Distracted in Ashland

After a pleasant breakfast in the garden of the McCloud Hotel, we visited a local art gallery and gift shop where the owner filled us in on the epic battle developing over plans by the Nestle Corporation to build a huge bottling plant in the town to take advantage of the pure water that town residents drink for free. The dispute has already been in court and probably will return there for future battles. The townsfolk are divided over the alleged "pros" (new jobs, money for all, "clean energy") and the "cons" (600 trucks a day rumbling through town and down the highways, possible water pollution, and so on) of the project. We took a quick drive up to the site of the defunct lumber mill where the bottling plant will be built, then headed west and north, skirting Mt. Shasta and pointing our "land yacht" towards Ashland.

At midday, we rolled across the California-Oregon border and down the mountain and into the little town that Shakespeare has made famous. We lunched on wraps (with cutesy names like "The Wrap of Kahn") sitting at a restaurant window seat and watching the tourists and locals on their perambulations up and down the main drag.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching "Distracted", a clever little comedy poking fun at the hulabaloo that parents, medical professionals, and educational institutions get into when they question whether a child might have "ADD" (Attention Deficient Disorder) or is simply is a normal, but unique kid, trapped in a world run by dysfunctional adults. "W" (our beloved President) plays a cameo role on LCD TV monitors hung over the 4 sided square in the center of the theater that serves as the stage. As his image gazes down on the audience, one of the actors reads the criteria (e.g., lying, getting into conflicts) used to diagnose ADD, bringing forth a load of guffaws from the audience. All of the to-do focuses on one family with a son allegedly suffering from ADD. The kid's disembodied voice arguing with his parents, yelling the "F-word", and otherwise misbehaving and acting "abnormal", is all that marks his presence as an actor in the play until he finally appears on stage (as a completely normal and lovable kid) during the final scene.

Tonight we'll catch one of the last performances of the "Green Show" of music and dance that is traditionally held outdoors in the plaza between the theaters before evening performances in the summer. (Next year, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is switching to a "new" and untold format for this evening event). Then we'll see if "Amuse" restaurant can live up to its past ability in amusing our palattes at dinner.