Saturday 9/25

All day Saturday was spent in preparations for the muppet party. The night before, Tony had constructed a mask for JP out of paper maché. JP just needed to paint and detail Gonzo’s face. That day, the Jury’s had masses of guests dropping in and out. We got to meet Tony’s mother, Celia, who is absolutely adorable. She lives in a house on a lower piece of the farm property. She shared loads of old stories with us as JP made hair out of pipe cleaners and I assembled giant eyelashes to look like the muppet Janice.

Closer to 7pm, I mixed orange face paint with nasty $2 store foundation and began brushing it on as JP painted his hands blue. Now I’m convinced that more than anything, I looked like a clown or an old woman who was no longer able to apply her makeup, but everyone around me insisted that my costume was perfect. I don’t think they would have actually had any idea who I was if I hadn’t made an electric bass guitar out of cardboard. J

Tony and Sharyn were for sure the best though. J Sharyn was Dr. Teeth and Tony was Bert. Oh man they looked so funny. Tony already shaves his head, so they just had to add black fuzzy stuff to give him Bert’s goofy hairdo. Sharyn painted herself green and gave herself a red beard. They looked awesome.

Now this nighttime, early spring during a storm party – was outdoors. It was cold. I stood next to the bonfire most of the time, which was where most of the people were standing (go figure) so I got to meet a lot of people.

One person in particular was really interesting. I talked with a man, a dairy farmer, who spent about half an hour trying to convince me that America is the best country on the planet – not an opinion one would expect off shore (nor onshore for the most part). He told me that while New Zealand might be one of the best possible places to live, as a country, they’re extremely lacking. And went on to tell me how economically and morally (yes morally) no other country can compare to the US. He also told me all the things he wants to do in the US when he gets the chance to go, including motorcycling from coast to coast and spending a couple of months trekking through Montana. As he went on and on (JP was drumming with the band for a lot of the night) I began to feel that he knew more about my country than I did, and began to long to return actually. He kept talking about all these amazing places that, well yeah, I’d love to go to as well. It’s funny. The US really is a pretty incredible place, with so much diversity and so much to see, but when I dream of travelling, it tends to be internationally. Funny. I still think it’s good to get out though – for perspective.

Well, we talked, danced, sang, drummed, and generally had an awesome time with all the other muppets – until around midnight ---- and then JP and I left as the party raged on through the rest of the night. The Jury’s let us take one of the cars to get back to the house to get cleaned up before church in the morning.