Life is like a Garden…

     With the recent passing of Leonard Nimoy, this story seems somehow fitting. As mentioned in many previous installments, you never know what will get Jeffery’s interest. In this case, I was making copies of old VCR tapes and burning them to DVDs ( you remember VCR right? The video equivalent of the 8 track tape). Well, one of those tapes was from Universal Studios in Florida back in the day when they had an attraction where you could appear in either a “Your day at Universal Studios” or “The Star Trek Adventure.” In the “Star Trek Adventure,” you could dress like a member of the Starship “Enterprise” and appear to interact with the crew, circa 1990s. Given those two choices it was a no brainer as far as I was concerned. “Beam me up, Scotty!” Apparently, my wife’s parents felt the same way as they and her twins also made the video at around the same time. So for those of you keeping score: My future in-laws along with my future daughters were endulging in the “Star Trek Adventure” at the same time as me and my future ex-wife. Sounds like a time paradox…”Damn it, Jim…I’m a part-time blogger, Not a Time Theorist!”… but I digress again. 

     

The whole idea of the “Star Trek Adventure” is you get dressed into costume and your “director” tells you where to sit or stand in a giant blue screen room with a few props and cue cards taped to the walls. They direct you to read a certain line without really telling you what is going on. As a “method actor,” this just won’t do. I need to understand my motivations…why am I reacting this way…what is the driving force behind my actions. “I can’t work this way…I’m going to my trailer!” 😉 The fun part is when you have completed your scenes and you get to see the finished product on the tape. It was hilarious and at that time, well worth the $29 dollars spent to buy a copy. 

Here is a YouTube link from someone else’s adventure so you get the idea of the finished product. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=puYICocdR74

     

So, back to the present, I am dubbing both Mom and Dad’s version as well as mine to the DVD. Nothing gets Jeffery’s attention faster than seeing me make a DVD. To his way of thinking, it goes without saying that a copy should be coming his way. I gave him one and he immediately went to his room and started watching it. Over and over and over. Now one of Jeffery’s talents is a pretty good job of mimicry. He learns not only the lines but the inflections used and if there is a hand movement included…so much the better. In watching the tape, the only people who over acted more than the participants was the “Klingons” in the story. Especially a character named “Krol.” He is Jeffery’s favorite as far as saying his lines. Dramatic statements accented with over the top laughs are right up his alley. The fact that “Krol” likes to use his hands when he talks is even better. Jeffery roams around the house saying…(in his fashion) “but be warned, if I don’t find Kirk, I’ll blow your ship across the galaxy!” Complete with the sweeping hand motion. Or it can be “You??!!! Captain???!!! Wah-hahahaha. “Don’t try my patience, Where’s Kirk???!!!! As time has passed, he has learned most of the script including the beginning instructions from William Shatner and of course, Leonard Nimoy. I find it funny and quite impressive he retains so much of the dialogue. He never ceases to amaze me. It’s when he is running about the house, echoing things he’s heard from a movie or the Internet that make me wonder what’s in store for my not so little man as he grows older. Will he be able to live a productive and happy life? What will happen to him when we are gone? I think about these things from time to time but try not to dwell on them too long. It’s better to just try to make his life as full and meaningful as we can and enjoy these moments…like a garden. 

 “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP” – Leonard Nimoy



Leonard Nimoy 

26 March 1931 – 27 February 2015

RIP