Before the Conference
First
stop after picking up Donna-Jean
at the airport: Half Price Books!
On Thursday, Karen and I were dropped off at Half Price books while
Lynn returned to the airport to pick up Donna-Jean. The sheer amount of
great books is staggering to the point that it overwhelmed us and we
both had to stop for a coffee/tea break. I filled my cart (how many
book stores have grocery carts??) with books, then mentally totalled my
purchases--and had to put half of my finds back! My best discoveries:
The Oxford Book of English Verse,
Eothen in a book, classic
poems read
on cassette, and Christmas cards by one of my favorite artists, W.A.
Bouguereau!
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Chatting about books (what else?) in
the living room after Wendi showed
up.
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That evening, Wendi finally arrived. Leslie S also showed up for
dinner, and our group (minus Anne) was complete. We spent the evening
around Lynn's
living room talking about books, possible texts to use for various
years, how we met our husbands, and other things. Dinner was take-out
from Ali Baba, a Lebanese
restaurant. I had always heard about falafel and baba ghanoosh, and I
finally got to sample it! The table was set with beautiful china while
we served ourselves from styrofoam take-out boxes. The blessing before
the meal was sung from lyrics that are painted on the wall up high near
the ceiling, around all four walls of the dining room.
We
had dinner later at Lynn's, which
began with a prayer that we sang, reading the lyrics off the wall of
the
dining room!
Notice that we're all looking up to
see the words, except Donna-Jean,
who just happened to already know them by heart:
"O Lord, we thank Thee for this food For every blessing, every good For
earthly sustenance and love Bestowed on us from Heav'n above. Be
present at our table, Lord Be here and everywhere adored Thy children
bless, and grant that we May feast in Paradise with Thee." (Lynn says,
"It's from a photo I saw in Traditional Homes magazine of Garrison
Keillor's dining room." See also Cyberhymnal)
After dinner Leslie S unpacked the
T-shirts!
