Heartful of Food

I really like eating. The world is full of a great variety of delicious food choices. Cooking at home, eating out at nice restaurants, a cheap burger and fries, milkshakes, pretzels, waffles, New York style pizza, Chicago style pizza, Chick-fil-a sandwiches, gelato, cheesecake, cookies, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, sushi, steak, green beans, asparagus, lamb, hummus, carrots, Pal's peachie tea (light ice), hot chai, iced chai, dirty chai, loose leaf tea, apples, peaches, bananas and pears, Oreo's, pie, pot roast, enchiladas, the list goes on and on.

As wonderful as food can be, my favorite meals have little to do with the literal food. Instead, my favorite meals are those meals with food for the heart. Meals with the nourishment of good conversation. These are the meals with the comfort of friends and family.

This season of Unto These Hills has already begun to be full of tremendous meals. We've had two meals provided for the company, during which we gathered around long tables before our evening rehearsals. I have shared my own cooking with company members, as well. I took cookies around to folk one evening and had a small group over for cinnamon apples one afternoon. I hosted a wonderful dinner one day--I made a pot roast, my roommates Other Dan and Carson made salad and broccoli/bread respectively. The literal food was great--we don't get enough legitimate home-cooked meals on the hill--but the highlight of our time together was the time together itself.

Yay "family dinner!"

I've also had great opportunities to eat out with folk. I've made trips to the local Japanese restaurant, Kobe, to the sandwich shop Sassy Sunflower, and today, had lunch at Rancho Viejo, the Mexican restaurant. This evening, after a day of travel, a couple of my new friends from the company (Steven and Jeff--who is a cool dude from Canada and who has been begging to get talked about on my blog; he doesn't say "eh" all the time, though I can see him thinking it....) ate a picnic with my family back in Johnson City, followed by a stop at Dairy Queen. Each of these outings have been lovely times of heart food alongside the tasty items on our plates.

Kobe time!

I am really loving getting to know new folk at UTH this season, as well as reconnecting with old friends from last year. This has kind of been a refrain in my blog so far this season, but it's because it's simply true. I'm generally a pretty introverted person. It usually takes me a pretty long time to warm up to people. While I have not had full conversations with every company member at UTH and suspect there will be folk I never really get to know, I have already found myself warming up to folk here. I haven't even mentioned the many evenings around the nightly bonfire, the afternoon chats at the coffeeshop, or the discussions on the stoop outside my apartment. While I certainly loved UTH last year, I find I am comfortable with people earlier in the season this year. It may be that it feels like returning home to be here in the first place. It may be that I simply feel like I connect with some of the new folk. Whatever the reason, I'm excited about it.

One of the things I'm particularly excited about this year versus last year is that I've begun to attend church on Sundays, an activity I never did during last season. Frankly, I've been lazy about my faith and beliefs for a while now--I'm ashamed to admit that for a while I was even kind of being embarrassed to admit to my non-Christian friends that I am a Christian. Attending church when I'm at home is easy, because my family all go, but when I'm doing theatre gigs away from home, it's easier to let it slide. A few weeks before I came to Cherokee this year, I traveled to Indianapolis to visit my friend Rachel. I chose to go with her to church, honestly mostly because I wanted to hang out with her for as much time as I could--she's one of my favorite people in the world and I don't get to see her very often. That service was very different from those held at Hopwood, my home church, but it woke me up and reminded me that, regardless of where I am, worship can refresh me. I decided then and there that it was time to get back into the habit of being an active Christian rather than a passive one.

As I set off for Cherokee for the summer, I decided I would force myself to attend services this time around. The first weekend here, I attended Cherokee United Methodist. It was a lovely, simple, genuine service, although it could've used a little more singing, in my opinion. As we went into the second week, I discovered that a few other UTH cast members had attended Cherokee Baptist Church. Ecstatic to have found others choosing to attend services, I joined them for the service there this weekend. It was so good to be among friends. I am thrilled to have others who, simply by being present, will help keep me accountable. Worship, especially when done with fellowship, is another type of heart food, as far as I'm concerned.

Fellowship is so important to me. I am an introvert, but I hate being lonely. Theatre's nature forces a type of community into company members. That's one of the reasons this is my chosen profession. Eating good meals together, laughing together, telling stories, spending time with one another, performing together, and worshiping together: this year life on the hill is full of food for the heart.

