If the head phones are on....I'm not listening

Greetings Gentle Readers-

It feels so good to be back home. After spending the weekend in New York City, this place feels like a sanctuary as opposed to the 24 buzz of New York City and the shaking of the apartment due to the rushing of the A train below. We left here on Friday, took the bus down and I watched the changing leaves and the beauty of a New England fall.

I'm exhausted, so here's a brief listing of what I did this weekend in NYC.

1.) Arrive in NYC
2.) Dinner with the NYC sisters
3) Walk to World Trade Center site and St. Paul's Chapel
4) Called Chief Umfundisi from ground zero, other postulant hovered around
5) Stayed out until we were sure that the sisters had gone to bed.

We were given such freedom and you can bet that I took advantage of it. At times, the other postulant didnt seem eager to embrace life outside of the rules but that's her stuff and not mine.

Saturday -
6) I spent the day with my old drama student Thomas who is a freshman at NYU. It was wonderful to see an old, familiar face. We did New York touristy things--- Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, Subway systems, 42nd Street, Broadway, Times Square. We were going to go on the ferris wheel inside the Toys R Us but the line was an hour long. We had NY pizza, laughed and enjoyed each others company. It was sad to part from Thomas but I had a dinner engagement with the sisters and the other postulant.

6.5) Calling my friend the Raccoon to discover that she was out with a ton of my friends. I talked on the phone at the 42nd Street station as the trains rushed by. I couldn't have been luckier and happier. It was great to talk to the Urban Intern, Gold Shoes, Chief Umfundisi and last but not least, High Standards Fairy. I missed them so much when I had to go.

7.) I had the most bland kung pao chicken ever--I should have opted for a bowl of noodles and hot sauce--while the other postulant tried to gain attention to eating red peppers and then almost dying due to the taste.


Sunday-

8) Morning Prayer at 7am
9) A snooze before 11.15 service
10) A meditation writing class at Trinity Wall Street
11) Stewardship Sunday and the 11.15 service--I thought I had escaped from the stewardship season by leaving my CA church before their season began.
12) After a wonderful lunch , I went off to Central Park, and the Rockafeller center and took the elevator up to the top.
13) Dinner at an Irish Pub right by the house.

Monday

14) Morning Prayer
15) Rush to the Port Authority Bus Station to get on the earliest bus
16) Waiting over an hour and half as the bus was delayed. African and Taize music were playing in my ears but the other postulant didnt get that I was not open for conversation and would randomly say something and sometimes I think she was talking for quite some time before I realized her lips were moving---gentle readers, nothing important was said--in fact it was often a stupid and obvious comment.
17) The other postulant slept the entire 5 hour ride!!!
18) Arrive home and be so glad to see other people.

After getting home, I went to B of A and discovered that opening an account in CA was the dumbest thing to do. I drove to Target and used some of my gift cards to buy myself a 4 cup coffee maker. Yes, there is coffee for the third floor but to get even 1 ounce, one has race out of morning prayer and beat everyone else. Even the 90 year olds race for coffee. It's quite a sight so some people have purchased coffee makers for their rooms to avoid the coffee show down.

It's an unusually hot day here--70 degrees and it's supposed be warmer tomorrow. Apparently there was snow here on Saturday--nice big flakes supposedly. Wednesday is supposed to be cooler and more like typical New England weather.

The doorbell at Holy Hill is ringing as trick or treaters come by. They clearly came to the right place as they are receiving huge bags of quality candy. Perhaps the thinking here is, lets reward those who braved the convent driveway. Apparently one year, a rather large sister dressed in a cow costume to pass out candy--what a sight. Tonight, during dinner everyone ran off to see the trick or treaters; I stayed put eating my dinner. Another black mark on my book I suppose. What are they going to do, send me home? Halloween, ever since I got sober, has never been a fun holiday for me.

Tomorrow is All Saints Day so it will be a feast day and there will be a sung Eucharist, a great mid-day meal and talking during all the meals. There will also be the red vestments and the incense---but nothing beats Trinity Wall Street where the incense was swung so high. Their 11.15 service was great but it made me miss my old church ---a lot!!!!! We have the best music there.

Off to bed!

Thanks for reading and being in my life,
love
monk_1975