Presents in Presence

It's getting late and I need to be up at 4:30 or so to drive to Meadville, but I just had to tell you about this evening:

This weekend is the "Old Fashioned Christmas in West Chester" celebration, and I performed this evening at the local YMCA as part of the event. This is a new venue for me, but I've performed for the OFC for the last 8 or 10 years. There's no financial compensation, but it's a wonderful opportunity to particpate in the joys of the season and of living in a lovely small town like West Chester. I would gladly pay for the pleasure of doing this gig, but please don't tell that to the West Chester Chamber of Commerce...

This OFC gig was the first juggling performance I ever did 'way back then. And for the first time since then, I was paired this evening with Jody -- a very polished and professional local folksinger who was an enormous help in getting me through the "first performance jitters." So she and I had a chance to catch up with each other and reminisce and chat about stuff, like the fact that our hair has changed colors since 'way back then...

Attending this evening's performance were:

-- Ron and Pam, two very dear people whom I haven't seen in several years. I think they drove back to West Chester from a considerable distance specifically to watch me perform.

-- Jimmy and his family. Jimmy hasn't been at the Turks Head Jugglers practice sessions for several years, but he tells me he's keeping up with his juggling. He's taller by half a foot at least since I saw him last, and his voice has dropped at least half an octave. And, hard as it is for me to believe, he's even handsomer now than he was back then.

-- Matt and Melinda and their three kids. Matt is the Head of the West Chester Friends School, which is where our juggling group meets for practice. Matt has been tremendously supportive of the Turks Heads, but I'm not sure he's ever had a chance to see me perform. So that felt really good -- to see him in the audience.

-- Dot and Serita, two Quaker friends we hadn't seen in a long time.

-- Keira and Lily, two very talented young jugglers who have been too caught up in other activities to join us at the gym for our practice sessions for the last year or so. I told them I was going to try to schedule another Saturday unicycle session before the weather closes in, and they both got very excited. Very cool.

All of the above people stayed after the performance to talk to Deb and me. And it felt so very good to be surrounded by all this warmth and caring. And people that I haven't seen recently -- and could never see too much of.

Jimmy's mom was kind enough to ask how my health was, which gave me the opportunity to tell folks how well things are going. (See previous posting: "Green Lights.")

Oh, and here's the punch line: today is my birthday.

Can't do much better than this for birthday gifts!