The Hazard Chronicles

Yesterday I woke up on an island, peacefully overlooking a lake from my tent.

Yesterday, Rachel woke up in Nashville, after a week-long deep-dive into performance interpreting.

Yesterday afternoon we all went huckleberry picking together.

Today, I am sitting at my desk at work, about to walk into a procedure.

What a crazy, astonishing, wonderful world we live in. And what a time to be alive!

*****

The main focus of the week is Rachel's trip to Nashville. This is where she is going to take over the blog for the week. When she got back, we all sat around as a family and watched videos of some of the performances she got to be a part of. It was really, really cool.

*****

BSL Nashville is an incredible experience every time! I have done one abbreviated course during Covid, and one full course last year. I am at a loss for words to explain what has happened for the last seven days. A bulleted list seems like a good idea, so I will go with it!

7 full days that typically begin at 7 am and end around 2 am
35 hours of classroom instruction during the day
Evening musical and comedy performances around Nashville for all certified participants
Constant evening events to interpret, or attend and provide feedback for other interpreters
Friday night party in my room!
Saturday is spent touring around Nashville on the Redneck Comedy Tour bus, then exploring the Grand Ole Opry Hotel.
Final song performance and celebration with friends, family, and each other

I flew to Nashville on Sunday morning, and the action did not stop until the following Sunday when I flew home. I enjoyed every minute, and I made a few lifelong friends along the way.

During the 35 hours of instruction, we had a myriad of invited speakers. We had a makeup artist come and show us some great tips on how to get spotlight ready, a tour manager come and talk about tech design for shows, we visited a dance studio with an incredible woman who personally provided dance instruction to some of the greats (including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Selena Gomez). and a professional photographer who took shots of all of us.

I need to mention that Mama Sam and Kim both run this crazy weeklong adventure, and they are truly gifted at creating an atmosphere of family, love, and acceptance. Last years' group still has a weekly active chat, and I have talked to, or zoomed with most of them over the past year.

I will let the pictures do the talking now:

On Sunday night we headed to the Hard Rock Café to reunite with old friends and meet new ones!

Our classroom space used to be a recording studio here in Nashville. This epic guitar tower is definitely a fun perk!

I had the pleasure of performing "Satisfied", in costume, with Demi (my awesome roommate) and Devon

Here are a few actions shots for my evening performance at the FirstBank Amphitheater. I interpreted 10 songs by Parker McCollum (I found out who he is on Sunday morning, apparently, he was won ACM's New Male Artist of the Year award).

On Monday, Terry and I interpreted a musical comedy improv show. Any one of those words is enough to be a lot, but all together it was crazy! Terry and I had a fun time, and I think it went off pretty well. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures. Oh well.

Before concert time

The dream team! Terry, Keeley, Demi, and I interpreted at the amphitheater together

Party in my room! We all came together to do our final performance songs and give each other feedback. Watching final performances is fun because we can see everyone's improvement.

Did you know that Nashville has a replica of the Parthenon?

Group photo of the whole group at the Music Hall of Fame and Museum with the Redneck Comedy Tour comedian

We took pictures around the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. This place is beautiful and massive, boasting over 3.3 million square feet!

I became Eliza one last time for my final performance of "Burn"

Goodbye, friends!

So long, Nashville. Until next time!

*****

Okay- I'm back. While Rachel was doing all that fun stuff, we were mostly holding it together back at home. Nobody went to the hospital and the house is still standing, so I count it as a win. Over the weekend we paddled out to Popcorn Island and camped. It was a chance to get out of the house and also to test out our recently-acquired canoe and its gear-carrying capacity. Things went great, and we are already planning more paddle-camping trips as a family for the near future.

Here's some photos: