Busy April

The month has begun well. This week I told stories at the Lawrence Community Nursery School (many small groupies there), at the library of the McConnell Air Force Base, at Oak Grove (MO) Elementary School, at the Village Presbyterian Church Child Care Center in KC and at two schools in Eudora, KS. Tomorrow I'll drive over to Columbia, MO for a performance at the public library, always a great venue.

I had a good time at all of these gigs. Some audiences were mostly little tinies, some were older kids.

The longest day was Tuesday. I left home at about 6:15 a.m. to drive to Wichita (around two and a half hours), did a 10:00 a.m. show at McConnell, then got in the car and drove to Oak Grove, MO for a 7:00 p.m. performance. I considered coming home in between, but I realized that I'd have only about an hour or two and I was unsure about rush hour traffic around Kansas City. I had a chunk of time anyway, even with having a nap in the car (yes, I do lock the doors, Mom), so I went to Cargo Largo. That's a gigantic odd-lots store, where you can find the weirdest stuff for low prices. Last year my friend Joyce and I found some Frankenstein boots with rubber spikes and two-inch platforms there. I still regret not buying them.

I had no such luck on this foray to Cargo Largo, though I did find Airborne for pretty cheap. I stocked up, as I'll be traveling a lot in the next few months.

Anyway, I went on from Cargo Largo in Independence, MO to Oak Grove, where I performed at a Family Reading Night. The gym was packed with kids and their parents, all lounging around on blankets and pillows. Very fun. It reminded me of how nice it is to let kids listen in whatever posture they find most comfortable, as long as they're not bugging anybody else. I do understand (and appreciate) teaching kids to be a good audience, but it's nice to let them relax sometimes.

They were all quite relaxed at the end, when I told The Gunniwolf--that story often calms listeners down after some of the wilder stories. I suspect many of the younger kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. I didn't, fortunately, though I had an hour and a half to drive home.

I was away from home for about 15 hours, so when I finally did get home, I fell right into bed. Zzzz.