Saturday, April 29, 2017

T.O.P.S. And Tomatoes

As I was walking to my car to go to T.O.P.S., I met Nunny (not nutty) neighbor, Suzanne, who asked if I wanted to go the Heritage Square in Oxnard today. I had forgotten about it, but sure, that sounds nice, and I'm looking forward to it. She suggested we start out at 1:25, which is a good time for me, as I'll have lunch first.
AT T.O.P.S., I found I had lost another 2.2 pounds. That was exciting because it brings me down--just barely--to what I call "the next decade," i.e., the one sixties. After the meeting, Michelle and I talked for some time in the parking lot. I like her and her--well, I don't think they're married, but her partner, I guess--Bob, although he didn't come. When I asked why, Michelle said because he's gained weight. Boy, do I know that feeling.
We talked so long it was almost 11:00 before I had breakfast. After that, I continued to prepare for my acting course: Filled out name tags for my students, prepared an introductory talk for myself, pulled up a lot of my own plays, skits, revised and assembled the improve topics, and so on.
Later, I drove into town. Stopped at the library and picked up two books of short plays. Later, I skimmed over them at home, but none of them are appropriate for my group, and I like to stick to my own stuff most of the time, anyway. Went to the square, thinking I'd walk a bit from there, however, it was very windy and I just didn't feel like it. Drove home on the road next to the beach and stopped at the harbor, but just for a few minutes.
When I got back, I ran into Don, a neighbor to whom Suzanne had introduced me. I mentioned I had heard he was an expert gardener. He asked if I wanted to see his tomato plants, and I walked over to his patio with him.
Wow, these look terrific! He bought four very large blue plastic tubs from Lowe's (they're usually used for household or beach stuff), added gravel for drainage, a certain mix of soil, Miracle-Gro, and ground up banana peels (for potassium), put in the plants, and added metal frames for them to grow on. I think he'll have such a bumper crop in a short time, he could supply the whole apartment complex. Of course, I expressed great admiration--sincerely--for his hard word and ingenuity.
Don is a kind of simple type, I'd say--if any human beings are simple--quiet, earnest, and somewhat humorless. He's in his sixties, very slim, and seems much younger, I guess because he's so mild and may be a bit limited. Anyway, he's a very nice man and when I asked what in the world he would do when all those tomatoes come to fruition, he said he planned to give some to Suzanne and me.
El called coming back from school and we chatted happily.

3 comments:

iloveac said...


Rosemary, I've copied your flyer to use in our Acting Class here this Thursday. I wish you were our instructor. Could you give me an idea what you mean by theater terms...I'm OK with blocking, staging etc. I'm thinking maybe it means...how you use your body to express feelings etc....am I correct? Some of our nonagenarians just stand and recite lines, or worse read them...but we have fun. Good luck on Tuesday's first class. I'm looking forward to reading how it goes.

Mimi said...

Yes, I use "theatre terms" to mean blocking, stage right and left, and so on and on (there are dozens of them). I don't spend a lot of time on this, as a lot isn't relevant to my groups. However, I always incorporate in my classes the importance of body movements, facial expressions, voice modulation, and lots of others. Remember, I do teach readers' theatre, meaning of course, the players don't memorize. I put on whole plays (albeit short ones, usually of my own composition) and I know many older people would not memorize that much. However, readers' theatre, if it's done right, can be just as enjoyable as the usual, as long as players ACT, and not just read. Will keep you posted on how it goes at the first session on Tuesday.

iloveac said...

Merci beaucoup dear friend.

Thursday

Up and at 'em after a pretty good sleep. Didn't do a whole lot in the morning besides making my lunch. Left about 10:30 to meet Dian...