Goin' "Home"

Why do even grown adults of all ages who've lived years away from the place they grew up call a trip there "going home"?

I honestly don't know.

But that's what I did today.

And I meandered with a stop just down the mountain in Sherwood to poke around Epiphany Mission Episcopal Church, crumbling in some ways, radiant in others.

 After wandering and wondering, I suddenly realized I'd be late if I didn't skedaddle. So I did.

Arrived noon.

Ate a sandwich.

Went with nephew to the Pig to buy can-shaped pint glasses. (They are, unfortunately, still in Birmingham.)

Picked up his mother-in-law.

Drove to Cahaba Brewing where we left the car.

Uber-ed to the Civic Center.

Got there early, so I took pictures while the others chatted and organized.

Met niece inside.

Grabbed our seats,

Saw Birmingham Ballet performance of Cinderella with two great-nieces and many others (including seven! professional men).

Nephew's father-in-law drove us to Cahaba Brewing, where I had a flight of four dark beers. (The best part was the wooden state of Alabama on which they were served the beer.

Went to The Garage for a better beer -- Samuel Smith Chocolate Stout. (I impressed the nephew when I said I knew all about The Garage. Then I reminded him that it's old.) [Also: I must find the Samuel Smith here.]

Ate dinner at Hot and Hot Fish Club, a delicious treat. My nephew knows how to treat his aunt well.

Went home.

Chatted and recovered. Watched an hour documentary about wild places and learned that lead bullets have practically killed off all the condors. Seventy-two living condors at the time of the film. (A sobering fact given the new Secretary of the Interior's re-introduction of lead bullets in national parks.)

Saw the Greats for about 15 minutes before we all went to bed.

One full. One exhausting. Day.

The Family That Dances Together

makes lifetime memories. 

As my nephew (father of two daughters) said,

before he became Mother Ginger,

"It's their football. We all love it!"

V as a Party Girl and D as Mother Ginger (daughter and father)

E going up as Jack Frost

Drosselmeyer and Jack Frost accepting congratulations

Not photographed, J (sewing mistress of the best Russian costumes ever!) and the family dog Betsy Ross, one of many canines in The Mutt-cracker.

Four Generations, One Theatre

Saturday, I sat in the performance space of the Birmingham Children's Theatre, which my mother helped to found, to watch my nephew and two great-nieces perform in the Birmingham Ballet's Hansel and Gretel. 

I thought then of my brief time working there, and of the long time my mother was associated with it in its re-founding, and of the third and fourth generations in my family performing there. How pleased my parents would have been to see their grandson and great-granddaughters carrying on a family tradition.

Today, looking for some information about my mother's volunteer work in the 1950s, I happened upon several valuable resources. The Junior League of Birmingham history says this:

"Cultural education remained an important focus of the JLB, and in November 1940, its Children’s Theater project was re-established after a hiatus of some years. The 'JLB Theater of the Air' began with a series of half-hour radio broadcasts based on dramatic readings of classical literature. Featured titles included The House of Seven Gables, Little Women and Silas Marner. The committee presented marionette shows of 'The Three Bears' and 'The Three Little Pigs'. To promote interest in reading, the JLB also sponsored 'Books Bring Adventure', a series of children’s stories adapted for radio. The JLB Shop sponsored rotating art exhibits featuring local and national artists, works by soldiers and an exhibit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that featured works by John Singer-Sargent and George Bellows.

"The Junior Programs art series for school-age children began in 1948. With a giraffe mascot named 'JuPe', the Junior Programs brought ballet, music, theater and puppet shows to thousands of Birmingham’s children. Season tickets were sold as a subscription series. Additionally, civic groups purchased many of the tickets and distributed them to children free of charge. Performances were given by local and national art concerns and in some cases, by JLB committees. A performance of 'Peter Rabbit' by the Puppet Committee was seen by over 7,700 children. Other titles in the series, which included several performances per year, were the opera 'Hansel and Gretel', the ballets 'Puss in Boots' and 'Copellia' and the play 'Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp'. The program became so popular that the JLB had to limit ticket sales due to space availability. In 1954, the Junior Programs Children’s Conference took place in Birmingham. Two years later, during JLB year 1956-57, the Junior Programs transitioned to a community project strongly supported by the general public with the JLB maintaining an active volunteer committee."

My mother and her friends wrote those marionette and puppet shows, made the stage and puppets/marionettes, and performed the plays. They stored all the materials in our attic, and my friends and I created our own shows with their materials.

My fondest memories of the Junior Programs performances involve my father as JuPe the Giraffe, whose job it was to teach theatre manners to the children in the audience. He wore a costume Mother made for him: a fantastic long-necked papier-mache head of papier-mache, striped jacket, and splotched pants and shoes. Until twenty minutes ago, I thought I'd never see him again as JuPe, and then I found this on the Bhamwiki.

I give it a standing ovation.