It was not an hiatus!

Major internet problems at my house. I'm in the home of my friend Deloras, who is letting me use her very reliable internet to make this post.

This is going to be a great week, theme wise. But I will miss Joe and Paco who are leaving tomorrow morning. Every single week at Chautauqua takes on a dynamic of its own depending on the theme and the people who are here. Seeing "my boys" at the concerts and on the grounds, and being able to sit with them at concerts and laugh and share stories of my life back in Northern Virginia has been memorable. Hope they come back next year and that they look me up!!!

I had three acts of affirmation happen to me today within about 10 minutes of each other. I was listening to the afternoon lecture. When I got up to move, my friend Deloras waved to me and said that she had picked up extra tickets to this afternoon's chamber music presentation. These tickets are given out while I'm in choir each week, so I never have a chance to see this concert. I was so happy to get this ticket. Immediately after that I turned around to see Jean Chandler, Phyllis and Bill Duty's daughter who invited me to dinner with her parents on Wedensday night. Then I went home and got an email from a former student from my middle school pregnant girls class. . .Sindy. She had been looking for me and found me on Facebook. I was floating on cloud nine after these three examples of people who had remembered me and included me in their lives. What a gift.

This is going to be a great week, topic wise. This morning heard Ed Mazria, founder and CEO of Architecture 2030 discussing ways to survive the energy crisis in this country. Gave me lots to think about as I ponder how I'm going to rennovate my new house in "green" ways. Then this afternoon heard Diana Eck of Harvard University . . . we get lots of Harvard people here. . .talk about religious pluralism. Great wisdom about how our nation has to become more accepting of each other in order to create a nation that can withstand the challenges of the future.

So . . .losing Joe and Paco, but finding that there are wonderful people and opportunities still here to make each and every week special. Life is good.