across the bridge to will and cyrano

This blog has brought me many riches, first among them, an amazing community and wonderful friends. I can't imagine how much scarier and lonelier our move from New York City to Canada would have been without wmtc - the advice and support, the cheering section, and the very real and lasting friendships we've made through this blog. Before I re-started my activism here, every friend we had in Canada, we first met online.

Blogging has also brought us some fun freebies here and there - books, DVDs, invitations to movie screenings. But for friendship plus freebies, nothing tops this. This morning we're driving to Stratford, Ontario for two plays at the Shakespeare Festival and a little getaway. We're staying at Across The Bridge bed and breakfast, as the owners' guests.

Earlier this year, I received an email from the owners, Eric and Kelly, US-to-Canada immigrants who bought an old house in Stratford and renovated it into a B-and-B. They said wmtc helped them on their immigration journey, and invited Allan and I to stay at Across The Bridge, on the house, so to speak. Wow! We were completely blown away.

After realizing that Kelly and Eric were indeed serious about this generous offer, we checked out the Festival schedule. The challenge was to find two plays we wanted to see on consecutive weekdays. We found Julius Caesar and Cyrano de Bergerac. (Cyrano features Colm Feore, who many people know from a current TV show.) Extra bonus! The plays are during the All-Star Break, so we don't even miss any baseball. Perfect.

I am so looking forward to this. We can't travel this year, which is hard for me, and any change of scenery is very welcome. I'm also theatre-starved, and the Stratford Festival in Ontario has a world-class reputation.

I've been to the Stratford Festival in Connecticut several times, including one of the most memorable theatre experiences of my life, and also to the Royal Shakespeare Company's home in Stratford-Upon-Avon, in the UK. I knew we'd get to the Ontario Festival eventually, and the lovely folks at Across The Bridge gave us the perfect excuse.

Allan and I both re-read Julius Caesar in preparation, something I always like to do before seeing Shakespeare. But I love Cyrano, and am most looking forward to that.

We're heading out this morning; it's less than two hours away. Our weekend dogwalker is staying at our house with the pups.

Sorry CIC, no war resister news to read for a few days. Hope you won't be lonely.