WAL Halloween Party

Chris

Thanks to the efforts of Kim and Mike Penland, there was a terrific Halloween Party for some of the residents of WAL.  Kim is the leading force in building community in our large condo complex (5 buildings and around 5,000 residents) and if she has planned the event you are guaranteed to have lots of fun.

I think this was the first time hubby and I actually created costumes.  Usually we're the party poopers who show up as our everyday selves.  This time we put some effort into joining in and ended up having a great time.
 

  

Here are shots from the party:

 There was a contest and Kim on the right was the MC and she's with 2 contestants, John & Jordan, the doctor.

Rachel, Kim's daughter

 There was dancing!

Jordan & Rudy

"Doc" Alma

Mavina is a terrific pirate but who is that masked lady?

Joe, Ursula, Rudy, and Kumi

Joe & Carla

Kim & Rosalind

Lynda Soady has had a burr hair cut since she lived in the Caribbean back in the 1980's.  No one recognized her with long hair.  It was also great fun watching her try to cope with long hair.

David as Triton  and Valerie, the Little Mermaid

A ninja and 2 hippies, or Angelia, Ian and Robert

Carol & Beto

 The sweetest couple there - Pinguin .. and Falmingo also known as Robert & Peggy

A plethora of pirates, Mavina, Terry's mom (sorry don't have the name) Terry & Mary, with hubby keeping an eye on all, & I do mean "eye" singular.

Renee O'Brien as Omaha, her one-eyed cat, but with 2 eyes.  Love the tail.

JJ, the best dancer on the floor

 T-shirt says it all for  Mickey 

Carla!  Had me fooled.

 Card reading was done by Karen, but hubby and I didn't go near her table.  The last time we went for a reading we got into a fight was the reader who insisted that hubby was really my son.  I was not amused - hubby was.

Tara, another great dancer

 Potluck parties always work.  

Joe as a tour guide.  His pricing table indicates he's never enjoyed to good services of my friends who are tour guides.  

Staunton 10/24-25/15 ( #StauntonVA #Shakespeare #ASC )

We had another lovely reunion with Carl and Margaret in Staunton.  Fall foliage was at peak and the American Shakespeare Center (#ASC) was making Shakespeare accessible to all in their joyous style.

Over the 2 days we were there, we saw Midsummer Night's Dream,  Antony & Cleopatra, and  The Winter's Tale.  We'll make 1 more trip to see Joan of Arc in late November before the season ends.

Where else can you see Elizabethan English spoken like it's the most natural way to speak (and the audience can understand it!) drama, really bawdy humor, tap dancing, and the entire cast dancing to Thank God I'm a Country Boy.  

Speaking of bawdy, the woman sitting behind Margaret during Midsummer  was the type of person  Jaston Williams and Joe Sears, who wrote Greater Tuna, had in mind when they created the "Smut Snatchers"(they were the local book burners who wanted to "clean up Deuteronomy").  She was incensed all during the play within the play during Midsummer and her husband kept trying to get her to be quiet.

Sunday morning it was overcast, which is terrific for photographers, so George and I had a great time doing a photo shoot around the old train depot and watching the glass blower at work at Sun Spots.

I am in the process of learning how to use Picasa and I've already made one big mistake.  For some reason the one photo I took of hubby, Carl and Margaret, didn't get saved and I accidentally formatted the card, thus permanently deleting the originals.  Something I never do.  I've also been trying to create a movie of the photos I took but so far with no luck and time is running out.  I need to start getting ready for our next big trip.  So, with few captions, here are most of the photos I took:

The train depot

 I love all of these business.  Great food at the Grille, Monica is a gifted portrait photographer and the hand-painted silk tops at Appalachian Piecework are wonderful.  Wore 1 for the formal night on our Baltic Sea cruise.

I was surprised to find back entrances to the shops at the depot and converted rail cars being used as offices and storage spaces.

Shots of the cemetery on the grounds of Trinity Episcopal Church

Looks like 1 example of a "clean slate".  How sad to have lost the history on these headstones.

 It's interesting how "traditions" are made.  When   we are meeting friends for the weekend, we always meet at the Bistro for Saturday lunch.  Great fish tacos and green fried tomato sandwiches.

There's almost a church on every corner.