Flow and Gratitude: Blood on the Veil in Orlando -- Part 3 -- Mudpies and Automotive Madness

"It's all going to work out..."

So far I had survived various scheduling and cast-wrangling mishigos, and a few travel hiccups. And after a good night's sleep, I was stoked for my first and last rehearsal with the cast of Orlando's Blood on the Veil.

Our sponsor, Rita, met me for brunch in the early afternoon where we went over some administrative details, briefly rehearsed the trickier parts of the cane dance, then packed up props and technology to head up to Apopka, a suburb to the northwest of Orlando.

Me with two of Lisa's fine horses.

Lisa Stern, a dancer in the show who also runs the gorgeous Trademark Equestrian Center, had generously been letting the cast rehearse in her studio during the weeks leading up to the show. Normally the trip takes under a half-hour. But we were caught in Florida's mid-afternoon monsoon, which slowed the trip down to 90 minutes!

As the rain pattered to a drizzle, we arrived:  Off the beaten path (or what path there was, was beaten by hooves!), and lush with greenery, and kept lively by many four-legged and feathered friends, we drove along the muddy path and parked on higher, firmer ground.

Our senior dancer Phoenicia,  however, was not so lucky.

In Lisa's Studio. L to R: Sarge, Rita, Lisa

Around 10pm, when we had reviewed her part of the show, she asked to leave early as she had a long drive ahead of her. Lisa went with her to unlock the gate, as Rita, Mariposa and I continued to rehearse the cane dance for an hour, figuring Lisa would want her house back at 11pm.

An hour later, as we packed up our props, Lisa burst into the studio.

"Can you guys give me a hand? Phoenicia's car is stuck. I think if we all give it a good push we can get it out." We trundled out to the hapless vehicle, mired in a loamy mixture of mud and horse manure. We braced ourselves against the grill and pushed mightily as Phoenica floored it in reverse. Again and again.

Communing with Gentle Sarge

"I called AAA over an hour ago," sighed Phoenicia. "I'll try them again..."

"Maybe we should try from the back and let me take the wheel?" Mariposa suggested -- which seemed like a good idea since her father had taught her to race stock cars. While Phoenicia gave AAA another nudge, Rita brought her car around and turned on her headlights so we could see what the #$@% we were doing! And we rammed ourselves against the rear bumper as she sped forward.

The wheels spun. Again and again.

Now it was near midnight. Phoenicia said that the AAA driver was down by the airport -- over an hour away!

Lisa disappeared and returned moments later with sheets of cardboard. "Here. Let's try these." We jammed them beneath the front tires and tried again.

Nada.

She then brought a half-broken chair with flat legs. We ripped the chair apart and jammed the legs beneath the wheels, banging them in fiercely with two shovels.

Still nothing.

It was after 1am. We were muddy and exhausted. "Any news on AAA?" we asked Phoenicia. "The other driver had gone home sick," she sighed, "They are sending someone else."

Lisa brought her truck by, hoping we could nudge it forward -- but her fender was too high and would ride up straight into Phoenicia's hatch.

"What would you like us to do?"

"Just go home," Phoenicia offered, "I'll wait here."

Absolutely not, we decided. The driver was over an hour away -- we had to try every possible option. And we were certainly not going to leave her there.

Digging a path to freedom .... we hoped!!

The front tires were now buried up to the fender. "Let's try digging out the front?" I suggested. So Mariposa and I grabbed our respective shovels, wrenching them into the mud for nearly an hour, flattening over a smooth yard of packed dirt in front of the car. We dug beneath the wheels so the front was completely clear and the wheel bottoms were visible.

Lisa and Rita pulled up slabs of concrete from the driveway and we jammed those beneath the wheels.

Mariposa floored it, while the rest of us pushed and pushed.

And the wheels just spun  ... we began to smell the rubber burning against the concrete.

Now it was after 2am.

Rita was fading -- and she had to get up the next morning to work. "The rest of us can sleep in," I told her, "Please, go home and go to bed. We'll stay until AAA gets here."

So she reluctantly headed home while the rest of us washed off our feet. About 20 minutes later, AAA arrived.

"He's having trouble reaching the hook beneath the car," Phoenica said. Apparently the car had sunk so deeply that the hook beneath the front fender was buried. We dug out a bit more, and Mariposa managed to pull back just enough.

The right-front wheel was dug in nearly a foot.

And the tow was in place!

In moments, the car was free and Phoenicia was on her way!

(Sidenote:  It turned out that the chassis was resting on solid and apparently non-muddy ground, while the wheels flew free!! At right is a photo taken two days later. See where the right-front wheel had dug itself in like a deranged groundhog.)

Mariposa and I said our goodbyes to Lisa and her furry friends and headed south -- aching, exhausted, and ravenously hungry.

"Pancakes?" she suggested as we approached a waffle house. "Yeahhhh!!!!" She swung into the parking lot, and within minutes we were ploughing our forks into syrup-soaked waffley goodness at 2:30am.

Mariposa digs in to well-earned yummies!!

Bellies full, we headed back to the Drury's for some much-needed rest.

After all, tomorrow was showtime!!!

To be continued...