Telling Your Story
Have you ever had front row seats for a concert or event? Did you have to stand in line for hours or days to get the prime real estate? Did you win them or were they gifted from someone or a business or did the price send you into shock? Were you close enough to catch the sweat from a working performer or maybe catch a guitar pick, hat, or other memento tossed from the stage into the audience?
If you paid extortion price to have front row seats at a concert, you were probably very enthusiastic about the performer or performance, and it was meaningful to be at the center of the action.
I've never experienced front row concert or performance seating; I'm much more familiar with the most distant, nosebleed sections of a venue. Once I worked my way up to the front of the stage at a Charlie Daniels concert at a fairground and have the photos to prove it. Another time I waited in line to get an autograph from comedian Jerry Clower but have lost the proof to that meeting.
The only other celebrity closeup was at the Blue Gate Theatre in Shipshewana. The Marshall Tucker Band was unloading their equipment backstage from the tour bus when we drove in the hotel lot. In an uninhibited moment of boldness, I approached the bus, exchanged pleasantries, and snapped the picture to prove that, yes, my friend and I spoke with and encountered Southern rock legends.
I've got front row seats for a show right now, but it's not your usual concert type. I've got a comfortable seat which I didn't wait in line for hours to secure, spend a month's wages on, dreamed of one day experiencing the performance, or even knew I wanted to watch the show! This show is being put on by a pair of unknowns, and possibly even first-time performers. The pair, which goes by the stage name of House Finches, chose a fern basket hanging on my front porch to build a home and raise their family.
Their stage choice is a little sketchy, which makes me think this is their first real performance as parents. They have an audience throughout different parts of the day where people will be watching what they might prefer to live in private. The fern is under the eave and protected from rain, but when it gets windy, their home's foundation turns into a scaled down version of a carnival ride, spinning and swaying in the breeze. Cats are regulars on the porch rail but so far haven't seemed to notice that their space is being shared with songbirds. Their bad choices could lead to disaster, but we will see as the show goes on.
They've built a cozy home and lined it with wool. It looks soft, warm and inviting. They might be adding on to their home; string from seed or feed bags showed up yesterday and is dangling between fern fronds.
So far, one little egg is in the nest. We try not to interfere but also don't want to miss the first act, so we track family expansions when the pair leaves the nest.
Unlike a stadium concert, this performance is quiet and entertaining in an entirely different way. It won't be two hours of concentrated stimulation, instead we hope to have several weeks to watch the story unfold.
I've got a front row seat and am looking forward to the entertainment!
Bev Berens is a freelance writer and empty nester from Vestaburg, Mich. She can be contacted at uphillfarm494@yahoo.com.