Up in Flames

It’s been a busy month- lots of happenings, some good and some just awful. Lots of preparations for trips and visits, some going, some coming. There’s been snow and rain and sun and wind and smoke.

The old Strand Theater on Main burned down in the wee hours Monday morning, May 4. I’ll miss it for my own reasons, but by that night at Kate’s I was already tired of hearing about it, especially the speculation over what would become of it. In the week that followed, they took heavy neon sign off the façade and set it on the sidewalk (where, I noticed today, it still sits). They began disassembling the tall brick sidewalls at the unstable balcony level and boarded up the front doors; somebody sprayed on the plywood, in red paint, “Please save me.” People wrote impassioned editorials to the Herald and left bouquets of red and white fake flowers as if Barbaro or a few thousand victims of terrorist attacks were buried in the debris.

“Debris” is a word that’s getting a lot of airtime early this century, isn’t it?

The Strand rarely offered new releases, but they offered a fun weekend PTA matinee and played some not-so-mainstream stuff Valley 4 Cinemas wouldn’t touch. On Halloween they usually had a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and for one night I loved living in a small town. The Strand had a century-old, hand-painted stage curtain with a scene of the Bear River and old Vaudeville costumes in the basement and art deco murals on the interior. The Strand had a soundproof glass cry room. It was rumored that famous people had signed the walls in the dressing rooms behind the stage. The floors were sticky and it was always rather cold and the popcorn was often two days old, but The Strand had history.

My Level III Certification exam is Thursday afternoon in Rock Springs, right before Kindra’s evening graduation ceremony. I’ll be jetting back to the valley as soon as I finish, which never takes long, an hour and a half at most. The longer I sit and mull the questions over, the more likely I am to make a change from my first impulse, which is never a good thing. So that’s that. I feel ready. It’s multiple choice, after all, 100 questions and a 70 passes. That’s not that hard. I’ve done it twice already, and with far less understanding of the subject matter than I have now.

I had a mini-vacation with M and K in Thermopolis, the world’s largest mineral hot spring, last weekend. We soaked like mad in the sulphur water and drank margaritas. We ate and laughed a lot and hiked and toured, shopped and slept a little, K attended his meeting, and the long drive there and back was a delight because we got to visit and catch up. Sisters never run out of things to say. K slept. (I have a great blackmail photo of that, by the way.)

So much more has happened and such major things are coming up, but all I can think about tonight is getting enough sleep to be able to recall everything I need to know for the exam. I have hundreds of pictures to sort through, edit, and post, some of which I know you’ll all enjoy immensely. And after Thursday maybe I’ll find the time to do it. But tonight it’s bedtime and tomorrow I’ll cram and then hopefully I’ll have good news to post, too. Wish me luck.