For the first time in a long time, I have been very busy with my show.  I have had three shows in the first three days of February break, with more to come later in the week.  These shows were very diverse: a community show, a church service, and jail chapel.  But I enjoyed them all and think they went pretty well.

Saturday morning I performed at the Bridgton Winter Carnival.  This was an open air show on the beach of a local pond.  Usually, this show is pretty windy, but this year it was very still, which made juggling a lot easier.  The challenge this year was nit the breeze in the air, but the ice on the ground.  A volunteer threw down some sand minutes before the show, which helped, but there were a lot of icy ruts from when cars had driven through on a warm day, then, when the temperature dropped, the ground froze that way.  Obviously, the balance board was out of the question, but I was still able to do a lot.  I did an adapted version of my three ball routine to Mahalia Jackson's "When the Saints go Marching In".  Instead of ending with bounce juggling- something else the terrain wouldn't allow - I juggled three soccer balls, then three basketballs.  After a diabolo routine, I did a few magic trick, then did "O Come All Ye Faithful", my cigar box routine.  Here I was able to gently include some referneces to the birth of Jesus.  I closed with my devil stick routine, including fire sticks, which, of course, was a popular one.

I was on early in the event, but by the time I was done, the hay wagon rides, ax throwing, and ice sculptures had begun, and a large number of Bridgtonians were there to enjoy the day.

On Sunday, my show was at the Bethel (Maine) Alliance Church. The pastor had called me just days before because he had strained his voice and was unable to preach.  Fortunately, I was free, and Sue and I agreed to go.  The congregation was fairly large for a small town- 70 or so people.  In churches, I'm able to do routines that wouldn't really work in other settings, so I eagerly included a couple of my favorites: "Jester's Creed" - a juggling routine to the Apostle's Creed, and "Mary and Marty", the story of Mary and Martha interacting with Jesus in their home.  Of course, I included a lot of my regulars as well.  After the service, we stayed for a pot luck lunch and had the chance to meet members of the church.  

Then today I drove up to Madison, Maine, to do a chapel program at the Somerset County Jail.  This is a two hour drive from home, so I was pleased when I arrived and learned that, instead of three shows, they would combine all three groups of inmates into one show.  This allowed me to do a full hour show and not have to rush to reset for the next group.  Even with the longer show, I was on the road home a lot earlier, allowing me this time to catch up on blogging.