Last Friday night was fun – everything falling into place, and lots of little synchronicities. Three of us were going to meet at Iris Book Cafe for dinner at 5:30. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you can tell Main Street is making a comeback because it’s much harder to find parking spaces. And yet – there was a truck loading spot, just this minute available, and right across the street.
Walking in (I was the first one there, which has never happened before!), I saw a friend whom I knew had a photo exhibit up for Final Friday. (It was the Final Friday before Christmas – 2 weeks earlier than usual.) He and his wife were exhibiting together at The Gathering. I said I didn’t think we’d have time – but I’d try.
Mary and Kathleen arrived – and knowing we had tickets for The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Shakes at 7:30, we ordered right away. Iris’ food is always good – inventive, simple – and most soups are from Myra’s Dionysus, best in town. We actually got done with dinner way faster than usual. We were hungry and the food arrived quickly.
So we decided we did have time for Ben and Harriet’s photo exhibit, and started to walk up the street. On the way, we ran into an ArtsWave flash mob out caroling – and since the organizer was a friend of mine, we joined in. It wasn’t quite organized yet, so we popped into the exhibit – and popped out again when folk knocked on the window that our voices were needed outside. We all sang Jingle Bells and Let It Snow, to modest applause from passers by.
We took my car to the Shakes, since it’s easier to park one than three. Got another excellent parking space just down the street. I wanted a cup of hot tea once inside – there was only Lipton, so I fished in the little bag I keep in my purse – no green tea! Mary didn’t have any either. Lettie, who always answers the phone about tickets and is becoming Managing Director, promised that she had green tea in her desk, and would have it for me at intermission. And so it turned out. Just one more little miracle.
Of course, Merry Wives turned out to be one of the funniest Shakespeares Cincy Shakes has ever produced – bawdy and hysterical. And I loved how everything fell into place for those smart wives – and for all of us during the evening.