The last few treefrogs were finally tiring of their incessant argument when I woke at 5. There was a little gray daylight beginning to seep into the sky and my heart knew it was there, even when I covered my eyes tightly with a pillow. I wanted to get up and see if this was the day that something wonderful would happen. Eventually, though, I convinced it to wait a few more hours.

Yesterday, we walked to Nancy's and salvaged a good-sized egg from next to one of the two chickens in the nesting boxes. They had plenty of food, but I added a little fresh water from the hose she had left there, with a little on-off valve. There is one chicken in a cage on the back porch. She had been badly pecked by the others and Nancy didn't think she would live. But she seems to be recovering pretty well. I had to give her more food. Then we walked home. It was already pretty warm and we got sweaty.

We passed the community center, where Jay was getting ready to grade around the outside with a small bobcat. He said, "welcome back." The day before I saw Sky and Basil picking blueberries for the market. There are tons of them and I am sure it is a lot of work. They welcomed me home as well.

I had arranged to have a volunteer (doing community service for his second DUI in 6 years) meet me at the office at 10:30. I gave him my cell phone number in case he was able to get there earlier. He called about 9:30, just as I was getting out of the shower. I said, "I wanted you to call if you knew you were going to get there early, so I could make sure someone was there." He walked over to Huddle House and had breakfast. Ray and I drove in, stopping at a homeownder's to pick up the weed-eater. A young woman came to the door. "Isn't it right there in the carport?" "No," I said. "I don't see it." She was gone a while and came back to say her brother had taken it back the day before. It would have been nice if someone had called to tell me.

I dropped Ray off to catch a bus and went to the office. No one was there, so I used my back-door key. For some reason, there are no extra keys to the front door. I turned on Nathan's computer and waited for it to start up, getting myself some water in a coffee cup. I printed off a couple of pages from the draft volunteer handbook to give Jorge when he came back. I found the weed-eater on the floor in Nancy's office. When the young man came to the door with a wire running out of his ear, I welcomed him and had him fill out an application and gave him the information about the Land Trust to read.

Kate was to bring the van in at 10, with the lawnmower, but she didn't arrive until 10:30. Meanwhile, I showed him the weedeater and he seemed to think it was broken. "Do you have a flat-head screwdriver?" "hmm," I said. "I bet there is one here somewhere, but I don't know where." I looked and found a paint-can opener, which he was able to use to pry open a compartment of the weed-eater. Other people began to arrive. I got him a jug and a plastic cup, so he would have water on site. We carried the weed-eater and the water to the van and added the loppers and hedge trimmers that I had picked up from the homeowner.

The van is old and beat-up, but it runs. There isn't really any air conditioning, but the fan works well to blow hot air at us. I find the right house, painted blue with a for sale sign and the Land Trust phone number. It looks cute and the yard is not too bad. Jorge begins picking up small branches and debris and I leave him to it. He will call me when he is done. I also point out a lot down the road that he can work on as well. I take his backpack with his laptop for him.

Back at the office, there is not a lot for me to do. I answer the phones and do a little work on the computer, but mainly I look at the Land Trust's facebook page. When I start to get hungry, I eat a Lara bar that Ray has bought for me. It is not that tasty, but I hope it will stave off starvation until I can leave.

It is almost 2 when he calls me back. He has finished both lots and drunk half a gallon of water. He wishes he had a hat and is coughing a little. I tell myself we need to buy masks for the yard work volunteers. I would hate to have anyone get sick on my watch. I take him back to the office and he calls for a ride. I get in my hot car and go pick up Ray, who has bought some lunch, including a sandwich for me. I am happy to let him drive while I scarf it down. It is mediocre UGA food, but healthy and filling, chicken salad with Caesar dressing and romaine in a whole wheat tortilla wrap. I am so hungry, I can't think of anything but eating.

As we turn into the drive, my parents are coming out. We stop and open our windows. It is really hot, but my Dad tells me they have made tomato sauce and eaten some of the ratatouille I left for them. "It was delicous," they tell me. "Except that it needed some bacon or something," he says, with a smile. "Just kidding." "Thanks," I say. We talk some more about the garden and they head home. It is quiet and comfortable in our house. I let the chickens out. We turn down the AC and eventually it becomes cool enough for me to relax. I read my email and look at cookbooks and almost fall asleep.

A little before 7, we head to Your Pie for the Wednesday night trivia. We did this a few times last summer. Wednesday night choir rehearsals are suspended until August. Becky and Kent will meet us there. We arrive and Becky is sitting there. I study the menu while waiting in line and decide on the pizza I want. It has to have protein and vegetables and they have one that sounds great. You can even get whole wheat crust. It doesn't look very crowded. I send Ray to check the back porch. No sign of the trivia set-up. When the server asks me what I want, I say, "is there trivia tonight?" "No," he says, "we only do that while school's in session." "Well," I tell him, "that's not what it says on the website." And, I think, not what happened last year.

I am disappointed not to have my pizza, but thanks to my iPhone, I figure out that there is trivia tonight at the Blind Pig Tavern. The location I call says it is in the other location (listed on the website as opening soon, with no phone number). He thinks it starts at 7:30 or 8. Ray and I hustle out of there, since it is almost 7:30, leaving Becky to wait for Ken. He won't use a cell phone, and has been playing golf, so we can't reach him until he shows up.

At the Blind Pig Tavern, the sign says Full Contact Trivia (whatever that means) starts at 8:30. The waitresses are young and attractive, wearing really short shorts and a very casual attitude. Not my favorite kind of place, it is clearly a college bar that serves food. We order drinks (iced tea and water) and by the time we are ready to order food, Becky and Kent have joined us. We are glad to see them. Kent and Ray chat some. Becky and I have had lunch together the day before and communicate regularly.

