connievkuntz

April 21, 2024

I’ll think about it tomorrow

Daily writing prompt

How do you unwind after a demanding day?

I’m naturally lazy, so I’m basically always in a state of unwind. You’ll rarely hear me say things like, “I had a hard time falling asleep last night.” You’re more likely to hear me say, “Is it too early to put on pajamas?”

I’m not just lazy. I’m also anxious, moderately paranoid and generally in a state of low-grade panic. For these reasons, I hike and I meditate.

My doctor recommended I start meditating a few years ago. At first, meditating gave me more anxiety. I couldn’t do it without getting distracted and my short attention span frustrated me. I chalked meditation up as a waste of time. But eventually I learned that it was okay (and expected) for my mind to wander during meditation. In fact, distractions are welcome. Distractions aren’t trying to keep you from feeling sane or whole. Distractions are reminders that you are caring.

But over-caring (for others or for what others may think) can be harmful to the self so here’s what I do if I get distracted during meditation:

acknowledge distraction
pretend I’m Scarlet O’Hara
say, “I’ll think about it tomorrow”
go back to breathing.

I learned that inhaling through my nose for a couple or more seconds can be enough. In that short time, even if I got distracted, I still was able to create a moment of “blank space” for myself. That’s meditating. That’s it.

I listen to the meditations on my Apple fitness app and the ones on Netflix. There is a decent variety of ad-free meditations that help set me at ease on stressful days.

I also hike, but you probably already know that. Hiking is a big part of the Rockford Fringe and we lead free hikes every week. We usually hike for three miles through the woods and alongside prairies. It’s spring so there are all kinds of birds, wildflowers and mushrooms to see on our hikes. They’re a lot of fun and everyone is welcome as long as they RSVP. For safety reasons, we don’t hike with people who just “show up.”

Click here to RSVP for a hike-n-share. Thanks for reading! -Connie

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April 20, 2024

I don’t know what we’d do without it

Daily writing prompt

How do you use social media?

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I enjoy creating reels, posting photos, sharing status updates and blogging for the Rockford Fringe.

The Rockford Fringe is on Facebook and Instagram, has a website and a blog. The Fringe has used YouTube to livestream certain performances and we’ve occasionally used Zoom for staged readings, interviews or meetings. We also have a podcast. It’s called the Rockford Fringe Podcast.

Our hikes, jam sessions and outdoor events are open to the public and social media helps folks find out about our fun, free events. I don’t know what we’d do without it!

Thanks for reading. Click on an icon to see a sample of our social media! -Connie

P.S. After you like, follow and share “us” on social media, be sure to RSVP for one of our hikes!

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April 9, 2024

Stop and smell the roses? No thanks!

Daily writing prompt

What’s the most fun way to exercise?

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I love my dog Barbara. However, until recently, I never particularly enjoyed walking her. In our neighborhood, she rarely goes more than a few steps without stopping to sniff. While that might sound adorable, I assure you it’s not. When she sniffs, it goes on and on and on. It seems downright perverted and she usually goes on her sniffing marathon in front of a neighbor. Her antics cause me deep shame.

Furthermore, with Barbara, there is very little exercise to be had. She rarely lets me even take her around the block. Walking her is like sitting in Chicago rush hour traffic.

Until recently.

My kids have music lessons across town. Once I drop them off, I really don’t have much of a choice but to wait for them. I decided to start taking Barbara with me on walks around the Haight Village neighborhood. She loved it and so did I.

I then decided to take her with me on my pre-hikes. The Rockford Fringe leads hikes at least once a week and I usually* pre-hike a day or two in advance of the public hike to map out our route and make sure the trails are safe.

She was a little scared at first but then had a ball exploring the woods with me. Unlike our walks in at home, she didn’t stop every four paces. She just…hiked. Tail up, alert, proud. Sure, she’d occasionally stop to tinkle and sniff, but for the most part, she just enjoyed being in the woods.

Since then, I’ve taken her on a few more hikes. The whole “stop and smell the roses” things seems to be a thing of the past. I think she’s hooked on hiking and now I can’t wait to take her with me.

There are a couple “cons” to hiking with a dog. I’ve had to pull a couple ticks off her and she needs a bath once a week now, at least. But I’m so glad she likes hiking and I can easily say it’s a fun way to exercise.

