In future years, maybe I'll look back and wonder why I didn't write more about a variety of political stuff: the situation in Gaza, President Biden pardoning his son, the attempted coup in South Korea (South Korea? Coup? Not words I thought I would be using this year or any year).
Instead, I moved through the day yesterday in a state of wonder. When I got up and sat in darkness, I saw a friend's Facebook post about snow that they got overnight, which made me wonder if we had gotten snow. I could see white patches on the deck, and sure enough, when there was enough light, I could see that we had gotten snow.
It was the best kind of snow, the kind that looks pretty, but didn't stick to the road or turn to ice or even last into the later hours of the morning. I knew that it would be that kind of snow, so I took a walk in the morning, hoping for some good sunrise shots. I was successful:
I got some grading done between my walk and my dentist appointment. The dentist will never be my favorite doctor, but we've found a good one here, with gentle hygienists. It makes me realize how many non-gentle hygienists I've had, how often I left the dentist's office bleeding and feeling ill for the rest of the day. And I'm impressed with our dental insurance, which makes me realize how often I've had worthless dental insurance.
In the afternoon, I helped set up for the immersive Return to Bethlehem experience. I helped last year and really enjoyed it (for more, see this blog post). Yesterday was easier because I understood what we were being asked to do. I helped set up the bread stall and the fruit stall:
I remembered really liking the exhibits on the other side of the exhibit space, so I went over to set up the dyemaker's stall. For this one, I worked alone, which in some ways was easier, as there's not much space in each stall, and the ladder takes up so much space.
I am happy that someone got these pictures of me, even as I feel bad about the weight I've gained. I'm trying to focus on the fact that I could get up and down the ladder and use the industrial staple gun to attach all the cloth to the stage flats. I'm trying to focus on how happy this prep work made me:
And I'm happy with the outcome.
Here's last year's dyemakers stall.
Both set ups are different than the picture. And I realize someone may come along and change things. The man in charge, whom I've never seen, has strong opinions, and we get to hear about them. I refrain from pointing out that we're volunteers and that the people coming are not paying admission fees to see the volunteer offering. I might feel differently if people paid over ten dollars to see our work. But I might not, because I'm a volunteer.
I am not as sore today as I thought I would be when I told the woman in charge of set up that I would not be able to come today. I had also hoped to get started on my biggest paper that's due on Tuesday, but I looked at the assignment, and I might need to rethink my approach slightly. Part of me thinks I should just start and see where it goes.
Part of me wants to go back to help with set up while these ideas are percolating. Part of me thinks that I will go tomorrow, and that's plenty of help. Plus I want to go to the quilt group at the church, so I don't really have as much time as I think that I do. There's other course work that I can do without prep time to free up more time once I'm ready to write the big paper.
Part of me just wants to bake.
So, future Kristin, if you wonder why I'm not writing about politics, it's because I want to record the things that bring me joy.
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