Down on the Fox Farm
When I was a kid, my mom would joke that she would send me to the "fox farm" when I was being too whiny about being sick or injured. Or at least, I think she was joking...since I don't really know what the fox farm was, maybe they just never had an opening? I just always assumed the "fox farm" was like the "glue factory" where old horses were sent. (Remember, this was in the days before Fox News so the "fox farm" was not the facility where plastic-looking Fox Channel news anchors are grown.) I don't know how my mom came up with the fox farm idea, or if anyone before or since has used the term. The google has yielded no answers. But whatever her inspiration, my mom got her point across, with the traditional Colleen Luedtke mixture of humor and fear.
I'm afraid I am very close to having to turn myself into the fox farm. A little over a week ago, I somehow pulled a hip/butt muscle and it is doing me in. (I have no idea what this muscle is called. I'm a librarian, damnit, not a doctor!) My "injury" is really not all that painful, but it is definitely affecting my daily activities. I have no good story for how I did this...I was not dancing or romancing or in a bar fight. I don't even think I was running when I got injured, although I first noticed my plight when I was running. Whatever happened, I have not been able to go running since. And this is where my fox farm candidate whiny behavior really kicks in: not being able to run for so long, especially during the fleeting last beautiful days of the year, is driving me crazy. Not only can't I run, but even walking isn't pretty
So yeah, this is where my mom would "tease" me about fox farm residence, and remind me that I'm lucky to be able to walk at all, much less have all my limbs, much less live in a country where women can roam the streets freely without fear of killer robots, etc., and so on. I know the little voice of my mom inside my head is right. Instead of focusing on all the things I can't do, I'm trying to cultivate a little gratitude. I'm often slightly disappointed with my body because of all my shortcomings: very little muscle memory, grace, or dancing ability, just to name a few. But I hope that when I can finally walk, and bend down, and turn around, do the hokey pokey and the time warp, and hopefully run, freely again, I will remember that it is really awesome that I can do these things. I hope I won't take easy daily movement for granted.
One concern I have that is perhaps reasonable is how my injured hip/butt is going to affect my performance in "Daddy Issues" WHICH OPENS TOMORROW!!!! (I'm calm, I'm calm...). Although my character, Claire, boasts that "I write dialogue, mister, I know all about butts," I had no idea that a flexible butt is so important to moving quickly around the stage. Just when I get to play a hyperactive, flitty character, I feel like I am moving in slow-mo. But the show must, and will, go on, of course. I'm scared that there is no theater on the fox farm.
I'm afraid I am very close to having to turn myself into the fox farm. A little over a week ago, I somehow pulled a hip/butt muscle and it is doing me in. (I have no idea what this muscle is called. I'm a librarian, damnit, not a doctor!) My "injury" is really not all that painful, but it is definitely affecting my daily activities. I have no good story for how I did this...I was not dancing or romancing or in a bar fight. I don't even think I was running when I got injured, although I first noticed my plight when I was running. Whatever happened, I have not been able to go running since. And this is where my fox farm candidate whiny behavior really kicks in: not being able to run for so long, especially during the fleeting last beautiful days of the year, is driving me crazy. Not only can't I run, but even walking isn't pretty
So yeah, this is where my mom would "tease" me about fox farm residence, and remind me that I'm lucky to be able to walk at all, much less have all my limbs, much less live in a country where women can roam the streets freely without fear of killer robots, etc., and so on. I know the little voice of my mom inside my head is right. Instead of focusing on all the things I can't do, I'm trying to cultivate a little gratitude. I'm often slightly disappointed with my body because of all my shortcomings: very little muscle memory, grace, or dancing ability, just to name a few. But I hope that when I can finally walk, and bend down, and turn around, do the hokey pokey and the time warp, and hopefully run, freely again, I will remember that it is really awesome that I can do these things. I hope I won't take easy daily movement for granted.
One concern I have that is perhaps reasonable is how my injured hip/butt is going to affect my performance in "Daddy Issues" WHICH OPENS TOMORROW!!!! (I'm calm, I'm calm...). Although my character, Claire, boasts that "I write dialogue, mister, I know all about butts," I had no idea that a flexible butt is so important to moving quickly around the stage. Just when I get to play a hyperactive, flitty character, I feel like I am moving in slow-mo. But the show must, and will, go on, of course. I'm scared that there is no theater on the fox farm.
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| There is NO WHINING in theater!!! (Well, um...) |
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