GOODBYE FEBRUARY!
What a great month February was! We started right out on February 2 with the first of the Theatrikos Main Stage plays of 2014, a French farce called "The Miser".
Here's a bit of history from Wikipedia:
"The Miser is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Moliere. It was first performed on September 9, 1668, in the theater of the Palais-Royal in Paris."
It was without exception the most hilarious production we've seen at Theatrikos. The actors really nailed the comedic tone. The costumes, as you can see, were outstanding. As an interesting side-note, we'd gotten an e-mail from Theatrikos offering discounts on tickets for this date, as it was Super Bowl Sunday. We have season tickets so didn't get to take advantage of it...but the theater was nearly full.
Ron watched the Super Bowl when we got home.
He's not a rabid Bronco's fan, but this still hurt a little bit:
"Super Bowl 2014 final score for Seahawks vs. Broncos: Seattle defense dominates in 43-8 win"
February 10 I attended a Tai Chi Intensive Workshop, which was three hours of non-stop Tai Chi.
.
Intensives are typically taught by someone from outside the local area, and in this case our instructor was from Corpus Christi, TX. She is a Society regional administrator as well. She did a bang-up job, and I've been practicing long enough now that everything she said and showed us made sense to me.
February's hike was in the Sedona area again. Constant hiking companion Lea invited her friend Lisa, and the three of us chose a trailhead that led to Bear Mountain on one side of the road
and Doe Mountain on the other side.
We chose Bear Mountain and headed up.
Less than a mile into it, my fear of edges was invoked by this:
and exacerbated by this: yep, it's the trail.
I've long had a fear of edges, and find that it's worsening as I get older and/or don't do a lot of this type of hiking anymore. I expect it would take some significant work, like overcoming a fear of flying, for it to improve. In the meantime, there are plenty of other trails! In this case, Lea and Lisa mountain-goated it on up and I turned around and had no trouble tackling Doe Mountain.
Sedona is a destination for visitors from around the world, and this scenery is part of the reason:
This is a part of the trail on Doe Mountain:
Why this didn't bother me a bit only supports the irrational nature of fear!
Valentine's Day was next.
Ron chose our entertainment: another Theatrikos presentation.
In this case, we in the audience were viewers of the behind-the-scenes production of an old-time radio show. Most enjoyable.
Ron has developed a friendship with a fellow table-tennis player who's a visiting consultant at NAU and hails from China. His American name is Tony. This lead to that, and when Tony's wife Jean came to visit, Ron invited them both out for dinner. They were exceedingly enjoyable guests. Both have spent time in the US and have a very good understanding of English and, typically, more difficulty speaking. It was no hindrance to our communication and enjoyment. When asked where in China they were from, Tony said the name of the city and described it being in the center of China. Take your pick.
Jean made delicious Chinese dumplings to go along with the simple meal of chicken, rice, and salad that Ron prepared.
Afterwards we played Jenga.
Tony and Jean both loved this game. They are engineers in different fields, and that precise way engineers have of thinking showed up as we played. Plus, an element of difficulty was added to each of the four games we played. Hey, who doesn't enjoy the possibility of insurmountable difficulty? This was a delightful evening.
Our movie this month was "Philomena".
Thoroughly enjoyable. Judi Dench is eminently watchable, and all the extreme closeups of her face made complete farce of some of the plastic surgery I've seen lately.
Ron made another trip to Phoenix to watch his friend Allen's daughter Jenny in a jujitsu match. Jenny, in front, and her three team mates all won gold medals.
Our weather has been unseasonably warm. Though there's an underlying dis-ease with days in the mid-60's in February, it has certainly made cabin fever a non-issue. Yep, I even took my bike out of storage and enjoyed some outdoor riding.
I'll end with a favorite indoor activity:
These are the books I read or finished reading in February, with one exception. I read the Harriet Beecher Stowe biography a few months ago, and decided to read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as a companion novel. I enjoyed the concept of companion novels and will do it again when the occasion arises.
“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.”
― Frank Herbert
― Frank Herbert
