Spring is springing

Wait, is it really...how did it get to be mid-April already?

Greetings from a Seattle that is desperately trying to welcome in Spring. There are buds on all the trees, flowers are in bloom in planters and along the city streets, birds are singing their spring-y little songs. Spring has arrived! Though it's still in the 40's here, and the sun is fighting to make its presence known through the thick cloud cover. We're in that iffy part of Spring where we are feeling hopeful for what's to come but also a little gun shy to accept that it has fully arrived. I could really go for a steady stretch of temperatures in the 70's, but I have to be realistic and recognize that I am still months away from such glory. Temperatures in the 70's means summer has reached Seattle, and I'm still wearing my winter coat. Patience, Megatha, patience...

I am happy to report that I have full hearing in two ears!! I've still got some crackling and draining going on, but I can hear at a level that is acceptable for a woman in her mid- to late-20's. And it feels so goooood. Never again will I take my hearing for granted. I love my sense of hearing! It's one of my 5 favorite senses! Even as I write this, I am hearing all kinds of fun sounds: construction across the street, city traffic below, the KOMO News 'copter landing on the heli-pad 2 blocks over. I love all of these sounds, these generally ignored background noises that were missing from my daily soundtrack for a solid 3 weeks. Hearing them again is a joyous experience. I want everyone to appreciate these sounds! Listen to that, it's hammering! Ah, the sweet sounds of recycling day. Oh joy, sirens, sirens galore!! Yes, all of the daily sounds of city living that I generally do my best to ignore now appear to me as lovely little aural gifts. Isn't hearing stuff grand? I can feel myself becoming that person who warns people to TURN DOWN YOUR IPOD OR YOU'LL GO DEAF! Though I'm sure in a couple of weeks, hearing will once again seem like a regular ol' everyday experience, nothing much to think about or celebrate. I'm pretty sure I'll be keeping my iPod turned to a reasonable volume, though.

I'm also happy to report that I've been cast in a short play festival that runs through the month of June. I can't tell you how excited I am to have lines to memorize! It's been months since my last time onstage, and I have been missing it desperately. The past couple of months have been promising, as I've been able to audition for a number of companies I've been wanting to introduce myself to. And the introductions have gone well, they just haven't turned into jobs. My feeling on Seattle casting is that this is a small, interwoven community, and while people might get excited by a new face in town (particularly a face as fantabulous as my own), they also are a bit gun shy when it comes to hiring someone new. "Let someone else test them out first" seems to be the way things are done around here. I say, Bring it on! Let the testing begin! I am chomping at the bit here, I am dreaming of a time when I am so busy I want to cry from exhaustion. Seriously. Free time is nice and all, but it's kind of like hearing: it's hard to appreciate when you've got it in abundance. I lost my hearing for a few weeks, and now I want to stand on my balcony and soak up the sounds of city life. I've had too much free time to play with for awhile now, and the days have all kind of run together into a pasty lump of blahhhhhhh. Okay, perhaps that's a bit extreme, but the truth is, it's been too long since I've had any kind of excitement when answering the oft questioned: So what are you up to these days? I manage to stay kinda busy, it's not like I'm just sitting around watching TV and eating bonbons. (Though I must admit, in the last month, the month without hearing, there was an increase in my TV-viewing time and my bonbon consumption. Being deaf-ish meant my balance was completely skewed, which made exercise a no-go, which made me feel extra cruddy and seemed to cue my cravings for cake and cookies and chocolate in all of its forms. I think I've gained 10 pounds in 4 weeks, and I made a semi-permanent butt indent on our new couch during those weeks of antibiotics and pain killers. Gross.) However, I am primed and ready for a period of schedule juggling and round-the-clock rehearsing and busy busy busy busy busy-ness. A short play festival isn't gonna be all that consuming, of course, but I'm choosing to look at it as a beginning. A long awaited beginning. Spring has sprung in Seattle, indeed!