It was really great to get to spend the afternoon with my cousin Shauna and my Aunt Sondra (she works remotely but took her 15mins break and then some personal time when I got there and then came up after she was done for the day) and their family dog Indie (a "golden doodle" who is mostly just golden, genetic testing says she's barely 20% poodle, lol) and my cousin's black cat Basquiat who she adopted while out in Los Angeles before moving back (for other reasons before her aggressive breast cancer diagnosis.)  they're going through a LOT right now between Shauna's cancer battle and then everything of the drama going on with my other cousin Sabra (which I first learned about in April from her ex-husband Ross with whom she coparents and how I saw when dealing with all my car related drama) but which I've not written about because it's heavy and hard but not my story to tell to n'importe qui. If you want to know what's happening with Sabra, you need to be in my life and family/chosen family for me to talk about it with you. It's a lot and it's hard and it's complicated life choices -- but it's not mine to tell make gossip for strangers or broader consumption. 

Anyway, they were so happy to see me and they laughed at me wanting to give space/time around Shauna's needs not assume because her energy for healing might not have been able to have even me for company and then also me admitting that between me totalling my car hitting a deer and my cat dying I also knew my energy wasn't in my normal shiny sparkly uplifting that they needed and deserved with everything else going on with them until I had healed up a bit given myself some time. Because I didn't want to be a burden or draining or assume my own importance/welcome, y'know? They laughed at me and hugged me and dead ass told me, "Dani, you're always welcome and always sunshine in our lives to see you. Even at your lowest most emo off for you low energy, you shine so much bright healing peace and joy than most people can radiate on their brightest days." 

Suffice it to say, I'm going back over for another visit in the morning before Shauna's appointments (and to have Indie and Bas glued to me again) in the morning and I plan to pick up a bouquet of happy colorful flowers for the whole family for the kitchen as a bonus glimmer for them. Something cheerful and colorful -- I'm thinking sunflowers or roses are in season right now and aren't harmful to the pets. (Just no daisies or anything that looks like daisies as it will remind them of Sabra and bring bitter not just joy which is my goal.) And I will bring them their 3 tickets for the Dark Side of the Moon concerts on the square my parents got a table for. 

My plan was to leave at some point between 5-6 with 5:30 being ideal to go around the lake pick up Crissy in Middleton then out to Spring Green to park/will call my tickets/walk through the woods to the Touchstone for a 7:30 start time of the play. That was my plan. At 4:38, a sudden line of severe storms hit Cottage Grove (not a drop west side of Madison) with sustained 40mph winds and gusts up to 60mph and lashing downpour with hail potential and localized flash flooding. It was intense like when I've been through tropical storms coming in (never been in a proper hurricane, have been in tropical storms) and it was INTENSE! I decided I would wait for the rain to pass before driving and was grateful not to be driving when it hit BUT I was going to have to dash IMMEDIATELY when it stopped. My Uncle Steve made it home for like the last 10mins or so of my visit and he was VERY late, close on an hour from when he normally gets home, said it was one of the scariest drives of his life... 

I managed to origami time flow though and even though I left Cottage Grove at 6:15, pick up Crissy and get to APT and pickup my tickets at will call building and walk up to Touchstone and we got to our seats with exactly 3 minutes to spare for the 7:30 start of the play (which they held an extra 5 minutes for latecomers due to the storms in Madison area delaying people.) trust me, that was magical AF of me, lol. 

The play was INCREDIBLE!!!! Heavy and hard subject matter but real talk around gentrification and the lived Black experience (set in a D.C. Black barber shop in the summer before the election for Obama's second term) and so well crafted and written. All the actors/actress were fantastic and Gavin's writing/directing was superlative. Stand out play full stop highly recommend to any/everyone they go see it! I would absolutely go see it again, schedules and price point allowing. Most of what I have to say about it would affect how you see the play, but it was so incredibly well done! I'm so happy was able to add it into the already busy week and get to see it for rush price point and not miss it this season. I really hope Gavin gets it published for other theatres and/it takes it to other locations to direct it himself because it's a very important piece and story to tell on stage of the fractured truths of American lives/dreams/realities  it was so incredibly good though! If you can, drop everything to go see it while it's still running, I promise it will be worth it! 

Anyway. Bedtime now for me. Because going to visit Shauna and all of them in the morning and don't want to oversleep. Especially since I want some happy flowers to give Sondra and Shauna and Steve just because they deserve my bright happy color and glimmers of good and reminders of love that make them smile.