Gobsmackingly Beautiful

This is a term used by someone to describe Chautauqua according to President Tom Becker's final weekly column in today's Chautauquan Daily. What a great description of this place. Tomorrow night is the ceremonial closing 3 taps of the gavel. . .according to Becker, "a reminder that the work we do here in these nine weeks is in service to the living of our lives throughout the year." These words are so true. I always come away from my time here with new learning to pursue, new ways of living to investigate. The idea to sell my house and live small was hatched last year at Chautauqua. I have read books I didn't think I'd ever read, attended lectures I never thought I'd be interested in, met people I never knew before, considered ideas I hadn't even heard of. The rest of my year is truly shaped by my time here. Supreme Court here I come, for example.

I LOVE my new bike! It was a glorious cool day and I rode off and on all day. I arose early enough to see Bill and Phyllis off this morning. I took my bike out to turner for my workout. The beauty of this, is after taking the "long way" to get there, I don't need to start my workout with 20 minutes on the treadmill. As a result, I got an extra long weight training today, and took the long way back on my bike. I'm going to love having this bike next year. And since my landlady was less than thrilled about my storing it in the apartment, good old Dave Lollis of DOC said he would store it there for the winter with all their bikes. How cool.

Things were very quiet, relatively today. I took my lawn chair out on Bestor Plaza to observe the traditional "bubbles in the fountain" which takes place on the last Saturday. Seeing the fountain looking like a giant bubble bath really brought home that the season is over. I sat out and read Little Bee. . .I'm half done with it. .liking it alot. I admit I had a Buckeye ice cream cone. I recently discovered Buckeye flavor ice cream. . . peanut butter ice cream with chocolate/peanut butter buckeye candies in it. Good thing I don't have access to that at home. Took a one hour nap after my work out and all the biking.

Walked a load of clothes up to the car. On the way back, caught the tram and took it once around the grounds for a final look. Gorgeous day!!!

Biked to choir practice. . .the last one. And then went to the Bob Newhart show. He was hilarious. I remember listening to his albums which my dad had when I was a little girl. He performed one of his classic routines from the first album: Driving Instructor. What a thrill to see that in person. He is 81 years old and still going strong.

Tomorrow is the morning service and the evening sacred song service. Between that I will go to the St. Elmo's restaurant on the grounds with one of my choir buddies. .first time eating there all summer.

What a gobsmackingly beautiful summer I have had!