Elephant And The Owl

 So what causes a person to step out of line, out of character and away from their everyday routines and move in a new direction? For me, it was usually unintentional and probably just impulsive and ‘in the moment.’ Whatever the reason or motivation, the outcome was often life-changing.

It had no discernable beginning and I doubt it will ever end. It could have started when I volunteered for Vietnam because of the hazardous duty pay or maybe acting on stage for the first time or running my third marathon when I still hadn’t come out of a serious injury or a score of other self-imposed encumbrances on my long, slow journey through life. 

We are all the products of our choices. Decisions made a lifetime ago can still influence and direct our present-day lives. There have been a number of times ‘I’ve seen the elephant and heard the owl.’ In truth, I am a better person for all those experiences.

The saying:  ‘I have seen the elephant, I have heard the owl’ is an American colloquial phrase that refers to gaining experience of the world at a significant cost. It was a popular expression in the mid-to-late 19th century throughout the United States beginning with the Mexican-American war and beyond.

Pioneers would speak about ‘seeing the elephant’ in their journeys west. James Michener in his novel ‘Centennial’ made it a key point in the life of one of his characters. For that young adventurer it was an experience that left him shaken to the core and uncertain about his future.

Over the years, the phrase has become immersed in western novels, war stories and more poignant storytelling such as Margaret Craven’s wonderful novel ‘I Heard the Owl Call My Name.’ It’s been referenced in many bible stories highlighting those watershed moments and end of life experiences some biblical characters have faced. 

It’s been argued that you don’t really know who you are until faced with a catastrophe or a near-death experience. Some will say that our best life experiences come through affliction and challenges we never expected to encounter. It might be an athletic event like my third Twin Cities Marathon that stretches your abilities to their absolute maximum. I’ll never forget the unbelievable pain I had to ‘gut’ through to make to the finish line.

Now to take that argument one step further I might also suggest that for many people the act of planting ones feet on a stage could be akin to ‘seeing the elephant.’ There are a number of octogenarians and their younger compatriots who have agreed to do just that through RAAC in Rosemount, Minnesota.  But for me, before RAAC, came the Little Theater in Chattanooga.

My first experience with Community Theater started back in Tennessee in 1972. I had left public television in Minnesota to spread my wings in the Deep South.

It was a crazy time because I found myself labeled a damned Yankee in King Conservative’s Court. The Southern attitudes and prejudices against the North were still very much alive when I arrived as the new production manager at a public television station in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

 

I loved the city, the people, the new friends we met and our weekend jaunts around the Southland. My work experience should have held me in respect among my peers. Unfortunately it was my Northern linage that did me in. The stations production crew was as prejudice and un-welcoming to Northerners as anything I’d ever experienced. 

Fortunately the Chattanooga Little Theater became my refuge. It was a welcoming respite from the bigotry and ignorance I experienced at work. I crewed on the first play of the season and then acted in three more. Around the end of our fourth play I was offered a new job in Maryland and my brief, ever exciting career as a thespian came to a sudden halt. But not without some interesting observations.

I observed there’s a latent thespian in many of us. But some take it far more seriously than others. I was of the latter party. It was a challenge. I was and still am an introvert so the bright lights, grease paint and applause did little to sooth my nervousness and fright on stage. 

I think a lot of those actors found their true selves on stage. Much like politicians whose only claim to fame is their small town title, these folks truly embraced their new pretend persona. It made them feel accomplished and whole and fulfilled. I never reached that level of self-satisfaction. I was always more interested in the story-telling aspect of the theater and not the acting part of it. RAAC offered me that opportunity.

The RAAC senior theater project has been a wonderful proving ground for three of my plays. RAAC was started in 2007 by four area residents who had been serving as advisors to the city about possible future use for a church that was closing in town. Their final recommendation was that the church be rededicated as a community arts center.

Some of those seniors may ‘see the elephant’ while others might ‘hear the owl.’ But either way, vision or not, it turned out to be a great experience for all of them. Not for the racing hearts or sweaty palms and memory-challenges but simply because when called upon they met the challenge head-on. They took a chance and risked the fear and trepidation of failure for a chance to do something challenging, something exhilarating, and something that many of their colleagues could only hope to accomplish. Not a bad legacy in one’s twilight years.

Creating plays has always been part of my writing arsenal. The Coachella Valley has a plethora of theaters and theatrical groups. Thus far, two of my plays have been produced there. Yet there is still a portfolio of other plays just waiting to be discovered.

For me it’ll be just another jump-start to add to my work load back in Palm Springs and hopefully land a production there as well. Either way, produced or not, writing plays continues to be fodder for my over-active imagination and a wonderful excuse to keep body and mind active and moving.

And always on the lookout for the elephant and the owl.