Flamingo It!
of heroes and heroines {the third re-write}
A re-balance of life, destination, and the journey of HERE.
A new heart & soul endeavor from Drop The Reins.
{A Time to Be Brave. To Try New Things.}
Heroes
1972
The theater was filled to capacity for the premier showing of ‘The Culpepper Cattle Company’ in the small wheat farming town of St. Francis, Kansas. The old theater on Main Street still ran its film projector through the square hole cutout located just above the balcony. The faded and scuffed red velvet carpeting barely covered the steps and aisles. The smell of hay and farm boots filled the air.
The lights dimmed and the seated crowd hushed in expectation of the start of the show. It was perfectly quiet. Cigarettes had been extinguished in the lobby yet ethereal smoke wafted in the air suspended in time. The movie began. The light from the projector streamed its colored magnificence to the wide movie screen below illuminating the trail of dust in the air and the crackling sound of the opening scene of a Western prairie.
Then it happened.
‘Hey, Mac. Don’t ya think that grass could use some waterin’?” hollered my Uncle Rueben in his Kansan drawl. We were seated in the upper balcony. The whole clan of us. His bull-riding buddy Mac was seated somewhere down in the first row section of seats.
The theater erupted in laughs and hoots and comments and banter.
As an 11 year-old girl, I didn’t know you could yell in a theater and have the entire theater start laughing. But apparently you could in this small town of generations of farmers and rodeo riders. My uncle was the original Marlboro man, cigarette dangling Hollywood-style out the side of his mouth, a true cowboy, black hair and blue eyes, a chiseled tanned face, and a professional bull rider to boot. He was bigger than legend to me.
I chose Uncle Reuben as my first hero.
Heroines
Having chose a hero, I decided I might need a heroine. I thought long and hard to make just the right choice. The contestants list was narrowed down to Dolly Parton, Cher, and my favorite movie star actress.
Introduced to The Sound of Music as a young child, I adored this movie. Our family was a musical performance group and my heart simply soared while watching the Von Trapp family singers dance and perform.
Julie Andrews, the actress, became my first heroine.
That was then.
I am Here.
The best actors and actresses are those who portray their characters in such a way that the viewer (us) can believe we can be like them. Or perhaps, we can change something about ourselves to accomplish something we see in their story.
Even as I edit [now the third re-write], I feel more centered, having found my course. In You Could Make This Place Beautiful by author Maggie Smith, she says her story changes as she changes.
Recently I committed to practicing my violin every day, as a professional. I looked procrastination in the eye and gave it a boot. Everything has shifted in my paradigm.
Asking myself who might be my heroine here today, my choice is Pascale Hutton. She is a tremendous “BLARE” every time she enters the screen in When Calls the Heart. She is the irrepressible Rosemary. Her energy, pizzazz, and performance is awe inspiring.
I became a Hearties fan in the first season of When Calls the Heart, over ten years ago. Based on the Canadian West book series by author Janette Oke, the story tells the life of Elizabeth Thatcher, used to high society life, follows her dream of becoming a school teacher and bravely moves from the city to teach in the small country town of Hope Valley. Elizabeth must learn the ways of the Canadian frontier.
Elizabeth and Rosemary (Pascale Hutton) finally become friends after the triangle with Northwest Mounted Police Officer [Mounty] Jack Thornton is resolved.
Is my life in balance or out-of-balance?
Where did my sense of romance go?
What do I want to do in life?
Can I commit to making lasting lifestyle changes?
Dear Negativity, Here’s your burn notice
I believe it is important to have heroes and heroines. Not to mimic or idolize, but to look toward to find inspiration and courage to take action upon one's deepest desires. Acknowledge long held wishes for dreams-come-true.
The delta flow. It all started with
Winter Writers’ Sanctuary 2023, where I was introduced to Substack and began writing Drop The Reins. This endeavor introduced me to The Wonder Habit where I joined the #100 Days of Wonder challenge and now am near completing sketching horses for 100 days.Mapping new destinations. On Substack I met
who writes The Family We Keep. I was inspired by her writing to do something about my music hiatus. To check my resources and make a commitment to a dream that got left somewhere in a dark corner of nearly forgotten. Fiddlehed {Fiddlehed.com} fits me perfectly. And I am now playing every day in their Season 1 Pilot {PED} Play Every Day. As well as a daily workout to get strong {DRT} Dressage Rider TrainingThere was not choosing One Road to Start >The answer was to Start All on one road.
And it dawned on me,
I cannot bring old negativity into my new life.
Let the re-balancing begin with me.
I hope this inspires you.
Daily check-in. Beauty not striving.