Taft

Today was a day of firsts and lasts.

It was the last day for Teresa and I to perform at the Taft Museum of Art. It was the first time for Robbie and Caitlin. We (Teresa and I) have met with Anne a total of five times now, performing each show twice, with the exception of Tom Sawyer.

They always serve us tea when we go there. It comes out on a wide, brown, oval-shaped tray, with an assortment of choices: Earl and Lady Grey, Plantation Mint, Lemon, etc. I think it might be the only venue we play that actually serves us a variety of tea.

The University of Miami-Middletown also serves us tea, now that I think about it.

In any case, we will miss the Taft's staff, Anne, the tea, the chill atmosphere mixed with the cozy luxury of a museum, and everything else--all of it.

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That's not to say that it's all downhill from here. Far from it, actually. This week, we begin by heading back up to Springfield for the last show in association with the Springfield Arts Council. We have done every show for them, too.

It's always nice to go back to familiar schools, to meet with familiar faces. The perks are varied. Everything from knowing which driveway to enter and which door to find, to remembering where wall outlets are, to anticipating water bottles (or Styrofoam cups of tea), all combine to make our jobs a little easier.

It is nostalgia mixed with convenience, really: The past informs the present.

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According to Caitlin, we have twenty-nine performances remaining. The countdown is surely sad for some of us, exciting for others, but it is surely not happy. Whether it's the prospect of a hasty job search or just the transition of moving on, we all feel a sense of loss and also of gain, as if we are all on the same bus, but headed to different places. Each mile past is a mile gone, a mile accomplished.

There are two sides to every coin.