“My thoughts first turn to Spring mushrooming when the cottonwoods start to leaf out and release their delightful Spring scents. Along the riverbanks and in other moist areas I begin my hunt for the elusive and well-camouflaged early morels. " Morels, Truffles and other Spring Mushrooms: an annotated slide show.

Also in the current Flagpole, of particular interest to Randy:

_In related news,The Minus 5 is preparing to embark on a brief tour of the United States in support of a split release with the Young Fresh Fellows entitled _Let The War Against Music Begin… Because We Hate You _, due out this spring on Mammoth Records. The Minus 5 is fronted by guitarist-keyboardist-songwriterScott McCaughey who led Seattle·s Young Fresh Fellows to greatness in the ’80s and ’90s and currently performs live with R.E.M. The group - comprised of McCaughey, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck , The Posies’ Ken Stringfellow , John Bamberg and Bill Rieflin - is scheduled to appear on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” on March 13.

The Flagpole writes up Baby With the Bathwater.

Sometimes you need to know the latin for a piece of dinnerware, and at times like that, the Roman Dinnerware Word List is invaluable. But why stop with dinnerware?

Today marks a year that I’ve lived in my country home. (Well, my landlord’s county home, anyway.) I knew going into this that my life would change living there, but I never could have guessed just how much better things would be. My play ends this weekend, and then I’ll put in this year’s garden. It’ll be twice the size of last year’s, which is pretty crazy (according to some people). The chickens will come soon. I’ve asked the owners if I can get a dairy cow (or maybe a couple of goats), but chances are slim of them allowing that. And, of course, I have overalls. And then, there’s Chris.

Spring is in the air, and tax refunds are in the mailbox. So far, I’ve cleaned out my Amazon shopping cart, ordered a mess of cheesemaking supplies, and got five gallons of wine bubbling. A few outstanding debts will be paid, a garden will be planted, and there should be enough left over for something nice.

A new species of camel has been discovered in the deserts north of Tibet. I suppose this will give more ammunition to the Yeti-searchers. ("If a large camel could go undiscovered for so long, it’s not far-fetched that an intelligent hominid could go uncaptured for so long in roughly the same area, now isn’t it? “)

Chickens - The Play. I’ve only read the first few pages, and it’s odd. Very odd.

I’m now officially a farmer. Long-time readers will know that I’ve dabbled over the last year, but it’s official now. This weekend, I bought a pair of overalls. At the feed store.

The response to my play has been overwhelmingly positive. I actually had no idea up until the first audience watched it how it would go over. I’m very, very pleased. For those of you far away and not able to come watch, here’s my director’s notes:

�[This Durang play] is so filled with non sequiturs that you have to do each thing with total conviction � if you try to look for a stream of consciousness like you would with any other playwright, it would just get in the way.� Thus spoke Dana Ivey, who first played the Nanny at the American Repertory Theatre. This is true for the actors; it is true for me as director; it is also true for you as audience member. Baby With the Bathwater is a challenging play for everyone involved. It�s not often you see such a play presented in Community Theater � these kinds of things are usually reserved for universities and edgy professional theaters � but I think it�s very good to do this type of show from time to time.

You are probably reading this before you�ve actually seen the show, wondering what I�m going on about. Christopher Durang is well known for taking an aspect of society and making us think about it by presenting extreme examples of how things could really be. His hit Sister Mary Ignatious Explains It All For You took on organized religion. This play takes on a topic that�s been brought to the forefront by politics recently: the family. And in true Durang style, we�ve been given a family that�s easy to laugh at because it�s gone so terribly, terribly wrong while simultaneously offending us for the very same reason. You point and laugh, and feel guilty for doing so. Even worse, you�re likely to spot yourself in some of what gets presented.

Durang hasn�t held back. Everything about family life is fair game. Some scenes you may agree with, while others may hit too close to home or make you angry. That�s good! That�s the power of theater. People used to riot, overthrow governments, and hold debates after watching theater. While I�m not advocating violent revolution, I am sad that the overwhelming majority of what we see today is weak �feel good� stories and mindless entertainment. And of course I don�t just mean live theater, but also movies and television. It�s good to see something provocative from time to time. It reaffirms what we are doing right as a society and point out areas where we could do better. Don�t be afraid, though � I think this is a mighty funny script. I hope you laugh a lot. It�ll only sting a little.

This is a small cast (especially by Town & Gown standards), but it took many more people than you see to make this show happen. I�ve tried to list them all in the credits (If you helped and I forgot to mention you, I�m sorry. Thank you so much for your help.), but a few people I need to thank more. I designed the set, but Ben Teague was able to take my ideas and build them. His ability to take scribblings on the back of a napkin and make something that works the first time continues to amaze me. Beth Kozinsky is my first-ever assistant director, and now I wonder how I ever went without. Bill Akin made business cards for everyone, helping with the publicity effort and making the cast feel like professionals. Steve Wildey and Amy Crow continue to be the best. Chris Johnson is beyond words. And the Cast. I asked them to attend two set calls, and they came nearly to all of them. I gave them a schedule made tight by the holidays, and they came out enough ahead that the final week was anything but stressful. They took my concepts and ideas and created characters that are (I�m certain) exactly as Durang intended. Thank you, everyone.