UTH End of Week 1

Unto These Hills 2015 Week 1 has come to a close. It's a cool, comfortable night after a hot morning, a rainy afternoon, and a humid evening. A fire dances in the pit outside the boy's dorm. Music echoes through the Day Room. After a long week of hard work, everyone feels the need to wind down. For some, this means partying. For some, it means conversation. And for others, it simply means an early bedtime in preparation for a day of rest, a sabbath.

Officially, days have begun all week at 9:30am for the actors at UTH, though of course many choose to rise earlier than that. Days have mostly ended around 10:00pm, though of course many choose to stay up later than that. Lunch and dinner breaks vary drastically depending on a given day's goals and the size of one's role(s) in the production. For many, these breaks are even times of work as we all scramble to learn our lines and get those pesky scripts out of our hands. To say we are all ready for a sabbath is an understatement. Both physically and mentally, our work as performers has been exhausting. This profession is a taxing process at times. It can be extremely stressful. It can be a challenge. But it's also a lot of fun.

Tonight, before making an appearance at the evening's party, I sat in my apartment chatting with Carson, a fellow return actor from last year. We shared stories and laughs and Carson picked up a guitar and began playing some music. I remembered from last year that he, like myself, is a Josh Ritter fan. I asked if he knew how to play any Ritter. Immediately, he began to play the song "Empty Hearts," an extremely fitting song, given the evening.

Together, Carson and I sang,

"I'm inside with my friends
We build fires and pretend
That the night could just bend on forever
While outside in the frost
Are the wolves and the lost
And we sing to the dogs or whoever

Singing don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart"

UTH, in my mind, doesn't allow one's heart to be empty. At least, not for long. I love this place. I'm sure there will be drama on the Hill this year, just as there was last year. I'm sure some days will be difficult and grueling and emotional. But for every negative thing that occurs, so many positive ones abound here.

Earlier this evening, a small group of us went out to eat at the local Japanese restaurant, Kobe. We told jokes and stories and shared a bit about ourselves with one another. Throughout this week, I've started the process of getting to know new folk and to rekindle old friendships with those I haven't seen for several months. This is why I came back to the Hill for a second round. It is wonderful to be a part of a community.

But like I said earlier, this week has also been a week of hard work. Tomorrow, our day of rest, our sabbath, is arriving right when we need it. A day free of work when we can relax. A day when groups plan to go to movies--be they Mad Max fans or Pitch Perfect fans. A day when I will likely make my way down to the coffee shop, sip a chai, read a book, and recharge (though even my introverted self is all about going with a group to see Mad Max, let's be honest).

We're off to a good start. Here's to hoping the summer will continue as it has begun. And all the Felixes in the house say, "Cheers to that!"

On returning to UTH for a second season

It is good to be back on the Hill. Hello, dorms. Hello, stage. Hello, sand. Hello, canteen, dining hall, A-frame, village. Hello trees and gnats and creeks and sun. Rain, heat, cool breezes. Sore feet, sore back, sore core. Hello, old friends. Glad to meet you, new. It's good to be back on the Hill.

Today I walked down to one of my favorite places in Cherokee, the Cherokee Coffee Shop. A twenty minute walk down from the Hill, crossing by the backside of the theatre, down by the museum, along the Oconaluftee River with its children playing and its fishermen, the sun beating down on my back, shade relieving the heat, and then I'm there. Chai. Conversation with a new friend from the cast who's made her way to the shop as well.

Then I'm working on lines--I have those this time around, and I'm walking back along the same path, smiling at the river again, and up, up, up onto the Hill. I have a salad for dinner, sitting outside, enjoying the cool evening air. I grab an apple and head to the stage, where we block the powerful Trail of Tears sequence at the heart of Unto These Hills.

It is good to be back on the Hill. To be back among the Cherokee and folk who respect their culture. To be among artists and creators and friends. To be a part of the community.

Yesterday evening, I wandered into the boy's dorm--I've moved up into the new dorms this year (yay AC and clean bathroom and kitchen!)--and laughter drew me to someone's room. I joined the conversation, beginning to get to know a couple of the new guys, hoping I to be welcoming and that they will enjoy the Hill as much as I do. That they will enjoy to wonderful opportunities given to them by this setting. I think they will.

Even as I spend time meeting new folk, being back here feels like a homecoming. It is good to be back on the Hill. Four days in, and I can already tell this summer is going to be wonderful.