Chautauqua: Day 3

The phone woke us up at 8 a.m.

“Who’s calling us so early?” Char snapped.

I stumbled to the kitchen and picked up the receiver. It was Kathy, our landlord. She made us blueberry pancakes and I was to meet her at the bottom of the stairs. One thing that will get me out of bed early is a hot breakfast. Especially blueberry pancakes. Kathy handed me a plate full of steaming hot cakes, a bowl of fruit and a small pitcher of warm maple syrup.

After we ate and the kids went to club, I sat on the deck enjoying my coffee, writing in my journal and doing yoga. Char read my blogs from the last two days and made a point to clarify that she was not a suburbanite as I had claimed. “I lived in the city longer than you have!” she said. After some debate, she had me convinced. I guess no matter how many American suburbs she’s lived in the last 15 years, no matter how many SUVs she’s driven, or how many pies she’s baked, she will always be a city girl at heart. Just like me.

I opted to skip the morning lecture given by Michael Gazzaniga, which Char said was amazing, and instead sat in the plaza and wrote, churning out four pages. Afterward I spent some time reading a book that Char gave me on how to understand men. (I’ll blog about that later. If I learn anything.)

After a picnic in the plaza, Char and I attended the afternoon interfaith lecture by Rabbi David Gordis, but we left after a half hour after not really getting anything out of it. Char went to writing class, and I spent the afternoon walking around campus.

For dinner we went to a restaurant on the lake called the Casino in nearby town called Bemis Point. After ice cream from Perry’s and some grocery shopping we made it home by 10 p.m. Another exhausting but productive day. And my toe is doing better. Still a little purple though.

On the agenda for tomorrow:

· Unity meditation (didn’t make it to mediation this morning as predicted)

· Chautauqua Prays for Peace (not sure what it is but Char says it’s cool)

· Morning lecture

· Bat Chat: learning all about bats in Chautauqua

· Performance by the voice department

· Ballet

Talk to you tomorrow.