Seeing the audience pouring into Schuster Center to see THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS: THE MUSICAL is invigorating. I love meeting guests who have never been to Schuster Center and some folks are attending their very first live theatrical performance.

Last night, as I waited on No. 17 to haul me downtown to the Schuster Center, someone was calling my name as they came down the sidewalk. Mary Linzmeier, who lives with her husband, Bob, around the corner in the condominiums, was offering me a ride. She and Bob, who also ushers at Dayton Live, were going to dinner downtown and then on to GRINCH with friends. It was nice to chat with Mary who was a co-worker at Carillon Historical Park.

This morning, following the morning routine of feeding the indoor live-stock, I took to my bed for another three hours of sleep. I woke up more refreshed for which I was grateful.

I began tackling Operation: Leaves2023 by late morning. It’s so difficult to stay on task when neighbors walk their dogs! Come on! I have things to accomplish, and they know I will stop everything to talk to their dogs. One lady moved from the street over, two years ago, but still likes to walk her very large white-furred pooch in this neighborhood. As they walked south on Shroyer Road, the big white horse nearly dragged her across Rockhill Avenue when he recognized me. The lady recognized me, too, but I was thrilled more than her fury companion did, too.  

Yesterday, and this morning, there were some interesting folks; I shall leave those stories for another time… except one. If a parent sees a three-foot bank of leaves and pulls up alongside it to retrieve their teenager from high school, I pray the child does not lack the common sense and intelligence as the parent! The daughter, her face magnetized to her phone, cluelessly ambled on the sidewalk, lowered her phone to see the bank of leaves blocking the passenger side door, and began kicking the raked pile of leaves back onto the sidewalk. I continued to observe the scenario. The mother must have said something to the girl, but I could not hear due to the loud noise of the leaf blower. The young lady looked over me, gave a slight sneer, and got into the car. Interesting. Sad.

Benazir Bhutto, elected prime minister of Pakistan on this day in 1988, became the first woman in modern history to lead a Muslim country, serving as prime minister from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. In 1973, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act was signed by U.S. President Richard Nixon; the pipeline—which connects the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska with the harbor at Valdez—became operational four years later. Actor Clark Gable, who epitomized the American ideal of masculinity for three decades and was known as the “King of Hollywood,” died in 1960 of a heart attack, days after finishing work on The Misfits (1961). In 1855, British explorer David Livingstone was the first European to see Victoria Falls. Kalakaua, the last king and second-to-last monarch of Hawaii (1874–91) was born in 1836. Sint Eustatius became the first foreign government to recognize the fledgling United States in 1776.

My very late lunch is over, and it is time to return to Operation: Leaves2023.

Make it a great day!