so i flew in to nashville on saturday and rented a car to drive down and visit some of my bestest friends in atlanta. if you've read this blog you know that i have some wonderful, wonderful friends and that some of them have had babies. and one couple lives in atlanta. and wehn i arrived (after a beautiful sunny drive) i hugged everybody and was immediately sat down to hold teh 3 month old penny rose on the back porch. she's absoluteley perfect and sweet and adorable. and the fact that her parents are so in love with her just makes me so happy...not that one would ever expect otherwise. i guess it is just such a very happy thing to see a family together like that.
and i was so lucky to have friends that all enjoy eachother enough to congregate in atlanta for a few days. 2 friends from durham drove down, afriend from dc came down, i have a few friends in atlanta and greg flew down as well. and it was so nice of my friends in atlanta to host us all, especially with the new baby and all. We just hung out and went out to eat and played with the baby and hiked a bit and had a generally lovely time enjoying each other’s company. It’s so wonderful to have friends like that! we didn't do anything crazy and yet i enjoyed every last second of it and was very sad to leave everyone.
October 18, 2006
back to the southeast: Part II, going to RALLY
Then Wednesday night Aileen and I went back to Nashville (a beautiful drive) for RALLY. That a great event!!!!!! I feel so rejuvenated (well not physically) and like I’ve made some great connections and expansions and learned a ton and had fun and all….the event had 2,000 land conservation people from through out the us…and a few from Canada.
When we got in Aileen and I went out to eat with my co-worker and Michelle and this guy Wes, from Seattle, who works for Jones & Jones ....they did the American Indian museum in dc.
Then Thursday it was an all day seminar on tax issues. And we went out again, this time with more young folks and we stayed out listening to music until 1:30 am.
Then it was up Friday morning to do field trip (biking, boating and hiking) from 8-5. It was beautiful though cold, and I met a lot of really cool people on the trip. (And the director of the land trust I worked for in NC was on it so that was fun.) Then it was off to the welcoming dinner. Lovely and all organic (impressive for a crowd of 2,000 attendees.) And the governor of TN, and Bill Mckibben spoke. Great talks. Though it lasted until 10 and which made us go out kind of late. I went out with a bunch of folks I knew from NC and a fellow-fellow and we went dancing at a great bar until 3:30. I had my "git r done" tank under my sweater, and since we were dancing the sweater came off and I met almost everyone in the bar because they loved my shirt....including the bass (the big one) player in the band who came up to me and talked to me later and asked if I’d stay later...but it was already 3:30...so, like no, though he was cute! Hah!
(A note on Nashville: not the best of cities but not the worst. Sections are rundown and sections are hopping. We mostly went out in the latter and there was live music in every single bar and no covers and bands played until 2:30 or 3! Awesome! Even though most of it is bluegrass or country. This in turn makes the town very country. Everyone wears wranglers and cowboy hats and boots and big blonde hair. A totally other world but a fun place for a few nights...not more!)
So then Saturday was 4 workshops (12 to choose from per session) and most of them were just great. And I met so many, many new people it was crazy. And it was good because I felt totally on this weekend, so I had no trouble about saying hi to people. Note here: on Saturday morning, from across the hall of this huge center I noticed this freaking adorable guy…I couldn’t help but look. But then he caught my eye and I kind of smiled and looked away. Too adorable for me. Though late in the afternoon we happened to be in the same workshop and I looked back at one point (not knowing he was there) and he looked directly at me. hm!
Then after a great day of meeting and greeting and learning and being exhausted, I went to the Duke reception for alumni that were attending the conference. Amazing how many of us there were! And it was fun to see everyone. So much so that we went out all together with a bunch of other NC folks. More live music…but I couldn’t stay out past 12 I was so tired.
Sunday it was up early again and workshops all day. And I saw cute guy briefly, once again from across the room. And I met a ton more people and ran into people from past lives (like my summer roommate from smith one year!! And a woman I had interviewed with for a job a few years back crazy what a small world it was. And a guy i had met on a raft trip back in grad school) The workshops were again very interesting. Though right before the last workshop of the day I got very tired. And I was walking up the spiral type stairs to my workshop and cute guy was walking down and we literally almost ran into each other and we just shook hands and introduced ourselves (he’s Dan) and chatted really briefly about what we do for work and ran off to our respective workshops. He had such a nice little twinkle about him I was kind of disappointed we’d only gotten to talk once and very briefly. (Though it was great that we did get to chat at all seeing as there were that many people at the conference.) Anyway.
After the last workshop it was out to dinner with some tax credit people in Denver (very fun loving) and then on to the closing reception which ran from 7:30-midnight at the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was fun with live music and we got to have the whole things to ourselves. (Though the country exhibits didn’t mean much to me) and more meet and greet and lots of desserts. And then I was just sitting there talking to some folks from Ontario and this older man comes up and asks which one of us two-steps. Of course none of us do …but he picks me out of the bunch and I had to have the first dance, on an empty dance floor, two-stepping with a guy I don’t know in front of hundreds of people. Possibly my worst nightmare! But it was actually fun and he was a good leader and everyone clapped when we were done. But my armpits were sweating. Anyway. So then more mingling.
