Yesterday, Paula and I made the last trip North before the big move-in this weekend. I was excited to visit this place I had been hearing so much of, and nervous to experience the reality of 105 degree weather. There were lots of little errands on the list: setting up utilities and picking up keys for the house in Reedley, handing out letters to our neighbors in Fowler alerting them to our upcoming residency, and dropping off audition flyers to the library and other local businesses. With all of that, we were also scheduled to attend an evening event in Fresno featuring CTC’s MJG and Peter Howard who is finishing up a two-week residency as part of Summer Arts at CSU.
Coming over the Tejon Pass (known also as ‘the Grapevine’) was one of the most beautiful drives that I’ve ever done in California. You pass by an awe-inspiring lake (reservoir?) at the top, and see the Valley vista before you start your decent. Once we got down into the Central Valley, the highway was bordered with various fruits and vegetables that we don’t grow a lot of in Upstate NY. Apricots, Walnuts, Almonds, Grapes…
With each stop of the car the temp outside was getting hotter and hotter. We pulled into Reedley around 3:30pm and driving through the downtown area, saw a small farmer’s market closing up for the day. As it turns out, the drive from Reedley to Clovis takes almost an hour one way, and we had to do some quick problem solving to figure out what we could really accomplish in the time we had. By the time the utilities were paid and the keys picked up it was 5:30 and we had just enough time to grab a quick bite at Whole Foods and head over to Fresno State before 6:30.
The event was a great trip through CTC’s 25-year history. MJG and PH shared pictures and video clips and Peter lead the group in a little participatory activity.
Afterward I got to meet some of CTC’s biggest supporters in Fresno County and talk with them about our upcoming project. I met the Masumoto Family, who had made the 20/30minute drive from Fowler/Del Rey to attend the lecture. They even brought up a flat of their gorgeous peaches to bring back to the staff in LA. I got a chance to talk a little with Nikiko and hear about her journey with Cornerstone and her part in bringing us there. She is hoping to audition for the play and participate as much as possible, but is conscious of the workload at the farm this time of year being the busy harvest time. Her younger brother was also there and lit up at the suggestion that he should come by and audition.
Chatting with folks and hearing about the excitement that is already building in the community is so exciting and energizing for me and is great motivation for getting through a busy busy weekend and set up week. In the next week we will be tackling much of the move in and set up of our home away from home in Folwer and it’s great to know we have some gracious and enthusiastic hosts and collaborators for our 8th institute!
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Sage Alia Clemenco
I hope the prime picking time won't hold people back too much!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it'll work itself out though.
I'm eager to learn how it works itself out.