Ray and I went to the Forum at the Fellowship yesterday. Rabbi Gerson was talking about the possibility of peace in the Middle East. It was very interesting. I have met the rabbi and heard him speak before. I would have said I respected him. But he definitely has blinders on regarding Israel. He said several times that the information he was presenting was factual, but he clearly has strong opinions on the issue (not surprisingly). He said any nation has the right to defend its borders...and that the Israeli government is willing to negotiate (and give up settlements), as soon as the other side stops attacking them and recognizes their right to exist. It was interesting and a little intense.

During the service, I sang Simple Gifts with four other women, one playing a guitar. I wanted to sing something familiar, so we wouldn't have to stress about it, or practice very much. The congregation applauded when we finished! I did not expect that. All I was going for was no obvious mistakes...

Thomas, our pianist, played for the last time during this service. He is moving to NY, where his partner will be going to graduate school. He is a great knitter as well as a wonderful musician, with a cute smile. He played, "think of me, think of me fondly, when you're far away," (or whatever that is) during the offertory and I got teary. I will miss him. I am sure a new one has been hired and maybe I will like him or her even better. I hope Thomas loves NY and is successful there.

After making salad nicoise for lunch (with a little help), I suddenly felt somewhat sick and went upstairs to lie down. Instead, I ended up working on lining up the volunteer schedule for the Democratic HQ, starting August 2. Quite a few people had expressed interest, but when they were all assigned to two-person two-hour shifts, there were a lot of blanks on my schedule. Hopefully, I will hear from more people this week.

Ray and I made couscous and took it to the Kenney Ridge potluck at Karen's house. She lives in the old farmhouse and it is so nice to see it fixed up and lived in. Her son-in-law is a contractor and lives next door in Molly and Gwenny's old house and he did a great job. It was pleasant to share food with some of our neighbors, although I would have hoped more would come. They didn't have enough for a quorum at the quarterly business meeting. Manita made a delicious blueberry dessert, but Ray said it wasn't as good as my mother's blueberry pie.

When we got home, we spent a little time making a list of things to take when we go to the beach. It was good to get a start on thinking about that.

We watched Calendar Girls with my Mom. It was very fun; more like a documentary, but really interesting and well done.