When I was a kids, I mangled socks into puppets and crafted stages out of cardboard boxes and performed in front of family and tortured guests. In Junior High I performed my "Tribes of the Kalahari" with socks rather than give a speech. My teacher thought it was creative. Little did she know that I much preferred hiding behind a puppet theater than standing in front of classmates and talking.
For seven or eight years I designed and built a new puppet show every year that our local arts council would offer to teachers for their classrooms. It was a great opportunity for me to try out different puppet styles (hand puppets, marionettes, ventriloquism, rod puppets). These puppets are from a show featuring "Digger" the mole and the kid who magically floated away from his home for an adventure. Can't quite remember what the snake was doing...
Puppets are one of those passions that have stayed with me most of my life. And like lots of these kinds of things, I don't know why...it just is. This summer, for obvious reasons, I'm teaching a course on the life and teachings of Mr. Rogers - not only a puppeteer and Presbyterian, but a wonderful human being. It's worth it to watch this youtube remix of Mr. Rogers.
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