UMBILICALLY SPEAKING

Reality is setting in.  There is no way I will be blogging each and every day.  And I can see that as a good thing or a bad thing.  The bad news is that I'm not able to relate everything that is going on. . . because there's just too much, and daily posts are the only way to possibly touch on nearly everything.


But the good news is that I'm so extra busy with my choir job, that I'm spending much more time with PEOPLE.  Like interacting.  And negotiating.  And planning. And collaborating.  And Laughing Laughing Laughing!


I am seriously out of my hermit mode this summer and I see that as a good thing.  


But speaking of umbilical cords. . . . . . . . I know. . . . we weren't speaking of them at all, but it's 11:00 and I'm out of segues.


Apparently, as I learned from Facebook, my ONLY source of news for the last year, there have been vicious storms in the Virginia/DC area.   I first noticed the FB posts from my friends in DC:  "This one is REALLY bad!"   "Out of power, heading for hotel."   And then they were offering to put each other up in their homes.   And then from Afton, the Afton Mountain Winery (home of my "Thursday at Three" events with Sandy) posted that they were closed due to the storms!  "Storms?"  I thought, as I hurried to the choir loft to sort music.  Somewhat reminiscent of last year when I heard murmurings of "the earthquake that hit Virginia" being bandied about the grounds (see blog entry of last year).   


My first indication that it must have been significant was when Dave texted me to ask me if I knew if my house was okay.   "Uh. . . . . no!"  He was more concerned about the canvas garage he constructed on my property last spring to hold a bunch of his stuff.  And sure enough, a couple of hours later he was sending me a picture because he was there. . . . at my house.   He assured me that one branch had bent one of the supports on his structure, but that my house was fine.


Then he said that while he was there, Bill and Sandy stopped by to see if the house was okay.  And later Sandy emailed me that all was fine.  And then today I got a phone message from George the Trainer at Five Star Health and Fitness wondering if I had heard about the storms and assuring me that the house was okay.


Umbilical cords!  To my life back at home!  How lovely.  I didn't ask anyone to check on the house. . . . I didn't even know there was a storm!  And yet here are my friends checking on my behalf, keeping me tethered to my 9-months-of-the-year home.


When I'm up here, especially now that I have this job,  I immerse in the culture and friends/family of this place.  I am so busy and involved that there is almost no time to remember that other people in other places love me and are thinking about me.  To be so cared for is such a gift.  I am grateful to all those people every day. . . . and I look forward to being back with them.   My life is an embarrassment of riches.


And speaking of that. . . . .Week 2 is Jim Lehrer week.   He will be moderating all the talks in the amp this week.  Today he spoke with Andrew Kohut, president of Pew Research Center.  They spoke about polling and how it influences elections.  The official title of this week is "The Lehrer Report: What Informed Voters Need to Know."  I'm excited for tomorrow because one of the guests is Donna Brazile.  Last year she was a last minute fill-in for a speaker that had to cancel at the last minute.  She is wildly popular up here.


I have worked out at the gym only twice and seen one movie.  Not my general modus operandi.  But new modi operandi might be in order for me.   I'm juicing and eating right, and God knows I'm active.


So onward I go.  Having the time of my life in this cooler, tamer weather pattern, and gobbling up every bit of experience I can.  And firmly attached, via   virtual umbilical cord to my loved ones back home.