Thanks for reading! Hope to see you on one of our public hikes. Leashed dogs are welcome — we just spread out to make room for those who bring their dogs. -Connie

The ticks are back. Be sure to check your dog (and yourself!) when you get home!

April 7, 2024

Who am I and why must I ‘sit with the sins?’

Daily writing prompt

If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?

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I finished reading On Our Best Behavior a couple days ago. It’s non-fiction but for purposes of answering this week’s prompt, the character I’m going to “be” is Elise Loehnen, the author (and narrator) of this enlightening book.

On Our Best Behavior is about making the seven deadly sins work for you, the reader. For the most part, each sin gets its own chapter but there is also a history of the patriarchy and lengthy bibliography.

I’ll tell you something as Connie: This book is primarily for women, but I see no reason why other readers of other genders wouldn’t enjoy it. It’s compelling from start to finish. I had the hardcover book but was so eager to finish it that I also listened to the audio book in the car and read the e-book on my phone late at night when I couldn’t sleep.

Speaking of sleeping, as Elise, I want to point out that there is nothing wrong with resting, also known as sloth. Women put too much pressure on themselves to always go, go, go.

As Connie, I thought about the women I know and none of them ever truly rest. And having recently revisited Our Town by Thornton Wilder, a heartbreaking drama that takes place at the turn of the 20th century, I’m convinced that no one ever truly rests.

I can’t. I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another.
Emily Webb, Act III of Our Town by Thornton Wilder

I know I, Connie, shared a picture of my husband Jesse napping with our dog for this blog post. I needed a recent photo that somehow related to this post. Anyway, I assure you, he, Jesse, rarely rests. I, as Connie, think it would do him well to embrace his inner sloth. I, as Elise, think it would do us all well.

And, as Elise, after a nice long nap, I would say that not only does sloth do us well, so does pride, wrath, lust, gluttony, avarice, and envy. So go ahead, read the book and sit with the sins. Really think about them, and let them lead you somewhere good.

I, Connie, not Elise, went to Catholic school for 12 years. I remember learning about the deadly sins in 7th Grade. I remember the intense shame I felt for being human, for simply existing. Until I read this book, I never even questioned it.

Reading this book, as Connie, was enlightening and therapeutic. I recommend it. It is exciting to think about the goodness of the sins, which is to say the goodness of ourselves. It’s a great opportunity to heal, build empathy, and feel more awareness.

While I’m at it, I, as Connie, also recommend reading or catching a live performance of Our Town. It’s an excellent play that really catches you off guard. So, if you’re like me, Connie, and don’t mind being reminded that you’re going about things all wrong, check out the book or the play.

That’s all the time I have to write. Thanks for reading this week’s blog. -Connie, not Elise

P.S. I’ll enjoy thinking about Our Town and On Our Best Behavior on our next hike-n-share with the Rockford Fringe. Join us!

You can buy your own copy but it’s also available at your library and on CloudLibrary.

March 18, 2024

The Gong Show

Daily writing prompt

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

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When I was 24, I stage managed the musical The King and I at Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji, Minnesota. Part of our set included an enormous gong that was struck with a felt mallet at key at dramatic and comedic moments. You really can’t have The King and I without a gong.

And you really can’t have a gong without a mallet.

In the 90s, I bunched my tube socks around my ankles. Cute?

One tech rehearsal I was made aware that the mallet was missing so I quickly fashioned one out of a tree branch, my tube socks and some gaffer’s tape.

I brought it to the director for approval. I remember watching the muscles in his forearm twitch as he tested the weight and movement of the mallet.

“It’s the right size and it’s a good weight,” he said.

When he finally struck the gong, he was pleased. He said, “You’re an artist.” He handed it back to me and walked away.

Did I immediately fall in love with the director? Naturally! Did I instantly commit my entire being — even more than I already had — to theatre for the rest of my life? Absolutely! And did the director’s compliment render me so unfocused and flustered that I proceeded to screw up the rest of my tech cues at that rehearsal? Of course!

There are two morals to this story:

(1) Don’t compliment theatre nerds. We cannot handle it.

(2) Every home should have a gong.

We have one and it regularly gets “gonged” for dramatic and comedic effect. We’ve had it (and its mallet) for years and I think of my “sock mallet” every time it gets gonged.

Thanks for reading! -Connie

My bio inside the program for *The King & I*. I never noticed the ad for the “certified sex therapist” until today!

March 1, 2024

All rejections should come in a haiku

Daily writing prompt

Do you believe in fate/destiny?