Then around midnight the western slope Colorado folks were all leaving to go to another bar and Dan appears and says hi and we start talking and we ended up walking down to the river park just chatting and chatting and then went back to the bar and met up with my favorite Colorado folks and some fellow-fellows and other people out here. And we all were dancing like crazy until 2:30! Ahhh! Then we got kicked out of the bar and we al went next door to a bar that was open all night but Dan and I decided it was too loud and from 3-3:30am we just walked around Nashville and looked at the Capital and in old churches and just had a great time. He was such a very, very nice guy. Don’t worry, he knows about Greg and he has a relationship too, we were just having a wonderful time. And at 3:45 i got back to the hotel and I ran upstairs, finished packing, made sure Margie had all her stuff (she was a little tipsy still) and we checked out and were on our shuttle to the airport at 4. Then my plane was at 6. And i was back in Grand Junction by 10am and off to work.
Now that i have been rejuvenated with a couple good nights of rest, i can tackle the world of land conservation with great energy and enthusiasm for what i do. it was so wonderful to meet so many people whom are doing similar things across the nation, whom all have a love for their work and are so happy to talk about it. Rally!!
When we got in Aileen and I went out to eat with my co-worker and Michelle and this guy Wes, from Seattle, who works for Jones & Jones ....they did the American Indian museum in dc.
Then Thursday it was an all day seminar on tax issues. And we went out again, this time with more young folks and we stayed out listening to music until 1:30 am.
Then it was up Friday morning to do field trip (biking, boating and hiking) from 8-5. It was beautiful though cold, and I met a lot of really cool people on the trip. (And the director of the land trust I worked for in NC was on it so that was fun.) Then it was off to the welcoming dinner. Lovely and all organic (impressive for a crowd of 2,000 attendees.) And the governor of TN, and Bill Mckibben spoke. Great talks. Though it lasted until 10 and which made us go out kind of late. I went out with a bunch of folks I knew from NC and a fellow-fellow and we went dancing at a great bar until 3:30. I had my "git r done" tank under my sweater, and since we were dancing the sweater came off and I met almost everyone in the bar because they loved my shirt....including the bass (the big one) player in the band who came up to me and talked to me later and asked if I’d stay later...but it was already 3:30...so, like no, though he was cute! Hah!
(A note on Nashville: not the best of cities but not the worst. Sections are rundown and sections are hopping. We mostly went out in the latter and there was live music in every single bar and no covers and bands played until 2:30 or 3! Awesome! Even though most of it is bluegrass or country. This in turn makes the town very country. Everyone wears wranglers and cowboy hats and boots and big blonde hair. A totally other world but a fun place for a few nights...not more!)
So then Saturday was 4 workshops (12 to choose from per session) and most of them were just great. And I met so many, many new people it was crazy. And it was good because I felt totally on this weekend, so I had no trouble about saying hi to people. Note here: on Saturday morning, from across the hall of this huge center I noticed this freaking adorable guy…I couldn’t help but look. But then he caught my eye and I kind of smiled and looked away. Too adorable for me. Though late in the afternoon we happened to be in the same workshop and I looked back at one point (not knowing he was there) and he looked directly at me. hm!
Then after a great day of meeting and greeting and learning and being exhausted, I went to the Duke reception for alumni that were attending the conference. Amazing how many of us there were! And it was fun to see everyone. So much so that we went out all together with a bunch of other NC folks. More live music…but I couldn’t stay out past 12 I was so tired.
Sunday it was up early again and workshops all day. And I saw cute guy briefly, once again from across the room. And I met a ton more people and ran into people from past lives (like my summer roommate from smith one year!! And a woman I had interviewed with for a job a few years back crazy what a small world it was. And a guy i had met on a raft trip back in grad school) The workshops were again very interesting. Though right before the last workshop of the day I got very tired. And I was walking up the spiral type stairs to my workshop and cute guy was walking down and we literally almost ran into each other and we just shook hands and introduced ourselves (he’s Dan) and chatted really briefly about what we do for work and ran off to our respective workshops. He had such a nice little twinkle about him I was kind of disappointed we’d only gotten to talk once and very briefly. (Though it was great that we did get to chat at all seeing as there were that many people at the conference.) Anyway.
After the last workshop it was out to dinner with some tax credit people in Denver (very fun loving) and then on to the closing reception which ran from 7:30-midnight at the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was fun with live music and we got to have the whole things to ourselves. (Though the country exhibits didn’t mean much to me) and more meet and greet and lots of desserts. And then I was just sitting there talking to some folks from Ontario and this older man comes up and asks which one of us two-steps. Of course none of us do …but he picks me out of the bunch and I had to have the first dance, on an empty dance floor, two-stepping with a guy I don’t know in front of hundreds of people. Possibly my worst nightmare! But it was actually fun and he was a good leader and everyone clapped when we were done. But my armpits were sweating. Anyway. So then more mingling.
Then around midnight the western slope Colorado folks were all leaving to go to another bar and Dan appears and says hi and we start talking and we ended up walking down to the river park just chatting and chatting and then went back to the bar and met up with my favorite Colorado folks and some fellow-fellows and other people out here. And we all were dancing like crazy until 2:30! Ahhh! Then we got kicked out of the bar and we al went next door to a bar that was open all night but Dan and I decided it was too loud and from 3-3:30am we just walked around Nashville and looked at the Capital and in old churches and just had a great time. He was such a very, very nice guy. Don’t worry, he knows about Greg and he has a relationship too, we were just having a wonderful time. And at 3:45 i got back to the hotel and I ran upstairs, finished packing, made sure Margie had all her stuff (she was a little tipsy still) and we checked out and were on our shuttle to the airport at 4. Then my plane was at 6. And i was back in Grand Junction by 10am and off to work.
Now that i have been rejuvenated with a couple good nights of rest, i can tackle the world of land conservation with great energy and enthusiasm for what i do. it was so wonderful to meet so many people whom are doing similar things across the nation, whom all have a love for their work and are so happy to talk about it. Rally!!
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