THROWBACK THURSDAY

Remember in Dad's life story about seeing Shirley Temple in Palm Springs and the thrill of touching her car. When I saw this picture, I couldn't help but think what a coinkadink! I hope sometime in your life you have had an opportunity to see this little girl dance. AMAZING.

DRUM LINE CONTINUED

We watched a couple of more performances and then left to go eat lunch (Nate stayed with his group and had lunch there).

 We drove to a shopping center and Erik treated us to lunch. 

I snapped this picture as we walked to the restaurant.

 Travis and Lindsey ordered shrimp and chips and Erik and I had swordfish.

The presentations were beautiful.

We returned to pick up Nate and then headed to my house. The "incliner" said, "try me"! 

  

 Erik snapped a selfie and did a good job of it.

 Nathan's shirt fell off.

 It didn't stop him from doing set-ups.

 Nate wearing his Drumline shirt.

 Dad "spotting" Lindsey.

The avocado tree isn't challenging enough anymore.
It was on to the big pine.

DRUM LINE

There's a whole world out there of "Drum Line". It involves young people who play percussion instruments, learn routines of drumming and marching and putting on performances. There are also competitions and this happens on lots of Saturdays in lots of states. Nathan Payan is in one of these, and they had a competition over near my home, so on Saturday, March 15, Erik, Travis and Lindsey (Nate rode over earlier with the band) drove over to SJC and picked me up. (Ryan was involved in another activity and so Kristin spent the day with him)

 Erik reaching for his wallet. Yes, even though it's your kid, (that you've shelled a fortune out for him to be in this activity) it is a fundraiser for the school, so pony up people.

A wristband to prove you actually paid!

Waiting to enter between performances.

 In between performances you can be admitted. Here's a band winding up.

 The spectators.

A new band entering. We saw 3 performances before Nate's.

Performance over and hustling out. They have something like 7 minutes to get on and off the court.

 Here comes Nate's band.

 Bringing in the instruments.

Getting the tarp in place.

 Setting up the tarp and backdrop.

 In place and ready to begin performance.

They begin with a dance routine and story. Note all the percussion instruments in front.

 Then come the drums. Nate is on the left.
(I wish I had more closeups of Nate, but they are moving F A S T and are all over the place.)They are graded on several things. Theme, costumes, routine, precision, LOUDNESS, musicality, etc.

 The only have minutes to get on and off for the performance and that is included in the rating.

The next group is ready to roll in as they are leaving.

Erik said that tarp weights about 500 pounds! It was an exhilarating performance. In my view, the BEST. Snappy, great costumes, excellent drumming and precision marching.


Can you spot us? 

Travis took the picture. Lindsey was sitting with a friend.

More tomorrow on the rest of the day.

RUTH'S WORKSHOPS

Ruth's office.

Here's where the Hazel Twigg magic happens.

Can't you just feel the creative writing vibe here? 

 The sewing room.

Choosing the embellishments for one of the dolls she is outfitting. You can see the doll right behind her, so excited to see what Ruth is going to select. 
(That's my foot in the front of the picture. I'm sitting in a chair with my feet up - hopefully doing something productive!)

CARDINALS

There isn't anything much prettier than a bright red cardinal in a winter scene.

Baby it's cold outside. 

Scott keeps the birdies fed (and squirrels) and there is a great variety of them including Chickadee, Bluebird, Spotted Woodpeckers and many more. It's so fun to watch them.

The pictures were taken through Julie and Scott's kitchen window.

You can see another Cardinal in the tree.

Always a good neighbor and sister, Julie is "scooping" the snow. Scooping is an Iowa term for shoveling the snow. Both daughters now use that term. I guess they are real Iowans!

Back at Julie and Scott's home, they have a HUGE driveway to "scoop".

Snow in Iowa quickly turns to ice and is VERY SLIPPERY.
Driving or walking on ice is very dicey!

Dressed for "scooping"! (as soon as they get their boots on)