A Date with Shakespeare and Zion

Last year an annual excursion started- A Date with Shakespeare. There is a group that goes down, mostly from my prior ward, and well- just girls- to Cedar City. Not that boys aren't welcome- they just don't choose to spend their time and money with William. Cedar City is home to a Shakespeare festival which is one of the finest in the country. If you haven't gone, it- it comes highly recommended. Shakespeare is meant to be experienced as live theater. I learned this personally when my love for Shakespeare started when I saw, The Comedy of Errors, at the Globe in London (standing in the "peasant" section.)

My Latest Crush- Sir William. He made a most excellent date!



"Tell me all about it Will"

Beautiful Anya

Part of the Crew- waiting for the Taming of the Shrew (did you like my rhyme?)

I was very excited for Taming of the Shrew, but honestly, I was disappointed. But... Othello was hands down one of the best theatrical performances I have ever seen. I have never been more genuine in my standing ovation and applause. I am sure there is someone out there who has words to describe it--- that person doesn't happen to me me.

Waiting for the evening performance of Othello in the outdoor Globe replica.

This year the Date with Shakespeare coincided with a University 41st ward activity in St. George Utah. So on Saturday I got to fulfill one of my major goals for the summer. I FINALLY made it to Zion. I have been anxiously awaiting this for a long time. There was a group going down to spend a few hours there and I was not going to miss out. The plan was to hike the Narrows- which we did- kinda. The more people you add to a group the slower and more difficult it is to accomplish anything- so by the time we got there we only had a few hours. And, there were thunderstorms fore casted, that is not a good time to be in the Narrows, so we hiked what we could. I just want to say for the record... I LOVED IT!!! I felt like a kid in a candy store. The smile on my face was fixed. I even thought to myself- I can still have the joy I feel dancing when my body and opportunities languish doing activities like this. That, my friends, says a lot...

The group

The Entrance to the bottom of the Narrows

Happy as can be!!

Beautiful, Gorgeous, Wish you were there!!

(prize to anyone who can tell me what movie that line is from)

Emily Hodson and I

Emily and I decided that we definitely need to spend more time together in the great outdoors. Check out the water dripping off our shoes- isn't that excellent! We gave our cameras to Ryan and took a little swim down the current. I mean, we had already waded to the top of our legs- it would have been a crime to stay dry up top. It felt so good. The water wasn't "cold", the day wasn't too hot, the sky was blue, and the scenery was awe inspiring. What I don't have pictures of (but Emily does) was the bouldering we did just outside the entrance to the park. It was a great rock to climb on. I loved the chalk marks covering the hand holds. It is obviously a favorite place to "rock on".

We drove back after Othello Saturday night to arrive home at a mere 3:00am. Yikes! But, I manage to stay awake the whole time so I did not abandon Anya driving so late at night. Now all I have to do is undo the chaos my room is in after such a great weekend.