Monday, May 18, 2009

Waiting Is…


….as Valentine Michael Smith was always telling Jubal Harshaw in Robert Heinlein’s STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.

Spider and I have been in New York City for a couple of weeks now, awaiting the birth of Marisa Alegria, our first grandchild. By now, we’re almost as eager for it to happen as our daughter Terri Luanna is.

While we’re here, though, we’ve been making good use of our time. For instance, on May 9 we both attended the NYC Aerial Dance Festival 2009, presented by Fly-By-Night Dance Theater.

It was inspirational. As I sat and watched I realized there will definitely have to be at least some aerial dance in the Stardance film. I’ve been following it closely for years to study how to adapt some of their rigging skills and harness work for the zero gee sequences. Now I realize the third and final earthbound dance I have in mind will definitely have to feature some aerial dance on its own terms, too.

And of course Spider and I both found ourselves a bit teary-eyed as we watched Sara Joel’s piece “Surface,” which opened with her inside a transparent Plexiglass sphere that unmistakably represented a womb, doing movement clearly designed to evoke fetal life. Then halfway through she hung upside down from the sphere’s opening…..and it became apparent that she was in fact pregnant, at least five or six months along. It was a transcendent moment, and everyone gasped, even those non-grandparents-to-be in the audience.

The entire evening inspired and informed my next script-meeting with Jim. We’re moving right along—somewhat interrupted by this and that of course—finding ways to adapt the storyline of the original novella to the differing demands and constraints of the screen. It’s an exciting process…..even compared to waiting for a grandchild.

Back to waiting. As soon as we have Marisa on film, we’ll post a snapshot or two for you.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Miracles of Each Moment

Underneath the blazing orange-red Zen circle hanging above my altar, calligrapher Kazuaki Tanahashi wrote, “Miracles of each moment.” I’ve been studying those words daily since I became ill.

My latest miracle came last week on West 10th Avenue where Dr. Sharlene Gill and the board of specialists unanimously agreed that I’m healed enough to travel cross country to NY for our granddaughter’s birth. A true miracle!

For the moment, I’m off the hook, and in joyous disbelief. After weeks of lamenting the lost opportunity to be there for the birthing of my first grandchild, I find once again that as Mark Twain said, “The worst moments of my life…never happened.”

Spider and I found a fabulous cat-sitter for Symba, and now we’re busy packing for our early morning departure. So we’re happily heading east in time to meet baby Marisa Alegria da Silva, Buddha’s newest incarnation.

--Jeanne (aka: Nana Canada)