But here's my field ed update. I'm still trying to figure out a routine for myself during the week, since my "office hours" are flexible, and this morning I tried something new. Once I had gotten up and gotten dressed, I went to Dilworth Coffee @ Denver. It was a great way to start my morning--had my own chill journalling time, drank an Italian cream soda (which wasn't on the menu, but I told the barista to add half-and-half to my vanilla Italian soda and she was fascinated), finished making my info sheet for possible field trips for the older adults at church, and so on. I also gave them one of my CDs in the hopes that I can play there sometime this summer--they have a neat little patio where they apparently have music sometimes. It being so close to HCUMC, I could hopefully get a crowd to come out from the church if it's an early show. :)
Most of my time in the office today was spent helping (or trying to help) LeaAnne with the powerpoint setup for Sunday. I made a slideshow to play while the choir sings David Haas' beautiful anthem "You Are Mine," so we had to do some problem-solving to figure out the best way to integrate that into the worship service.
Janet Howie took me out to lunch at the Dragon Buffet (Chinese) (oh and that link goes to www.LakeNormanFoodie.com, a blog I just discovered and am now following), which was nice. I learned that she has lived in Denver/Lowesville for 79 years and has been a member of HCUMC for the same amount of time. (Hint: she's 79 years old.) Many of her children and grandchildren live very near her, which seems to be the case with a number of the families I've met around here. It got me thinking--I guess I quality as a "city girl," and in that context, there's this idea that you're supposed to go to college and get away from your family. That's probably even more the case for Duke grads, who aren't supposed to move back home after graduation (but several of my friends did. Go c/o '09!). But there's a sense of closeness and loyalty within families that gets lost in urban living, I think.
Another thing that got me thinking was my first home visit, which I went on with Pastor Val this afternoon. We went to see Marie, a very sweet woman who unfortunately has been sick for almost a year now. She said she had only been able to make it to church 3 times since last October. I had met her husband, Ron, yesterday at the coffee break, and he had shared then about how he was appreciating his wife so much more now that he was trying to do more in the way of housework and even sometimes cooking. Marie has been struggling with nausea for a long time, and she told us that the other morning she felt like she really wanted cantaloupe, so Ron ran out to the store to buy one. Seeing and hearing how this older man was taking care of his sick wife as best he could was touching but also a little sad. I've always wanted to live to be old enough to be the awesome old lady who can say anything she wants and get away with it, and I think part of why I don't like hospitals and nursing homes is that I don't like to be faced with the reality of aging. In the car on the way back to HCUMC, Val and I talked about how we both want not to be a burden on our loved ones. It makes me sad, because I know that more than just about anything my grandfather wants to die quietly in his sleep and not be a bother to anyone. But he's getting old, and his health is slipping in many ways--and he knows it. I'll probably be musing plenty more on spirituality and aging as the summer goes on. Today I was left with a vague sense of sadness more than anything.
Also, it was darn hot today (please note Thursday's high, not the current temperature, which is actually pretty nice). I went for a bike ride around 4:00 and I still don't think I'm re-hydrated enough. Crazy.
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