Casey Henry
Happy Groundhog Day!! Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring. That’s sure an appealing thought in the face of today’s twenty-degree high temperature.
I owe you a blog. I was supposed to blog on Monday, but I forgot amid the craziness. I’m in Dallas, Texas, working on the Super Bowl halftime show. This is my fourth Super Bowl. I’m part of the stage crew. Our task is to get the stage on and off the field for the show. This year the Black Eyed Peas are the band. They are totally uninteresting to me. I don’t know any of their songs, although I did recognize one of the songs they are doing in the show. I didn’t, however, know it was a BEP song.
My job is assistant volunteer coordinator, which means that I check in volunteers for our rehearsals, make sure they have all signed the necessary waivers, and do a lot of waiting around while they are practicing moving stages around. Many of the same people work on the show every year, so I’ve made some good friends over the course of these four years.
This year’s curve ball is the weather. Last week it was seventy degrees. This week it’s twenty degrees. With ice. The wind chill below zero. Every single person made a trip to the sporting goods store to buy long underwear and outerwear. I myself got a lovely pair of ski pants almost exactly like a pair I have at home in my drawer and never wear. So now I have two pairs of ski pants to not wear.
Tonight’s rehearsal (minus ten wind chill predicted) is the first time we’ve seen the band. We’ve had our own stage rehearsals. The field cast (the kids on the field that dance around) has had their own rehearsals. We’ve had a combined rehearsal. But this is the first time the actual performers will be present. The volunteers are very excited about that. I’m just glad that the stadium is enclosed and therefore many degrees warmer than outside, with no wind!
No banjo action to report so far this year. If something comes up, you’ll be the first to know!