Taking a Break

I sit right now in our best friend's house in Miami relaxing from a very full week of pleasure, refreshment, and learning. Having been named Clerk of Sarasota Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), I am eagerly serving the Meeting, something I feel I was born to do. Knowing I have much to learn about clerking, I was thrilled when the Meeting agreed to pay my tuition to a Clerking Workshop at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study center outside of Philadelphia. Thus, began my break from the usual, with a bit of a trip down memory lane.

Pam and I drove to Miami, along with all our pets on Monday, Nov 16th. After an overnight stay, I flew to the Washington, DC area where I stayed with my sister, Becky and her significant other, Paul Silva.

On Wednesday morning, I went out to the new Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport, where I spent the morning. The highlight of that visit was seeing the actual plane I had ordered a major and his family off of when I was in the Air Force. It was a Lockheed Super Constellation C-121, which had just returned from the Caribbean and stopping at Charleston AFB, SC. I was told that a major and his family on board were going to continue on to the plane's base in Martinsburg, WV. Since civilians were banned from flying domestically on Air Force planes, the practice being in direct competition with the airlines, I had to tell them that, while the major could fly, his family could not. How blown away I was when, reading the fact sheet on the plane to learn it was the one I had such a memory of! That afternoon, it was off to see my high school sweetheart, Sally Eckbreth Rosholt. We have been in touch over the past few years but had not seen each other in over 40 years. How the years melted away. We had a fantastic visit with each other. It was quite fortuitous that her husband, Don, was doing some substitute teaching that day, so I didn't have to share her with anyone, save her 2-month old granddaughter. The 3 1/2 hours we spent together flew away in such a hurry.

Thursday it was off to the U.S Capitol and its new Visitors Center, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and Ford's Theater. On the way back to Becky's on the Metro, I did run into a bit of a problem, though. When I arrived at the Courthouse station and tried to exit, I found that I needed an additional 45 cents to exit. Putting a dollar bill and the fare card in the exit fare machine, both were rejected. I found the attendant and a very nice lady gave me a couple of quarters, but refused to change my dollar bill. I graciously accepted them and went back to the machine, only to have them rejected as well. Having visions of Charley being stuck on the MTA, I called to the attendant, who was leaving at this time. He opened the gate for me and let me exit. Fortunately, the lady was still there and she got her two quarters back.

On Friday, it was time to go to Pendle Hill, with a stop in Baltimore to visit the B&O Railroad Museum and Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum. At Pendle Hill, I had a very fulfilling weekend learning the ins and outs of clerking from Arthur Larrabee, General Secretary of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and a person who is well-known in Quaker circles for his expertise in clerking and the training of clerks, be they meeting clerks, committee clerks, or those simply interested in personal enrichment. Learning "at the feet of the master" was a great experience. While I am fairly well skilled at conducting meetings in an orderly fashion, the workshop really gave me some great pointers at handling matters from a spiritual perspective.

After the workshop was over and before I headed back to Becky's, I met one of my all time best friends, Tom Hoopes, who is on the faculty at The George School, a Quaker secondary school in the Philadelphia area. Having known Tom when he and his wife, Beth Castiglione, were in Madison, I had not seen him in over 13 years. It was such a delight to spend some time with him and his two boys over pizza before departing. Unfortunately, Beth was not feeling well and I was disappointed in not being able to see her.

Back in DC, I spent Monday visiting Dad and my Uncle William at Arlington National Cemetary before heading to the George Washington Memorial Masonic Temple in Alexandria and then down to Mt. Vernon for the afternoon. It has probably been 50 years since I visited there. They have a beautiful new visitors center with many exhibits and movies depicting the life of George Washington. On the way back, I blew past our first DC area house, 219 Guthrie Ave in Warwick Village, Alexandria. My, how the area has changed!

Back to Miami yesterday, Tuesday, where we plan to spend Thanksgiving before heading back to Bradenton on Friday. It has been a very full week and a half so far and my energy level has been great. Although I would sit down and rest from time to time, I never felt tired or fatigued. I imagine it is the fact I have kept very active and not sat around. Looking forward to a productive visit with my cardiologist next Tuesday. I am hoping the worst of my health concerns are far behind me. Time will tell...