From Canada to Fremont

I've mostly been able to relax since I got back from Canada.

OK, that's not strictly true, as I worked four days last week and also have written six D&D histories since I've gotten back (3 on BART, 3 in Alvarado Park). But that's "relaxation" for me.

Wednesday was the first morning I didn't wake up itching as my antihistamines wore off. My rash is pretty much gone at this point (and I used up the last of my Canadian antihistamines this morning, so good timing.)

---

My dad and Mary are currently out from Hawaii. They actually came out the same day I returned from Canada, arriving in the Bay Area just a few hours after I did. We don't see a lot of them when they're visiting, because they stay with Melody and Jared, with my dad helping around the house and them both seeing friends. But we usually get together and visit at least once while they're out here, and that was on Wednesday.

It was my dad's birthday. After lunch at home, Kimberly and I took BART down to Fremont and met my dad, Mary, and Melody (Jared worked the day). The plan was to go out for a hike. Since K. still isn't up to hills, Melody and I figured out that the Quarry Lakes Regional Park would be a good choice.

This is a bunch of lakes just past the 'burb of Niles. I'm guessing they used to be quarries, but that's just speculation. (Actually, the web site confirms: "Gravel taken from the banks of Alameda Creek was used in the construction of the transcontinental railroad's western section.")

Anywho, it was a nice walk around a park that I hadn't visited before. I've actually biked a bit of Alameda Creek on the opposite side, but I'd never walked the northward side or around the quarry lakes beyond. It was pleasant, California terrain. Lots of brown brush, but quite pleasant lakes (though the path was always further than the lakes than I would have hoped). We walked around the majority of the lakes, which was a pretty big distance. My FitBit records 2 hours of walking and over 10,000 steps, which would have been nearly 5 miles. Looking at my records, I can tell that I was walking slower than normal because only 76/128 minutes were up in the fat burning zone.

There was a cross-country meet going on while we were there, with many girls running around us. One team (the red team) was clearly doing much better than the other.

We also saw a SNAKE on the trail. Just a small little thing. It wouldn't have bothered me if Kimberly hadn't shouted about it, then for a moment I couldn't figure out where it was, so I could only envision a huge rattler pouncing on us. I screamed like a little girl.

---

Jared joined us afterward and we had dinner at an Indian restaurant in Newark that was shockingly empty. It was good food, and surprisingly my second Indian food in a week (the previous being in Canada!).

Overall, a nice day, good seeing family and hanging out. It was also the exact antidote that I needed after my exhausting week in Canada, nicely breaking up my week back.

Peter and the Star Catcher, by Rick Elice

Surprise! The new Berkeley Playhouse play isn't a musical. Oh, there are a few short numbers, and somewhat surprisingly this played on Broadway and won some Tonies, but it's not really in the same category as an actual music. And that was a bit disappointing, because I'd been looking for a light-hearted musical today.

Surprise! The new Berkeley Playhouse play is a comedy. Pretty full-throated. Oh, there's some serious theming about childhoods and responsibility and doing good. But there's a lot of funny too.

I suppose I should back up: Peter and the Star Catcher is a Peter Pan prequel. We get Peter and the Lost Boys and the first Wendy (Molly) aboard a ship. And Captain Hook is there too and even pixie dust, if you know where to look.

The play is divided into two parts: the first Act is about setting up all the parts and putting them into position, and was definitely the slower of the parts; the second Act is about dumping everyone on the island, setting off all those explosions, and seeing what happens, and is definitely the more delightful half.

The humor in the play was very mixed. It ran the gamut from fart jokes and slapstick to rather clever word play and playful anachronisms. Unshockingly, I found the first dull, but appreciated the last. Actually, I was humored by some of the slapstick, like god-save-the-queening a banana.

The connections to Peter Pan were well-done and fun, particularly in the few cases where they subverted expectations.

The staging of the play may have been the most notable thing, because it was innovative and interesting. I think part of this was used to hold up the flabby first half of the play ... but it did so. For example in one scene Molly races through the ship looking for pigs, with a series of ladders being used to represent his trip and the actors playing out momentary scenes as she burst into each room. There were lots of practical effects like that, representing the sea, flying, and more. They even fought with rock-scissors-papers.

Overall, I enjoyed the play, though some of it was over-the-top and some was under-the-belt. But, it was generally fun, and a fine extension of mythology. I love ever-growing mythologies.

It really makes me want to see Finding Neverland, to add to my trilogy of Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan, and now Peter and the Starcatcher.

(And I hope the next Playhouse play is actually a musical!)