The crowd erupted into a cacophonous roar and moved as one to their feet as the ceiling-hung screens flashed still photos and then glimpses of moving, glittering silver. She emerged up three steps onto stage—her low cut silver top shimmering over black, tight, boot cut jeans, accentuated by flaming long red hair and her signature mile wide impish grin. Reba had arrived. As she flashed that famous smile the crowd went into an absolute frenzy and before saying one word she burst into her first song. My daughter and I are among 17,000 others watching a country mega-show concert in the Tacoma Dome on free tickets, less than 100 feet from the stage: headlined by George Strait, fleshed out with help from Reba, and warmed up by LeAnn Womack. None of them disappoint but it is truly Reba who steals the show—owning that title most have already hung on her years ago: Diva. For a tiny woman on stage her presence looms larger than life and she truly is a thrill to watch. She pours her heart out with glee for an hour and a half and never even breathes hard. After we all sing Happy Birthday to her (March 28, which also happens to be Brandon and Rachael’s first anniversary), she leaves the stage finished with her set to more endless cheering but nothing like what will ensue next as the foot stomping demands for an encore bring her back for a heart-stopping, insanely loud rendition of “Fancy”, in another shimmering flash of red dress and high heels. Man, what a performer!
Daughter had a weekend off and I had need for a visit before the move so I drove over a nasty pass filled with slush from the morning’s unseasonable snow storm and made the long trek to Tacoma Friday. It’s been a fun-filled, too short few days and I will return to Bend on Monday for another round of our move. Our intentions are to try and leave Bend on Thursday with the RV. Unfortunately the weather report isn’t looking the greatest and I suspect we could even have some snow &/or rain to deal with through eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. After a long, lousy winter, it will be a relief to drop the four thousand foot in elevation once south of Tonopah to truly go from winter’s grip to immediate summer in Yuma’s already high 80 degree temps.
Meanwhile, today will be enjoyed doing some wine-tasting with Rachael as I soak in the last of the Pacific Northwest ambiance.
