The covid-19 pandemic did what the birth of three children, a broken leg and harsh winters have been unable to do: It forced me to go an entire month - May 2020- without doing a show.  Actually, I've gone about two months, from April 4- June 5, but this May was the first month with none whatsoever.  So I was thrilled that, on Saturday, June 5, the local assisted living facility had me back for an outdoor, socially distanced show.  This is actually ironic, because it is normally easy to view this show as routine; they have me four times a year.  But this time was different.  It was like coming out of retirement.

The show itself started a bit messily.  Since I was outside, i did some things I can't normally do in their activities room with its eight foot ceiling.  I spun a plate balanced on an 18 foot dowel balanced on my forehead.  This went fine, except, once I got  it down again, it slipped out of my hand onto the pavement, thus revealing it is painted metal and not delicate china.  Then I did my new egg production trick and flashed it's design to the audience.  Furthermore, to keep the audience from looking into the sun, I was facing into the sun most of the time, making certain juggling tricks challenging.  It may have started as a bit of a mess, but I was performing again.  What a beautiful mess it was.

And once I got my first couple routines under my belt, things improved.  Being outside, I was able to do both my fire devil sticks and my fire diabolo.  Things are always a lot more fun when they are burning!  The real highlight, though, was when I told the audience, "My daughter just started working here.  Do you know Rose?  Make sure you give her a hard time."  The activities director, unaware of this relationship, went on about what a sweet young woman Rose is, and how good she is with the residents.  Some of the residents jumped in to tell me what a great kid we've raised.  That truly made my day.

I have a couple other gigs starting up on my schedule even as I'm starting a new summer job at the local grocery store.  Please pray for my adjustment to a new routine and for more opportunities to get back to my true life's work of juggling the Good News.