"What won't photo's buck do?"

The next night, we were in Buffalo, where the Christmas show played to one of the largest crowds we've ever seen in Buffalo. (Well, I mean at one of our concerts, not like at Rich Stadium or what have you.) Some nice folks (from, was it Rochester?) brought me a somewhat belated but quite tasty birthday cake. The next night, we returned to North Royalton (Cleveland, to you and me) and had another large and enthusiastic crowd. We were a little confused by the sign at the church. As Michael pointed out, there was little chance we were going to fit through that tiny intercom. Fortunately, someone came and opened the door and we were all set. Also at that stop, we were a little cramped for space and I wondered if I didn't violate the sound equipment rule that one's cords should never overlap when laying them out.

Let's get small!

"It's all up to code, Inspector"

"I'll have a blue Christmas for certain"





Is that a full-time position?

After the Cleveland show, we all drove back to the Toledo area. The next night, we returned to the church of our pal, Rev. Mike Hout, Juggler Extraordinaire. As usual, we had fun trying out various unicycles and juggling equipment before and after the show. From there, we continued west to Indianapolis, where we met the first-ever Christmas Slide Girl! Also, we were reunited with our pals Scott and Becky, and their children Lauren and Jay, though I neglected to get a photo of them because I am The Loserman. Anyway, we drove off into the snow to get to St. Louis, where we played a little pre-show show for the host-church's middle school. (That's a lot of modifiers there.) Then we set up for the evening show ("the late show is different from the early show"), and played said show. Great crowd, great juggling, great acting. (As an aside, to give you a sense of the size of this church, here's a sign from one of the office doors.) Also in St. Louis, we met a group adorned in their homemade LOST AND FOUND gear.

After St. Louis, we drove into the night, northward, to stay in Rockford, Illinois. The next night's show was in The Metroplex (with apologies to those offended by that term) of Minneapolis. Wow, that was a huge crowd! We were stunned by the attendance, and the show was marvelous. Wished we could have stayed and basked in the afterglow, but we had to drive off into Wisconsin to stay in Eau Claire (as in, ". . . the moment I met you I swear"). The next day's drive led us into the fine town of Roselle, Illinois (Chicago to you and me). Our friend Dave turned out a fine crowd, and got us some of that groovy Chicago-style pizza before the show. How excellent. With the snow starting to pile up, that night we stayed in Milwaukee, which was great because the next night we were playing Hale's Corners (Milwaukee to you and me) where we had yet another fine showing and show. After we left, I took with me a sheet that I found left over from the worship service, held earlier in the evening. With Christmas morning coming soon, I'd been trying to get into the habit of following instructions. So, I did my best with the tool I had at hand.

"Really?"

"How's that?"

"You can do it, Justin!"

That night we stayed in Milwaukee again, and the snow REALLY started to fall. The Fitz family couldn't get their rig moving (that's not a figure of speech, I'm referring to their touring vehicle), so they opted to stay behind as Michael and Justin and I stuttered forth toward Michigan. As you can see, it snowed fairly fiercely. Though we fought on, it was to no avail, as the concert in K-a-l-a-m-a-z-o (oh what a gal) was postponed for three days or so. Instead, we continued on to my house in Toledo where we watched the Buffalo Bills get trounced once more due to bad coaching and the inability to recognize that Doug Flutie is the most interesting thing in football since . . . since . . . I'm searching for a metaphor here . . . well, since Doug Flutie played in Canada, that's when! Anyway, Tuesday found us stunned to find that the Utica, Michigan concert (that's Detroit to you and me) was also postponed due to bad weather. (Ouch!)

The next night, our friend Chad (not of the Floridian variety mind you) hosted the show down in Bowling Green, Ohio (that's Toledo to you and me . . . or to me anyway). The weather once more turned harsh after we arrived, and lots of folks cancelled their plans to see the show. However, in the words of The Bard, "The show must went on." Or, I guess I had to modify that a bit. We had fun, and my family was able to see the show, since Bowling Green is essentially Toledo to you and me . . . or to me anyway. We all drove back to my neck of the woods and waited out the storm.

Next day Michael and I visited our friend Joe Jenkins (an engineer who rocks!) to do a little recording. That evening was supposed to be my daughter's school's Christmas Pageant. (Or, I believe they call it "Winter Solstice Celebration," or "A Time to Observe Anything But Jesus," or something like that.) However, it too had to be rescheduled because of snow. So, the next night we were back at it with the rescheduled Kalamazoo concert. A fine time was had by all, and Justin and Michael and I had some time to get juggling lessons from the young Fitz family members. They had some of that new-fangled "air conditioning" in the sanctuary, and the controls were up near where the pastor sits.

Isaac Instructs Juggling Justin

"air conditioning"

The next morning, Justin flew home, and the Fitz Family had to honor a previous booking in Indiana. So Michael and I played the re-scheduled Detroit show all by our lonesomes. It was an interesting night. We handed out the programs as usual, but explained that their presence was simply so folks could sing along with any Christmas carols we ended up doing. Then we opened up the floor to requests. I jotted down the resulting set list, and here's how it went . . .

Be Not Afraid
Arise Shine
Mary Mary
Heaven
Banner Over Me Is Love
The Lamb
Count the Cost
Kingdom
Church's One Foundation
For I Am Convinced
Little Town of Bethlehem
Heard the Bells
Rachel Racinda
Lions
LOST AND FOUND (!)
Distant Land
Please Believe (still unreleased)
Multiply (still unreleased)
Slide Girl
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
Fruit We Bear
Baby

How's that for a bizarre flow? Really fun and unusual, and a fine way to wrap up the Christmas tour, that's how. This month we have a special added bonus page, with photos sent to us by Mother Fitz. They have the behind-the-scenes feel, and you can see the collection by clicking on Fitz Fotos.

With the Second Annual LOST AND FOUND Christmas Tour behind us, Michael and I both headed home for a little Christmas break. After observing the birth of the Messiah, Michael and I flew to Atlanta, where our pal Lanny had put together a fun few days for some southern folks. Some of the young people ventured over to the underground and experienced a little rock and roll firsthand. Had a great time with those folks, and then headed on home to observe the final moments of the millennium. At first, I wasn't sure just what we should do with our friends and neighbors to mark the end of the millennium as we know it. And then I remembered that old sage advice, "You just have them hang out and say things. And if they have legs that move, you move them."

Lily and her Deer Mom

"Beth I hear you callin' . . ."