Groovy!

Cameron spent the weekend on stage in the middle school production of "Groovy", a very cute take-off on Woodstock. Cameron played a music promoter who tries to tempt a hot band (The Lemon Bugs) away from playing a small gig at a love-fest at a local apple orchard by offering them a big contract. It was not a big role, but Cameron played it well. He has a very natural presence on stage and pulled off a very good "bigwig looking down his nose at the local color".

The process of settling in here was very hard on all of the kids. Cameron really struggled with finding his place here after finding his niche in a small school. We prayed so hard for him to get a role in the musical. He had to sing (a solo) in his audition, something he had never done before. He was initially placed in the chorus--where he was both disappointed at not getting a speaking role and relieved that he was in it at all. A few weeks later a student quit and with the shuffle, Cameron landed the role. Last night he said that while he loved his school in Tanzania and still missed it very much, he was really enjoying the opportunities for actitivities that a large school offers. He's already trying to get us to promise that we won't move again until after he graduates!

One of the most gratifying aspects of parenthood, I'm finding out, is watching your child become their own person. Cameron has grown so much in the past year. His ability to make these big life changes, and begin to take on more responsibilities in making decisions and managing his own life grows every day. It does take a bit of getting used to, this letting your child go off with friends and do things separate from the family, but he is proving thtat he is responsible to our rules and his school and other commitments. After 3 play performances, he's skiing today and then going to a big Christian concert (Delirious) in the city tonight, sans parents (I'm sure that somewhere in there some homework is definitely getting neglected), so it's likely that Monday morning will produce a less-than-cheerful teenager getting ready for school!

This is one my favorite shots. I think the boy in the brown in front of Cameron (who was the lead) should be a bit worried. Cameron clearly has his eye on him (and that role)! Cameron wore a great hippie costume when he was singing in the chorus and pronounced his Nehru jacket "very cool" and thought he might like to get one of his own made. I suppose he'd wear it with his latest fashion interest, Converse high-tops (which he was able to talk his mother into last night, what with all the maternally glowing feelings I was having towards him and all--and then, not to short-change the other 2, laid out the $ for shoes for them, too).

Cameron's scene is only a couple minutes long. I taped it, but something was wrong with the camera and it insisted on only focusing on the plants behind the actors, so it was completel fuzzy. When I get a copy from a friend, I'll post it here and you can say you knew him when!