Gee, Thanks for the Help

About.Com has an entry this week-end about our little state of Delaware from Jenny McKinney & Patrick McKinney. Jenny McKinney is a certified retirement coach. She and Patrick McKinney, a manual auditor for a major insurance company, take a look at Delaware, this week's state in their "Where to Live After Retirement" series.

Retirees are often vibrant and interesting people. But I'd like to think we can attract some young folks too.

9 10 88

My car celebrated our anniversary on Friday evening as I drove home from work. It was a few months late, but I appreciate the thought.

I knew on Thursday evening that this would roll up on the odometer. When I parked that night the digits read "91011." With the spacing of this style of number-graphic, it grabbed my attention as 9 10 11. I knew 9 10 88 was only a day' driving away.

We were married on a lovely September day in 1988. Our marriage will turn 20 years old next year. Our marriage will soon be old enough to drink. It was old enough to vote in the last election.

Too Much Weather

This is what we found when we returned home on Monday evening, after a day of gale-force winds.

This is the second of two Bradford Pear trees in our front yard to split and fall. The trees were planted by the previous owners. They bracketed the front yard and lent a symmetrical prettiness to the yard.

But these are not good long-term trees. They are a variant cultivated to be pretty. And they most certainly are. As they age, however, they outgrow their ability to hold themselves up. Eventually, without constant care and (I think annual) trimming, they split and often don't survive.

I did not keep ahead of this tree. It was due to be severely trimmed back; it was starting to brush against the house. The wind-storm came before I could contact a tree service however.

The first fell a few years back. It wasn't nearly this large. We had some trouble getting rid of the stump. The folks we paid to grind it out did a poor job, and I was left with more root mass than I could get rid of by myself. Eventually I got smart. I built a low, loose-stone wall around it and back-filled to cover the stump with rich garden soil. I planted a mess of lilies that seem to love feeding on that stump.

We had a fellow come and clear away the fallen portion of the tree on Monday. It looks like the tree will not be able to survive on its own. I'm waiting for an estimate from the tree guy to remove the remainder, but the weather has been wrong for that kind of work. After that, I'll have the winter to think about what to do next.

There is one positive note; a small dogwood that had been struggling in the increasing shade of that tree will now likely start to thrive.

How I Spent My Week-End

A few lines drawn on my forehead and from nose to mouth. A touch of eye-liner (but only on one eye). And a liberal amount of hair-white.

An eye-patch, black top-hat and voluminous black cloak. And a completely cool tail-coat with a rich-looking pattern and scads of gold braid all over it. I really liked that coat.

This picture is the MySpace-style self portrait that I couldn't help taking while in costume just before the first performance of the Nutcracker.

In the days before children (BC), Karen and I were active with the Possum Point Players, a local theater group. Karen played in the orchestra and I took small character parts or worked backstage doing sound, props or other crew work.

I sometimes miss doing shows. I hope to get back on stage more when the girls are driving themselves and off to college. It was fun to be out in front of an audience again, if only in a small part.

My Blue-Collar Village

I slept-in a bit this morning. We were all up very late rehearsing the Nutcracker Ballet, which goes before an audience this evening. I was awakened at by the 7:00 o'clock horn that sounds automatically each morning (Sundays excepted) from downtown. I believe the horn is mounted on the old power plant that used to provide all of our electricity and still serves as a power distribution point and shop for the Board of Public Works.

That horn reminds me that my small city -- Lewes, Delaware -- has very blue-collar roots. It blew each morning at seven to call the workers from their small frame houses in several neighborhoods of the old town, through mercantile downtown, past the busy fishing port, and to their jobs at the fish factories that once lined the Delaware Bay shore out towards Fort Miles and its shore defenses batteries.

The horn still calls out each morning. I sometimes hear it as I head out for my commute to Dover. On week-ends it occasionally calls me from my bed to my jobs around the house. The small frame worker's houses have been restored as mini-Victorians. Downtown's hardware store, five-n-dime and grocery have become a series of lovely boutiques. The working fishing boats have gone from the port, replaced by sailboats, tourist head-boats and the sleek powerboats of recreational anglers. The fish factories that once gave Lewes its distinctive odor have been plowed-under for a new crop of large beach-front and near beach-front homes. Some with full-time residents; many as vacation homes for people whose working life is hours away. Fort Miles lives on as a museum piece within Cape Henlopen State Park.

Lewes has changed in the 20 years I've lived here. Change is a constant in all life, of course, but my town has changed profoundly, I think. And not all for the best.

I remember when I first discovered Lewes. I had just begun working at a local radio station and was sent out as part of a remote broadcast from Lewes' Second Street. I loved it. It had high-end shops and a five-n-dime. The hardware store had hardwood floors and a hammered tin ceiling. The street was busy with both vacationers and local farmers and workers. It felt to me like what a small town in America should feel like. Rich and poor, white and black, workers and retirees all going about their several different sorts of business.

I knew that this was the sort of real town I wanted to be a part of. I was more familiar with Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach; resort towns I had visited each summer of my childhood. I love both of those towns. But, in looking for a place to settle, I wanted a year-round small town, not a busy summer resort. That was the Lewes I found.

Now, I find, my year-round working town filled with folks from all walks of life is becoming a place for wealthy people. Some are retired here. Some are here in their second homes as often as they can be and are looking ahead to retiring here.