It takes a long time to get the food, but it is really good. I have a big salad with grilled chicken and it takes a while to eat it all. Ray has a sandwich, Becky a cheeseburger. None of us has any alcohol (it doesn't help you win trivia contests). The game is good and well run. There are lots of sports and music questions and I do not contribute anything all night. Kent has several hard answers, and there is an earthquake question that Ray is sure of. We are in the top half of the scores most of the night, but never the first three. The last question: How many statues are there at Easter Island (plus or minus 100)? You can wager up to 20 points. If you miss it, you will lose half of them. In order to have a chance of winning, we bid all 20 points. Our guess? 700. The answer is 828, so we were nearly close enough but not quite. Our dinner (for two) only cost about $25 including tip, and the peach cobbler with ice cream I ordered before the end. We head home contentedly, planning to come back next week and sit farther from the loud music.

Restaurant review

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book was engaging and emotional--two klenexes. Like the Secret Life of Bees, it features strong women characters, including one African-American woman. Both books have plot elements that seem a little far-fetched, mixed in with excellent story-telling, some unresolved mystery, and (in this case), a lot of romance. Jessie falls in love with someone not her husband, but is it because she is trying to find herself?



View all my reviews

Well, that sucks. I finished my book last night about 11. I said, that's not too bad. I can stll get enough sleep. then I lay there for an hour. It was just cool enough to open the windows instead of letting the AC run all night. The tree frogs were loud. Ray was snoring and changing his position. I was mourning my iPad and wishing I had a real meaningful job. I am just not doing enough at ALT to keep me engaged. I love the organization, but I need to do more challenging and stimulating work.

Yesterday, Ray didn't feel very good. He thought maybe he was getting a cold. He had an appointment witht he doctor anyway to talk about diabetes. He is going to try to eat only 2 or 3 carbs a day, low-fat  everything, and no sweets for a couple months and see if that improves his sugar levels, before trying medication. we have already been moving in that direction, so it is a little discouraging. But it could be worse.

I had lunch with Becky and Deb. Deb and John leave for Turkey and Barcelona romorrow. Becky just came back from Turkey, Geece, and other places on a cruise for Ken'ts 60th birthday. I was jealous. Although I have certainly done my share of traveling.

I came home at 3 and he was asleep. I made a nice 2-course meatless Italian dinner, with chard and asparagus from the garden, and eggs from our chickens.

Sadly, I left my iPad in my hotel room. When Ray got up yesterday, I double-checked with him and we unpacked everything. Neither of us remembered packing it. The best we can determine, I left it on the bed and it got covered with the bedclothes. I was tired and rushed and it was new enough not to be part of my routine, I guess. I am grieving its loss. This morning, just before I woke up, I dreamed I was back in the hotel room and it was right there on the bedside table.

Ray slept pretty late. We picked some berries and I headed out to the Land Trust. There wasn't a lot for me to do, except answer the phones since Nathan is away. Heather and I will hopefully talk today. There is a staff meeting at one.

Ray called the hotel, but they said it wasn't there. In the afternoon, I called the Charlotte police to report it. I don't think there is much chance to recover it. I practically don't blame someone for holding onto something like that if they found it. Of course, it is more valuable to me than to someone else. My convention notes are on there for one thing. But I am also afraid that they will still be getting my emails on it and could use them to access financial information. I feel very foolish and sad.

We went to the pool, picked up a few groceries, and had a simple supper in our own home, just the two of us.

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...

Lovely cool and sunny weather yesterday, until it started raining moderately, which was fine with me, having worn my new raincoat just in case. We went to the Cloisters, but didn't leave until noon because Molli wasn't ready. The cloisters was lovely, especially the walk through fort tryon park to get there from the end of the subway. But it was a little smaller than I expected and I was starting to get hungry. There was a modest cafe there, but Amelia was planning to leave work to have lunch with us. We grabbed on sandwich and a couple drinks and hopped a bus downtown. The iphone is really handy in ny and other cities. There are apps that tell you the best way to get somewhere from where you are now. I used to have to walk out of my way a lot, just to figure out where I was. And of course, you can read about restaurants and find the one you want in a convenient neighborhood.

In this case, Amelia chose a Thai restaurant for us. We changed to an express train subway and beat her there. After lunch, we all headed back uptown to the rest of the Metropolitan museum of art. It was 4:30 when we got there, but we had already paid at the cloisters. There was an exhibit on guitar-mskign, which especially interessted Adrian, since he did that for a couple years before going to college. Then he wanted to see famous paintings by Picasso and Dali, so we found our way to modern art. He was having his picture taken with all the famous paintings. As Molli said, they must do a better job of teaching about culture in other countries. Sadly, they began closing that section of the museum before we were done there. We wandered past roman statues, and Adrian had his picture taken with some of his favorite philosophers.

We were pretty tired, especially amelia, who is burning her candle at both ends, staying up late and doing dishes, being a good host, and getting up early and going to work. As we were leaving the museum, after a brief visit to the gift shop, people were streaming in. It was a special event, the museum mile, where a dozen museums along fifth avenue were open from 6-9--free! Too bad we did not know and plan. However, the Met was not reopening the modern art section. And Adrian really wanted to buy shoes, especially sneakers.

So, we walked along in the rain and went into a shoe store, great selection, good prices. He bought boots and dress shoes, but didn't find sneakers he liked. Another shoe store was down the street, but Ray and I chose to go back to the apartment. They came much later, but mostly because they stopped at the grocery store.

For supper, we had crackers and cheese and chips and guacamole, and more birthday cake and ice cream. And veggies and dip. I had gone light at lunch, so ate quite a bit. We played some Mille bornes, although 3 teams is pretty slow going, and left at midnight.