We're Moving!

After this post, I'll no longer be updating this blog...because I'll be updating a NEW blog at my new website!

See you there!
www.triciarayburn.com

Invasion of the Summer Creatures

It's here! Memorial Day—and the unofficial official start of summer. While summer probably ranks #3 on my list of favorite seasons (just behind fall and spring, and far, far ahead of winter!), there's still LOTS to love about it. Like long days. And swimming. And sunning. And skirts, tank tops, and flip-flops.

But living where we do, in a woodsy area near the beach, the hottest season of the year also has its drawbacks. Namely, summer creatures. And I don't mean tourists! Here, ranked in order of slightly annoying to maybe-I-should-just-stay-inside-till-September, are a few reasons why summer hasn't snagged the top season spot:

1. Mosquitoes. The bane of every BBQ, they hum, swarm, and sting until you're too busy swatting, ducking, and itching to enjoy your fresh-off-the-grill burger. Thankfully, they can be (somewhat) controlled with the help of citronella, OFF!, and my family's preferred repellent, Skin So Soft.

2. Carpenter Bees. Up until a few years ago, I never knew these existed; my bee knowledge went as far as yellowjackets and bumblebees, and that's it. But then I noticed a group of buzzers that resembled bumblebees hovering near the wooden steps leading up to our front door. They didn't care about flowers. They didn't even seem to care about us. They were all about the stairs. Our neighbor, who was experiencing the same phenomenon, finally clued me in. These bees were the carpenter variety, so called because, like carpenters, they dig wood. Literally. Our railing now has a variety of perfectly shaped holes to prove it. The plus side is that though they hover right by the door, they seem more interested in moving us along than they do in stinging us.

3. Jellyfish. OK, confession time. I live ten minutes from the ocean and five minutes from the bay, but I haven't been swimming in local waters in YEARS. I've dipped, dunked, and waded...but I haven't done so much as the doggy paddle since I was young enough to think that if there were creatures of the deep, they'd take one look at me and swim in the opposite direction. This unfortunate fear developed while I was walking over a nearby bridge on a warm summer day. I looked over the side...and there they were. Jellyfish. Thousands, maybe millions. The big, fat kind, with red centers. They were bumping against each other and moving together in an enormous blob that seemed to fill the entire bay. Since then, all swimming has been done in pools only.

4. Inch Worms. These skinny little creatures might seem harmless enough...until they dangle from every leaf of every tree in the neighborhood. They make webs like spiders, but bigger, stretching from the treetops to the mailbox, our cars, etc. They crackle overhead and sound like Pop Rocks, or sparklers. They latch on and don't leave until you flick them off. Yesterday, for example, I was cutting the grass and had to keep stopping to shake out my hair and shirt. (Truthfully, I only found three crawling on me, but I might as well have been completely covered for as gross as I felt!) And in a few days, when they're out in full force, I'll have to walk Murphy in the middle of the road, where there's a narrow gap between the branches above us. Inch worms might be small, but with strength in numbers, I bet they could tie us both up and drag us to the trees.

Of course, there are other summer creatures I absolutely love, like birds and butterflies...so staying inside till September really isn't an option. Until then, I'll just have to lather on the bug repellent, stay out of the shade, and search for clean, clear waters!

Happy Memorial Day!

Forever an ANNIE fan!

I first fell in love with Annie when I was six years old. We'd just moved to another state, and I was suddenly 350 miles from Sarah, my very best friend in the WORLD. I remember watching Annie on TV and thinking that Aileen Quinn looked a lot like Sarah--who, happily, wasn't an orphan, but who had red hair and freckles. Watching Annie in my new home made it feel more like my old one, and for two hours, the distance between Sarah and me felt a bit smaller. I was hooked! (Plus, have you SEEN this movie?? The singing and dancing are fabulous!)

In addition to being an Annie fan, I'm also a Netflix fan. While browsing the documentaries recently, I was super excited to find Life After Tomorrow, which features several actresses from the Broadway and touring productions of Annie who discuss the negative effects of being in such a huge show at such a young age.

Here's what I was thinking when I started the movie: These girls lived every other little girl's DREAM. They got to sing and dance in the best musical of our generation! They beat out thousands and thousands and thousands of girls who auditioned for all of EIGHT roles! They were the luckiest girls of the early '80s! I could think of only one possible negative effect of starring in Annie, and that was that life must've seemed REALLY boring once the music died.

Well, guess what? That was the problem. These girls had the times of their lives doing these shows, and once they grew too old, too tall, or too curvy, they were done. Out the stage door. One girl who'd just finished her last Broadway performance had the curly red wig ripped off her head before she'd even made it to the dressing room. They were used to fame and fortune--another girl likened the attention to the kind American Idol contestants get today--and then all of a sudden, they were back home. Back at school. Sitting and studying in a regular classroom instead of singing and dancing on stage. I know it's difficult to sympathize, since they still got to have an amazing experience other girls could only imagine, but that must've been hard. And for some of them, it took years and years to adjust. A few of them still haven't. It was so interesting to hear their perspectives.

I learned other interesting things, too. Like Alyssa Milano, Molly Ringwald and Sarah Jessica Parker all starred in the Broadway production. And Sarah Jessica Parker never liked the way she sang "Tomorrow," and she still knows all the words to all the songs, as well as all the choreography.

I also learned that while I'm a big Annie fan, I'm definitely not the biggest. There's an older gentleman who's seen the musical 100 times, collects oodles of memorabilia (including two dresses worn by actresses who played orphans in the movie), wears Annie t-shirts, owns a satin Annie jacket, and once wrote and published a popular Annie newsletter. If ever they reprise the Broadway show, I'm nominating him for Daddy Warbucks!