Many of the shops are marketing to retirees and vacationers. There is still a small grocery, but for most day-to-day shopping I must leave town. The hardware store is gone. The five-n-dime is gone.

Work in Lewes is now largely retail. But retail workers can't afford to live here. There is still a hospital and medical professions abound. But, except for the Doctors, most who work in that part of Lewes' economy can't afford to live here. We're losing our economic and racial diversity. And we are losing our age-range diversity. At 45 I am often one of the youngest people at public meetings in town.

These changes hit me in the heart the other day. I was on the phone with a part-time resident who has become active in efforts to control growth around Lewes (a laudable effort). I am a part of the Lewes Planning Commission and so often find myself in conversations of this sort. I can't quote exactly what this woman told me, but it was something along the lines of "we must protect our lovely Village." I know she used the word "Village" because I remember thinking, "it's a city, dammit, please don't turn it into a quaint little retirement Village."

That's not who we were and not who we should be.

Ooh! Ooh! Media Attention!

It probably won't be there for very long, but as I post this (Wednesday at lunch) there is a partial cast-photo of the Sussex Ballet's Nutcracker on the front page of website of the the Cape Gazette. This photo ran along with a story on the production in last Friday's print edition.

I took that picture at the Dance Studio on a recent weekend. We took photos of several different groupings of cast members. It was fun, but a challenge. It's tough to get large groups all aligned, standing straight, smiling and with eyes open. Their being trained dancers helped, of course, but I will say I took about 10 versions of each pose, just to be sure.

For my post on the performance, I used a family shot from last year.

Yet Another Lighthouse for Sale

The Point No Point lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay is up for sale. The Washington Post has the story this morning of a recent visit to the lighthouse by prospective buyers. It's a pretty beat-up looking lighthouse.

This is the third lighthouse for sale I've learned about this year; I think there may be a theme developing here.

In Which I Take to the Stage in a Ballet

Now that we've reached Thanksgiving (and may yours be happy), it is appropriate to start thinking about Christmas. Thus, it is time for you to call (302) 855-9282 to get your tickets to the Sussex Ballet's presentation of The Nutcracker on either December 1 or December 2.

Why, you ask? Well, aside from this ballet's status as a holiday tradition, and the fact that it is being staged by the estimable Kate Walker, proprietor of the Sussex Dance Academy and a truly fine teacher, and the fact that it features some of the most talented and dedicated youngsters Sussex County has to offer, this production of the Nutcracker will include the entirety of the Delaware branch of the Mahaffie family on stage at the very same time!

Actually, that convergence of Mahaffie's has happened before, in last year's Nutcracker. This year, however, both of our daughters will dance in featured roles and I have moved up from the role of stout-man-standing-stage-right-in-party-scene. The Lovely Karen will reprise her role of lovely-tall-woman-in-green-dress which drew such rave reviews (from me, anyway) last year.

Both of our girls are part of the corps de ballet and will have featured roles. Christina will be featured in the roles of the Columbine Doll, Lead Soldier, and a Candy Cane. Colleen will be featured in the role of Dream Fairy, and plays a key part in the opening party scene.

This year, I have taken on the role of Herr Drosselmeyer, the mysterious party guest who delights the children with magic toys and presents young Clara with what turns out to be a magic nutcracker doll.

This may be a ballet, but I won't be dancing this part. Drosselmeyer is an acted role and its main function is to set up the story and help the young folks shine in their dancing roles. I plan to play Drosselmeyer as a kindly magician, with the barest hint of Groucho Marx thrown-in. I'll have great fun, but we'll keep the focus on the dancers.

It really is a remarkable group of kids. They range in age from about first-grade to high school seniors. They are the daughters and sons of local teachers and doctors, police and builders, doctors and judges, government workers and clergy, and all walks of life. Many of these kids have been dancing alongside my daughters for many years now. We've watched them grow and develop a variety of talents. I'm proud to know them.

The New York Times featured a story on The Nutcracker recently. It focused on the fact that there are countless Nutcracker productions in every city and town at this time of year. The story quotes a 1972 British reviewer who wrote "Well, we are one more Nutcracker nearer death." The Times counters, though, that even in its ubiquity, The Nutcracker is an important part of the Christmas experience.

One more Nutcracker nearer death, though? No classic ballet is less death-haunted than The Nutcracker (though tucked into its narrative is a little mouse-scale revenge tragedy). The danger of watching too many Nutcrackers — as opposed to too many Swan Lakes or Romeo and Juliets — is that they may bring you sooner not to death but to second childhood.

I think that captures the function of this ballet, even for those who are not ballet-o-philes: it is an annual expression of wonder and joy and light. And whether you celebrate a pagan winter solstice, or a Jewish Festival of Lights, or Kwanzaa, or Christmas, or something in-between, this season is all about light, and lightness, and joy.

So call (302) 855-9282 and get tickets to see the charming and talented Colleen and Christina, the lovely Karen, and me on stage at the Little Theatre at Cape Henlopen High School, in Lewes, on December 1 or December 2.

Fall's Folliage Continues to Please

Some Things I Like (#567)

Getting Back to Basics

Artist Jason Salavon has created a new work based on the 2007 Ikea Catalog.

He has reduced it to its most basic elements, page lay-out and color.

(Via information aesthetics)