Sylvia's Journal

I was glad I did not have to race on the Charles River yesterday, against the fierce winds, or stay up late to root for the Red Sox; it made Sunday a stress free day as Sundays are supposed to be. I got busy making more mustard, batch six I believe but I lost count. My office is filling up with jars.

During Sunday morning Quaker meeting I managed to stop the left brain chatter and get deeply into the silence, something I cannot always do but I am practicing. It was followed by communal singing. This is not a Quaker tradition but we have so many musicians in our small community that the urge is unstoppable. It made me want to play guitar badly.

After Meeting I started to prepare the goody bags for our OBTS board meeting. I inherited the idea of goody bags from my predecessor and enthusiastically continued it. I know exactly where all the dollar stores are. Twice a year I knowingly support our trade deficit with China, buying useless junk with a short shelf life. But it provides cheap fun for a brief moment, when we start our fall board meeting next Friday in Charleston, South Carolina. I compensate the cheap junk with quotes from wise men and women, some dead, some alive and some poetry. That took me the rest of Sunday, as I searched for quotes and poems that might enhance our board process. It is a little tedious because there are so many of us.

Chicha and I played Frisbee. I am improving my throw and she her catch. There is now a path across the lawn that is slowly being hollowed out as she sets up for the catch, always following exactly the same route and the same distance. We also went for a walk, with Tessa once again the trainer and me the one holding the bag with the cookie rewards. We are making very slow progress but Tessa is firm and steady. She’ll make a good mom one day.

This morning I was the last one to enter the kitchen. Everyone was up. I am not used to this crowd during my early morning hours. It has always been my private time, to putter around and no one there to change the agenda. Tessa and Steve have decided to commute by car, having made the calculation (it is half the price of two sets of train, metro and bus tickets) and Axel is off to another vestibular therapy session at MGH. So now I am home alone and queen of the house again, starting my day with a phone call to Afghanistan.