Captain Pike's Ship Log II

We're all just cleaning up here from big snowstorm which hit Sunday morning, canceling the last show of the play I was in. Reading other peoples blogs for a change, got me to thinking, "Gee, the only way anyone knows what's going on with me... would be through some sort of re-engineering of my semi autobiographical entries...". In other words: I NEVER TALK ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON.

So I am playing the role of "Mr. Potter", in a radio-drama version of "Its a Wonderful Life". It has been a lot of fun, and a lot of work, particularly for my wife Nikki. The play was performed on a island, essentially (there is a bridge), at the very end of DownEast Maine. It has been a recalcitrant winter already, and my condition necessitates that little Mrs. Wonderful must assist -- dragging me to the rehearsals and performances, regardless of her schedule or the weather. So in that sense, it has been a drag and hard on us during a very busy and often emotionally taxing season. On the other hand, it has been an absolute blast to become this, old bastard, Potter character onstage in front of people.

I got interested in theater late in life and It's a Wonderful Life was the first play I was ever in. Ever since that first time, being Bert the cop, I have enjoyed reciting the lines of a few of the other characters. Walking around the house, speaking in my best Jimmy Stewart, I'm sure my wife grew tired of, "You want the moon Mary? I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down for you...". Or even worse, going into that long dialogue where George Bailey describes Mr. Potter as a scurvy little spider. I've actually used that one for an audition monologue, trying out for other plays. Anyway, and I apologize to those who are still reading and are not familiar with this Frank Capra play that has been a staple of many English-speaking Christians holiday viewing pleasure for many years. The thing I'm saying is that it is a great thing for me, in a wheel chair to be able to take part in live, on-stage theater.

It's coming up on three years ago that I woke up with a tube down my throat after having been killed in a very tragic auto accident. Back then, I couldn't even breathe on my own, and there I am, ranting about and being a mean old miser, in a wheelchair, on stage. I've often wondered, why God spared my life. Sometimes I get to thinking that I am useless: consuming the resources and giving nothing in return. Oh, how I can get down on myself. As a matter of fact, this forum has been the source of a lot of joy for me. Meeting people with similar interests to me, reading your stuff and letting you all read my stuff.

So that's a little bit about where I'm at today.