August 17

The thing about being in Chautauqua for two weeks straight, is that I seem to be giving myself permission to not be so frantic about trying to do everything. Because if I try to do everything (especially in the heat and humidity) I will die and miss part of my stay.

Keeping that in mind, here was my day.

Choir practice at 8:15 and service at 9:15.

This week's theme is Cuba. And I wasn't sure I would be all that interested but so far there's lots to learn. I have to decide when to fit in my workouts, and it appears the morning lectures may have to take a hit. But I attended the overview of the Cuban situation this morning and enjoyed it. From there I dashed (so much for not being frantic!) to the Hurlbut Church for the lunch special to go. I went to the porch of Alumni Hall and heard a book review by a woman who was born in Cuba but left as a child. She was great to listen to. So not only am I eating my lunch and listening to a great speaker, but I'm on a charming porch with wicker furniture and people sitting at picnic tables on the grass, breeze blowing, sun shining. Yikes! It's heaven.

My first session of my writing class met in that building after the talk was over. This is a class about writing Flash Fiction. . .which is fiction in under a thousand words. One of our writing activities today was to write our entire biography in 5 minutes. I may be way out of my league on this class, but at this stage of life that only means some kind of great adventure. The worst that can happen is that I will totally humiliate myself. . . . and I can live with that! I'm looking forward to this week class-wise!

I went to the gym and did my 25 minutes of circuit cardio. . . that is 7 minutes on the eliptical machine, 7 minutes on the rowing machine, and 10 minutes on the treadmill. I was huffing and puffing for sure. Showered at the gym.

Had a nice leisurely late afternoon. On the way home from the gym I passed through the amphitheater where I was lucky enough to catch Jared, our organist/choirmaster, practicing on the Massey organ. What a thrill to just sit there and listen to great organ playing for about 45 minutes!

Went to see a movie tonight. . . .I can't resist the movies. This one was Summer Hours, which was a subtitled French film. Low-key, but very powerful. Ran into my friend Penny who is from Charlottesville and we were able to see it together and then discuss it walking back home.

What a great day!