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In 1999, I wrote the 10-minute play The Mason Jar. After reading it, my dad emailed me and said it was “destined for greatness.”

He simply meant it was a good play and would achieve a certain amount of success. And it did.

It ended up getting produced at Stages Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Turnip Theatre Company of NYC and the Minnesota Fringe Festival. It received a staged reading at Chicago Dramatists and was converted into a short film for On the Waterfront Film Festival in Rockford. So my little play about a mom who stores her daughter’s emotions in Mason jars did pretty well.

It was also rejected at least as many times as it was accepted.

***

I’ve been working in theatre for nearly 35 years and can easily say I’ve had more work rejected than selected. That’s just the way it is for most artists.

Though most of us are educated, trained, experienced, connected and reliable, none us ever know whether or not someone will accept our work.

Though I don’t believe in fate and destiny, I believe in timing, instinct, agenda and taste. I believe in letting someone else determine whether or not something is a good fit. I believe in doing my absolute best, no matter what. I believe in accepting the wins with the same grace as I accept the losses. I believe in growing and learning and yearning to do better.

I think most artists feel this way. At least I hope they do.

Thanks for reading! -Connie

P.S. I’ve never received a rejection in a haiku poem. Yet.

February 19, 2024February 19, 2024

Merrells — and I — basically exist to get dirty

Daily writing prompt

Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.

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My friend Stella met me for coffee in Rockford on her way back to St. Paul this morning. Though we have lived in separate states for several years, we still somehow manage to meet for coffee once or twice a year.

As I was getting ready to meet my friend, I thought about wearing my new Inkkas. They’re my colorful hiking boots. They’re rugged and practical and, allegedly, help “reforest the world,” but if you ask me, they exist to be cute. As such, I think they’re darling and I was eager to show her my boots. I even thought, “Oh I bet she likes these!”

But I was also planning to go on a solo hike after our coffee so I just wore my regular Merrell hiking boots.

The trails in northern Illinois are still sporadically muddy and even though my Inkkas are supposedly “easy to clean,” I didn’t want to find out the hard way that they’re not. Merrells basically exist to get dirty so I laced ’em up.

***

It was a joy to catch up. We talked about our families and friends and music and theatre. Not once did we about boots, shoes or foot apparel of any type. In fact, I never once thought to discuss anything shoe-related because we’re not the gals from Sex and the City.

After we said our goodbyes, I headed to Deer Run Forest Preserve for a three-mile hike. I trekked through mud, past several species of animal scat, through a field, up a slippery hill, along a riverbed and through a carpet of pine cones and needles in a pine forest. I saw deer, cedar waxwings, bluebirds, mallards and Canada Geese. I also saw evidence of dead animals: bones, feathers and tufts of fur. There are several species of predators (coyotes, owls, foxes, etc.) at Deer Run who prove, weekly, that the life cycle is still…cycling.

***

When I got home, I should have taken my boots off at the door because I had just walked through so much “evidence of life.” Shoes carry all sorts of dirt and grime and bacteria. Pathogens, for crying out loud. Experts warn dummies like me to leave all of that at the door. Even better: outside.

But I am still wearing my Merrells. Yes, they’re caked in mud. Yes, I’ve tracked dried mud into the house. Yes, I know I am supposed to take them off.

But I haven’t.

They are still on my feet because my boots keep my feet — therefore all of me — warm. More importantly, they make me feel safe — like I’m not going to slip or fall down. I’ll keep them on until tonight when I take a shower.

***

Ironically, when it’s spring, summer and fall, I fully resent having to wear shoes. Going barefoot is what makes me feel safe and secure — like I’m not going to slip or fall down. I will cancel or decline activities if I know they require wearing shoes for a long period of time. Yes, I know that’s ridiculous and yes, my feet get dirty. But feet (and I) basically exist to get dirty.

I love going barefoot as much as possible in the spring, summer and fall but for the next three months, you’ll find me wearing my trusty Merrells. Go ahead and judge me!

Only a jerk wears boots in the house! (My trusty Merrells.)

Thanks for reading! If you’re in northern Illinois, don’t forget to RSVP for one of our public hikes! -Connie

February 13, 2024

When I was your age, I walked three miles to school barefoot…

Daily writing prompt

What were your parents doing at your age?

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Technically, the Rockford Fringe does not have parents. If anything, the Rockford Fringe is “parents.”

