Home!

I woke up at 7 and was so excited I had to get right up, even though it was after midnight when we went to bed. I'm not even sure what time it was, I was so sleepy. Ray, of course, drove us home, the last hour or two in the rain, so I was kind of dozing most of the time, making sure he had good music to listen to--found a Three Dog Night CD, so all of us were singing along when we weren't dozing. Except Aleta, who mostly didn't know the songs (since they were from before she was born, I guess).

It is so wonderful to be able to walk around my spacious quiet house. I have had this experience before. I want to clean and tidy everything and keep it nice. My parents stayed here while we were gone, and had the cleaning lady come before they left, so it's really very nice. And there is a lush garden out front, and fresh tomatoes on the counter. I know there are lots of beans in the freezer, too. It is hot and humid out, but not in the house, yet today. The dog is quietly watching me and waiting to see if I want to go for a walk--or feed him.

I love the Charlotte skyscrapers.

crane in the plenary hall

The convention center was huge and full. About 4000 people. We walked a lot and I enjoyed the singing and learning. I was particularly inspired to start working on making our congregation part of the Green Sanctuary program. I also want to work with the youth. But I had sort of a crisis of faith over the Ware Lecturer, Karen Johnson. I have her book, although I haven't finished reading it. Her thesis is that we all need to be compassionate and she has a 12-step program to help us do it. But I was agonizing over the idea of always considering other people. If I truly live my life that way, I'll go mad. And I won't get anything done. If I spend all my time treating others the way I would want to be treated, I would have to enter a monastery and become a Jain (they watch wear the walk to not step on bugs, I believe). I am not sure they accomplish anything, because they are so worried about others. Of course, even if I wanted to, I think it would be very difficult. Right now, perhaps, I should be putting things away and making sure that Ray will have a nice breakfast and a nice tidy house when he gets up. But don't I have to be true to myself as well?

choir rehearsal

Amberin her element

We spent the week (Tuesday-Sunday) with Ange, Aleta, and Michelle, in a suite. It was a great arrangement. It was a little ways out of town, though, and Ray and I drove everyone back and forth. They have a small light rail line and a couple of times we took people to that station instead. The trains are kind of slow and don't run very often, but it is probably better than no transit. There are also buses.
We made sandwiches a couple of days and I made a batch of pasta salad, with the leftover mayonnaise, lettuce and the last garden tomato we brought, as well as some green onions I bought.

ready for the rally

UUFA marchers

There was a grocery store near the train station, so I went there after dropping the delegates off. The signs were in Spanish as well as English. They had cactus, queso fresco, and three kinds of dried chilies. The employees spoke to each other in Spanish, the announcements over the PA system were in Spanish, and the cashier greeted me with "Buenos dias." But they had whole wheat pasta and the other things I needed. It was a surprise; I guess it was the Spanish-speaking part of Charlotte.

I also bought a few items of black clothing at the Goodwill not far from there. I really liked it--it was smaller than our Goodwill and well run, with lots of nice things to choose from. I bought a couple of skirts and a dress for me and a skirt, pants, and dress for Aleta. I was annoyed that I didn't pack anything black to wear (one t-shirt, and maybe I could have worn my jeans since I wasn't in the front row), and especially that I didn't bring my special scarf that is sitting in my box at UUFA. I missed a couple rehearsals while I was traveling and maybe Amber announced it then. But Aleta didn't know either. Anyway, now I have some new black things that didn't cost much. Aleta chose the dress; it really looked like something she might have already owned. Now I have a size 8 skirt from Ann Taylor Loft and a pair of silk pants from Talbot's (petite). Only $3.97 each. But I don't know anyone else that size. My dress was $4.99--and it still had the tags on it, brand new. It's a teeny bit large but I was glad to have something nice. Both Aleta and I prefer not to wear black usually. I know all three of them much better than I did and our time was generally very pleasant.








 

Sarah Dan was one of the soloists

Ray took a picture of the choir on the "Jumbotron"

Charlotte convention center

beautiful parks

 

skyscrper reflected in church window

art museums

self-portrait in the mirrors

As usual, I learned more about myself. I like taking care of other people. I coordinated everyone's plans, so the UUFA contingent went to lots of different workshops. Not sure when and how we will debrief...