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Nostalgiaia Continued Wednesday. I walked around Old Auburn this morning. It really doesn't change. Then I drove down Hwy 49 to Placerville. On the way I stopped at Sutter's Mill. This was where gold was 1st discovered in 1849. Nice little park. I stopped for lunch in Diamond Springs at the Firehouse Cafe. Nice little place. The waitress and I had a good conversation. She was very pleasant and friendly. There weren't many people there and the food was excellent. Thursday. I drove up to Nevada City. Very touristy but pretty much the way I remembered it. Then I drove down to Penryn. A good friend used to run a wedding chapel there. The way the area has grown up I wasn't expecting to find it. I was surprised to find that the property had not been built over. It was sad however to find that the chapel had apparentl burned down. There was nothing left except the cement pad and the archway that used to lead into the back garden. I don't know what became of Julian and Marian but they will live on in my memories. 
This trip was very healing for me and I laid some old ghosts to rest. I felt a sense of sadness as the plne took off and headed into the sunrise.
Monday, I arrived at the Dayton Airport at about 11:00 am. The flight was scheduled to leave at 1:30. I got checked in and through security in about 30 minutes. Great! Two hours to wait. Then we got word that there would be a 1 hour delay. No problem since I had a 3 hour layover in Chicago. I got to Chicago and it was almost flight time when it was announced that the plane had not left Detroit yet. It ended up arriving over 2 hours late. A 4 1/2 flight on a full plane and I arrived in Sacramento. Picked up the rental car and headed for the hotel. It was almost 3:00 am Ohio time. It was a long day. Tuesday I had breakfast at a restaurant near the hotel. $9.95 for an omelette. I drove up to Applegate and looked around. It really hasn't changed much. The Applegate Motel and the garage are still there. The library has moved and the hardware store is gone. Everything looks the same. I then drove to the house that I used to live in. It's changed quite a bit. It's been fixed up nicely. The barn has also been converted into a house. That was a bit of a surprise but it looked nice. The outside area was a bit of a mess. There was no one home so I couldn't talk to anyone. I took a few pictures but I have none to compare it to. Then I drove up to Colfax and wandered around a bit. I then drove up towards Nevada City. I passed the place where Ruth used to live. It had been a motel with individual cabins. There was nothing there except the stone chimneys standing. I then continued on to the Empire Mine State Park. It's a blend of a historic mine and landscaped gardens. Very nice and peaceful. The weather was clear and about 50 degrees. I decided to head back to Auburn. On the way back, I stopped at the old house again. This time there was someone home. She was living in the house where Ben's mother used to live. She said that her family had moved there in 1988. Ben's house was empty at the time. This would have been shortly after Ben's death. I laid some old ghosts to rest yesterday.
Last night was fun. I went to a progressive dinner. It started with h'ordouevers at David's. He lives on the top floor of a very nice apartment building, overlooking a large part of Dayton. The view off his balcony is amazing. We then moved on to Mark & Larry's for the main course. Roast chicken and stuffing, corn on the cob and coleslaw. I had a nice chat with Tatsu and Greg. They're kind of a May-September couple. Tatsu is a 22 yo college student with a lot going for him. Greg is 54, witty and highly intelligent. They compliment each other very well. Next it was on to Jerry's for pie and ice cream. It was a lovely evening. Good company, good food and lots of laughs.
Last night, the chorus held a fund-raiser together with PFFLAG. It was held at the 88 Club in downtown, a nice little piano bar. The evening started out with Forte, the small ensemble singing. It was a fun evening, very informal with lots of talented people singing. I'm not sure just why, but I got quite a few compliments last night. Everything from another chorus member telling me, "you look really cute tonight" to other chorus members that just walked up and put a an arm around me or a hand on the arm. I think that the other guys in the chorus may see me as comfortable to be around. I don't say much but I'm not judgemental either. Now if one of them just wanted a new boyfriend.
Last night the chorus had it's spring concert, which was called "Lights, Camera, Chorus! In the past we've performed in churches and had a free-will offering. This year we decided to do things a bit differently. We rented the "Renaissance Auditorium" in the Dayton Art Institute. This is a theatre that seats 500 people. We also pre-sold tickets at $10 a piece. We've been working on the music since just after Christmas. 21 songs from the movies. It was a wonderful experience! The theatre was half filled 30 minutes before the curtain. By the time we went on, every seat was full and they were putting folding chairs in what spaces they could. People were standing against the back wall and in the doorways. Act I The lights go down and the curtain slowly opens to show a movie screen with a giant Superman logo. The piano begins, 34 male voices join together: Pa pa-pa pa paaaa Pa pa pa Pa pa-pa pa paaaa Pa pa-paaaa The night went on. The music swelled and the audience came alive. That's Entertainment, Cabaret, Diamonds are a boy's best friend, Mrs Robinson. A small ensemble took the stage for Summer Nights, replaying how Danny and Sandy met in Grease. The boys in their leather jackets and the "Pink Ladies" with their pink scarves. Act II We entered as priests with a medley from Sister Act. The director playing the role of Sister Mary Clarence complete with black robe and afro wig. Half way through the number the collars were pulled off and became the wimple worn by nuns. Then on to a bit of bluegrass with Man of Constant Sorrow. We built to a crescendo with Springtime for Hitler, the showstopper from the Producers and a reprise of That's Entertainment. The applause was thunderous! The audience rose as one and I felt a tear begin to form. The moment stretched on and the director stepped to the microphone. Quieting the crowd, he announced our encore. Somewhere. Curtain!
As some of you know, I sing with a gay men's chorus. Last night we had an opportunity for some free publicity. Our local NPR station is having it's spring pledge drive. One of our members works at the station and we were able to volunteer to answer the phones. it was actually a lot of fun. The station itself was a bit difficult to find since there were no signs. Once I was there we had a lot of fun. Mostly it was just sitting around talking, joking and laughing while waiting for the phones to ring. Things can get a bit wild when you get 5 gay guys together in a room.
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