As parents, we create events for people who enjoy challenging themselves physically and creatively. The picture above shows Angelo as he hiked for more than two miles in his bare feet in February. To be clear, he wasn’t walking barefoot to school, he was walking barefoot for fun!

Hey, you don’t have to take your shoes off to have a good time, but if you like to think for yourself and enjoy pushing yourself in unique ways, you’ll probably enjoy hanging out with the Rockford Fringe. We host all kinds of exciting events. So if you’re in northern Illinois, join us!

Right now, we’re primarily focused on our hike-n-shares. After we hike three miles through the woods, we meet at the trailhead and share something creative with each other. If you’re interested, RSVP here.

Thanks for reading…and hiking! -Connie

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Reminder: You don’t have to go barefoot! It was just something Angelo wanted to try!

February 12, 2024February 23, 2024

I’ve been walking on the railroad all the livelong day…

Daily writing prompt

If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?

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I’ve been walking on the railroad all the livelong day…

We’re law-abiding folk here at the Rockford Fringe, but we have been known to bend a rule or two. For instance, when we hike, we might go off-trail or walk along the railroad tracks or harvest a mushroom or two. You’re not supposed to do those things but it’s part of how we learn about the land.

You’re supposed to stay on the trails so that you don’t disturb wildlife and fragile ecosystems. We get that, but we also occasionally carefully explore off-trail so we can find skunk cabbage, morels and ephemerals. There is so much to learn when you go a little bit deeper into the woods. When you have the time, I recommend following an animal track or a deer path or just your instinct. I guarantee you’ll see something special.

Railroads are privately owned therefore it’s illegal to walk along the tracks. Well, we walked along train tracks this weekend. Railroads are fascinating to examine “up close and personal.” It’s inspirational to see how the wood, rocks and iron all work together in symmetry to transport people and goods across the country. Explaining why it’s illegal and dangerous to walk along them while you’re actually on one is a better way to teach than just saying, “Don’t do that.”

Picking mushrooms in Illinois is perfectly legal in most state parks but it is a no-no in some natural areas and preserves. I might have “forgotten” this when I happened upon some maitake (hen-of-the-woods) last fall…

I might have harvested a little bit of this maitake…

So yes, we have been known to explore off-trail and pick mushrooms, but here’s what we don’t do:

We don’t drink alcohol in the woods. We don’t do drugs in the woods. We don’t hook up in the woods. We aren’t rowdy in the woods. We don’t play music in the woods. We don’t litter in the woods. We don’t dump dead bodies in the woods. We don’t abuse animals in the woods. We don’t let our dogs off their leashes. We don’t dump our waste in the woods.

Furthermore, when we see other hikers in the woods, we don’t hog the trails. We walk single file and smile at them so they know we’re “safe.”

We’ve been hiking for decades and have, unfortunately, seen it all. That’s why we require an RSVP when we hike. While we’ve been known to bend a rule or two, we’re dedicated to keeping you safe on the trails!

Thanks for reading…and hiking…and maybe even bending a rule or two! -Connie

You never know what you’re going to find when you go off-trail.

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February 9, 2024February 23, 2024

I simply gotta march, my heart’s a drummer

Daily writing prompt

Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?

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The Rockford Fringe leads three-mile hikes through the woods of northern Illinois every week. After each hike, we gather at the trailhead and share something creative. It can be a poem, a song, a sketch or a story.

We hike all year round. Sometimes the views are so spectacular that we’ll add another mile and stop to take pictures (see above). Other times, it’s freezing cold and the snow-covered trails keep us from lingering too long. Either way, it’s always beautiful and we’re always proud of what we accomplished!

Regardless of what elements are at play, we keep hiking. We’ll never outgrow it! Even if Mother Nature tries to rain (or snow) on our parade, we will hike! Even if life rains on our parade, we will hike! As Barbra Streisand famously sang in Funny Girl, “I simply gotta march, my heart’s a drummer.”

Don't tell me not to live
Just sit and putter
Life's candy and the sun's
A ball of butter
Don't bring around a cloud
To rain on my parade

-Written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne, "Don't Rain on My Parade" was first performed by Barbra Streisand on the stage and screen.

Every week the woods challenge us to find our footing. As does life. We hope you join us! Learn more about our hike-n-shares right here.

Thanks for reading…and hiking…and sharing! -Connie

After a three-mile hike, Richard shared a poem he wrote.

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