fiddler and the gho

Mar 14, 2010

Our long awaited trip to SLC was so much fun! Fiddler on the Roof at The Hale Centre Theatre was absolutely amazing!!! If you go, go to the M-W-F cast…Tevye was perfect! But more on that in a minute, I have to tell you how our trip started…

We left at 4:29 a.m – a record for us! We had to be in SLC at my dentist’s office by 8:00 for the final crown fitting…so we had to be up and going mighty early. When I got up at 3:00, Keziah and Arianna were just getting out of the shower and Blythe and Madi were wide awake chatting away! Unheard of! Blythe up at three in the morning?????? How is it even possible? That girl sleeps hard and takes a lllllloooonnnnngggggg time to wake up…they all must have been pretty excited!!

After about 30 minutes on the road I saw a huge creature swooping down on us. I was bracing myself to be picked off the road and felt just like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings as the ringwraiths flew over top of him searching for the ring. All of a sudden a loud THUMP jolted the suburban and I was amazed we were still on the road. I couldn’t see anything, so I thought whatever it was must have glanced off of us…but then I saw feathers sticking up over the front of hood.

I couldn’t reconcile the huge swooping thing, the loud thud and the jolt with the feathers on the hood. They didn’t seem that big to me, so I thought a little bird, or just some of the wing of a bird got stuck on my bug shield. I could not yet picture what the reality was.

I called Richard to tell him what happened and he immediately said, “You hit an owl. You need to stop right now and investigate.” I was NOT thrilled about this information. I started saying “NO, NO! I cannot do this, don’t ask me to do this, I will throw up, I cannot do it, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOO!” He tried to calm me down with logic, saying “Tracy, you have an owl on the front, it could have punctured the radiator, you need to stop right now and find out. If it did damage the radiator, you will run out of coolant and overheat your engine and you will be stuck on the road. I can’t come and get you because I have no car. Please stop and see what happened. More “NO, NO, NO! I cannot do it!”

Then a new thought, “I will get the girls to do it!” When I told the girls my new plan, they all started screaming, “NO, NO, NO! It’s disgusting!”

Then Richard says “Tracy, it is a felony to kill an owl, you can’t just drive to SLC with an owl on the front of your vehicle, you will be pulled over and fined.”

Hmmmm…hard decision.

Now, maybe it wouldn’t be too hard for many of you. But, me? I have a very strong gag reflex and once I start throwing up I don’t stop. I knew if I got out and dealt with the creature that I would start that whole process and we wouldn’t make it to SLC in time for my dentist appointment because I would have to keep stopping to throw up. I would get vomit all over my clothes. I would be sick all day and probably not even be able to go to the play.

I pleaded with the girls to get out and solve the problem, but they were all vehemently opposed. They flat out refused!

I kept driving, kept talking to Richard, and kept thinking of a solution, ANY solution.

I finally decided to call Tina and beg her to save me. I woke her up at 5:15 and started to explain the situation. This angel of a woman interrupted me and said “Come right up, we’ll take care of it.”

When we got there, Rob had his headlamp, gloves, and garbage sack ready. They both wrinkled up their faces in disgust at the sight of it, but got right to work and pulled the giant thing off of there. The body was two feet tall and the wing span was between four and five feet…and yes, there were two lovely horns. (All of this was seen by Blythe who got out to watch the removal process. I, of course, did not exit my vehicle until it was all cleaned up.)

The radiator was leaking, but we determined it was from not getting any airflow because the Great Horned Owl GHO was covering the front of the vehicle.

We hurried on our way after hugs and much gratitude to our heroes and we made it to the dentist just 10 minutes late…pretty good after our crazy adventure!

After the crown placement, we went window shopping over in Sugarhouse. The big girls had lots of fun trying loads of shoes on at Nordstrom Rack, the little girls picked out matching $12 outfits at Old Navy and we all had fun laughing and trying things on together.

Then, it was time for Fiddler. Madi and Anna had never been to the Hale Centre Theatre, so Blythe and Keziah took them all over showing them the wonders of the place. I have never seen four girls so excited to see a play. Their eyes were shining with excitement and their smiles were full of joy.

When Tevye came out for the opening scene, I knew it was going to be a fabulous play. I had been nervous that Tevye wouldn’t be just right and it would ruin the whole thing for me, but he was FABULOUS! He seemed like he was born for this role.

Madi and Anna were enthralled with the moving stage and everyone was completely engrossed in the play. Golde was a wonderful overbearing wife and mother, the matchmaker had the perfect accent, the set was splendid, and the whole cast put on a treat of a show. If there is any way, any way at all, go to it, it is totally worth it. I think you will love it!

Keziah was certain that Chava was being played by the same actress that played “Little Red” in Into the Woods and she was right! It is always fun to see our favorite actors and actresses in other plays.

After the play, we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for some yummy spinach tortellini, spaghetti with mizithra cheese, pesto dressing, and spumoni ice cream. The waiters sang “Happy Birthday” to Anna, surprising the daylights out of her. We talked all about the play, our favorite parts, who we would want to be, and our thoughts on matchmaking. SO FUN!

The girls all wanted to go to Bliss to try on dresses, so we got on the freeway and made our way for Ogden. They loved looking at the gowns and tried on their favorites. Lovely princesses, all of them!

After getting some gas, we headed for home. We snacked on bagels, triscuits, bananas, and Snickers bars and listened to Les Miserables from Focus on the Family.

What a fabulous day – all the girls said it was one of the best days of their lives.

I know it is a day I will always treasure…sometimes a girls day is just what is needed to fill the soul and remind us that life IS good.