August 20

I'm on the porch in the dark again and a storm is maybe blowing in. At least I can see the lightning in the distance and hear the thunder which seems to be getting closer. What this will do to the internet connection I have no idea. But I'm out here because I'm listening to a concert called Dueling Stradivariuses. Two exceptional violinists, each on a Strad, are playing together with no other accompaniment. It should be spectacular unless the storm blows in to upstage it. Two violins are no match for Mother Nature. I'm sure the humidity is a Strad issue as well. But that's Chautauqua. And the lightning is brighter, so I'll finish later or in my room! You know me and storms!

Okay, I'm back. The storm has blown over, and I've taken up residence in an unoccupied room that has a small porch and a view of the concert. This is great!

This was a day of running from one place to the next. After church I packed and headed for the gym for a bout of weight training. Got back around 11:15 and ran into Lois Conrad, a friend of mine from Wintergreen. She and her husband Bill are friends of the Goodells (yes, the NFL commissioner Goodells) and they come up here for a few days every summer. It was amazing that I ran into her! She invited me to join them and the Goodells for dinner at a restaurant off grounds, and I had to very reluctantly turn them down due to my required choir practice. A restaurant dinner with friends would be pretty nice about now. But I'm good at having to make hard decisions up here.

At any rate, I hung up my wet towels and headed for one of the eaterys to pick up a sandwich and then attend the Theater Brown Bag luncheon (There are several brown bag luncheon presentations all over the grounds each day). This was the final one for the theater, and included some previews of some of the acts that will be on their Cabaret concert tomorrow night at 10:30, which I will most likely not be able to attend.

From there I hauled ass over to Alumni Hall and my writing class. I share my piece tomorrow. We have also been writing fiction on 4x6 post-its. Lots of fun and challenging. I wrote one today about Sandy being out on the trail. Not exactly fiction, but fun to write.

From there I hauled ass again back to the other end to make the 3:30 movie: Departures. It's Japanese with subtitles and truly one of the best movies I have ever seen. It involves a Japanese cellist whose orchestra goes defunct and has to take a job "casketing" which is preparing bodies for burial. I know it sounds a little macabre, but trust me, this is one gloriously filmed and touching movies. I adored it and highly recommend it to anyone.

From there I hauled ass again to the choir practice, which started back on the other side 10 minutes after the film ended. I ended up having dinner around 8:00 after practice!

Speaking of nice dinners, I will have one tomorrow night at the fancy schmancy Atheneum hotel for their pre-opera dinner. I plan on having a glass of wine!

And as for Sandy, she had a long hard day today - over 11 miles planned made longer because she left her hiking poles at last night's stop and had to hike back and get them. Then there was the driving rain and storms. But she had dinner with Bill and is off for another day. What a woman!!!! RP