Friday night I had planned to go to a local coffeehouse to hear a jazz band and then home early. Of course that didn't happen! A couple days earlier an SOS went out for a driver to take one of our elder congregants to Friday night services. I knew her and had driven her before and why not? Someone else was available to drive her home. So I picked her up and we went, then I figured I'd stay for the service which was the annual Teacher Appreciation celebration.
Instead of the jazz concert, I ended up at a pop-up flea market at the Hartford Denim Company. It is close to my temple, and I figured that if it was not fun I could still get the back half of the jazz concert on the way home. As soon as I walked in someone was calling my name - we'd been in a show together earlier this year, and she was one of the vendors. So I ended up hanging out and shopping, taking home a few vintage clothing items; a stack of vintage SF magazines that I firmly told the vendor I was planning to read, not buying to resell; and a gift for one of my best friends that I cannot mention here because I haven't given it to her yet.
I'll confess that part of the reason I went was because I'd heard the Hartford Hot Several was out that night, and at an event last month they performed and at the end of the night their accordion player started to chat me up a bit. But we misconnected (he asked if I was coming to the bar next door for the after-afterparty, but when I got there the music was techno and I knew I couldn't take a couple hours of that and still function as early as I needed to the next day) and I thought that if they came to the flea market I'd get to chat with him some more. However, they hadn't arrived by the time I left (wearing week, too many 5:00am and 6:00am meeting - my "late day" began at 7:30am), although I saw a few members during the evening. Oh, well!
Saturday was flat-out. Yoga class (I have graduated back into all-levels) and then bible class, then I went to the ReCreate event in Elizabeth Park. I found out later that this had been pulled together in three months, and couldn't believe it! The event was full of speakers on various topics (although the one speaker I really wanted to hear was a no-show), a field full of vendor booths, yoga and zumba classes separated by some great band performances, an ongoing community art project, and so much more. All under a brilliantly clear sky and healing sunshine!
Y'all know me - I went to see what it was about and told a friend who was vending that I would sit her booth to let her take a break, and of course ended up spending most of my time helping with the art project:
After helping my vendor friend and the artist pack up their stuff, I headed out with my friend the photographer and we ended up sitting in her car for an hour catching up and planning concert-going for the summer. Regrettably, one I really wanted to do falls on a night of a show I am stage-managing this summer. Why don't these organizations check with ME before confirming their schedules???!!!
Of course I didn't go home after that, except a quick change out of my Star Wars T-shirt (it was May the Fourth, after all, and I had to let my nerd flag fly!) into something more presentable so that I could attend a performance of As You Like It in which two friends were performing. Still are, this weekend and next, and I highly recommend you see the show if you can. They asked me backstage for the evening's cast party, which was mellow and fun but of course I didn't get home until something wee-o'clock.
No sleeping in on Sunday, except maybe by comparison. I had a meeting to attend, then participated in the Walk Against Hunger with a team from my temple:
That's not all of us, some people were running late and arrived just before we stepped off. I took a few pictures of the crowd as we walked:
It's hard to see in these pictures, but the crowd stretched halfway around Bushnell Park. They had a couple of water-and-juice stations in the park, with COLD water for us to drink, and at about halfway a local marching band gave us energy:
I didn't get pictures of everything: The crowd gathering to walk, many in matching shirts such as we wore (you can see a lot of them in the random shots), the drummers sending us off, the dancing afterwards, and so forth. You really have to be there to appreciate the energy of all the different groups who are there to support Foodshare and other organizations as we try to wipe out hunger in the greater Hartford area. There were no ideologies here: Christian (LOTS of flavours: Methodist, Lutheran, Quaker), Jew, Muslim, unaffiliated, and all ages from fairly wee ones to fairly older ones. We all had one purpose, and we walked TOGETHER.
We all shared in the Popsicles and paletas waiting for us at the end of the walk:
I had to make another fast change after that into something pretty because there was a great two-congregation concert, and I was one of the greeters for the portion at my congregation. It was a marvelous afternoon of music!
After that, I went home and worked on the Extra Boy Sweater I mention in my other post. Luckily I didn't have to work on the weekend (although I did check email a couple of times), and Monday was a bank holiday in the UK so the team with which I work there was off, and I didn't have to work too early or late. I was glad to have had as much time outside as I did, over the weekend.
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