opening night and was quite impressed at the scope of show the opera company can put on in a short amount of time. this week intense rehearsals for Carmen have started and tomorrow I get to talk to the two lead singers as well as the director and conductor so I can write my typical opera preview story for next week's paper. I've enjoyed getting to know more about the world of opera and meeting the people behind the main roles.

today also marked the beginning of Kate-making-some-money season. I took on a babysitting job for 3 little girls, (twin 4-year-olds and a 6-year-old) who are here for the summer. they're from outside Chicago. they're a handful, but fun. it's nice to get out and run around with them.

things are still going smoothly on most all fronts. we've all settled into a groove work-wise and living-wise. it's so hard to believe I've been here for a full month now. the past four weeks have flown by but it still seems like I've been here almost half my life. it's strange how this place will suck you in.

Additional Notes:
-birthday countdown = 13 days
-reading material du jour: The Rape of Europa (courtesy of Tim!)

Characters abound

So as I wrote before, I'm still in the middle of trying to figure this place out. It's full of so many characters and interesting things going on that it's hard to get a handle on hardly anything. Never before have I seen a population of people who are so bat-crazed. yes, you read correctly - obsessed with bats. it's to such an extreme that there is even a little bat, named Atticus, who appears in the paper everyday. he's hidden among the articles, pictures and ads. so if that doesn't convince you that Chautauquans are crazy I don't know what will. but, yesterday I interviewed two people on the grounds - radically different, but both fascinating in their own way.

the first was a guy who's an extra in the upcoming opera, The Elixir of Love, which is the company's first show of the season. he works in the buildings and grounds department for the Institution - which takes care of anything from menial maintenance requests to installing air conditioners to plowing snow in the winter. as a native of the Bronx one would wonder how this man, who is trained in fire technology and serves on the volunteer fire department here, would get involved in an opera. as it turns out he moves the opera company's offices to New York City twice a year and somehow saw a flyer looking for extras - so he tried out - and is having a blast. I saw him in the dress rehearsal tonight and I think he was having a lot of fun. I got to ride around the grounds with him the other day and just talk to him about his life, job and role in the show. it was so cool to learn about some of the inner workings that keep this place going and meet someone who doesn't have 4 degrees and a summer house.

my second interview was Jay Stetzer, a storyteller from Rochester who is going to make his annual appearance at the Children's School tomorrow and then he'll perform for anyone interested tomorrow night. we talked for a long time about storytelling and his thoughts on Chautauqua. I'll leave you with some of what he said:
"There are not many places that feed the soul as well. And this is one of those places. I think of it as an intellectual, spiritual vortex. Everybody sort of comes together and the results are much greater than the individual number that we have here. And we all leave, slightly altered."