Searching High and Low

We attended another Official Visit this past weekend and someone asked me an interesting question. We were talking about part of the process in a traditional Official Visit where the individual members of a Chapter are introduced by name and office for each Chapter that is participating. The standard formula goes that the officers of the particular Chapter are asked to stand by their Worthy Matron and then she introduces each officer in order, says whether they are a Past Matron or Patron, and gives years they served as Deputy or Grand Representative or as a Grand Officer. Then all the other members of the Chapter are asked to stand up as well and we clap and then those who are Past Matrons and Patrons and fifty year members who haven't been introduced are asked to remain standing so the other members sit and then another round of introductions is made for the remaining people and then we move on. By virtue of watching the clock, I have been able to determine that this process takes about eight to ten minutes per Chapter. Since pretty much everything at a traditional OV is the same except for how often you change who is sitting in the chairs and how many times you introduce people, the variance in the length of time the OV takes is closely related to the number of Chapters that are there. Some OVs go a bit extra for entertainment or for a presentation skit or something like that, but most vary only because of the number of Chapters. So at an OV with four chapters, which I sort of use as "average", it takes two hours from the start of the opening ceremony until we start walking out to refreshments. With seven or eight chapters in takes 2.5 hours or a bit longer, so about ten extra minutes per. I have asked why we do this introducing and have been told that we used to do it so that the Grand Line Officers can know who is eligible to be a Deputy and who has been a Deputy and should be considered for a Grand Officer because we can see them do their ritual work and use that information to choose. But now that I am a Grand Line Officer, I am not sure that this reason is still valid, at least not for me. To begin with, I have a terrible memory for names. I take notes during the OV to remind myself which of my girls did what part of the OV and to know which ones were there so that if I get a gift card that isn't signed, I will know who was there to contribute so I can send the right thank you notes. I also try to note down anything special about the hall or the meeting that might be useful later on. But I don't write down the names of random members who are introduced and their service records. If I want to know someone's service record, I can send an e-mail to the Grand Chapter office and the Grand Secretary can send me a record sheet with every office and every committee on which they have served. Also, quality of ritual is only one of several criteria that I would consider important for the selection of Grand Officers. I can't speak for anyone else and I won't actually be choosing or asking for another two years, but when that time comes, I would think that I would like to choose people who have served their Chapters and the Order so that the opportunity to be a Grand Officer is a well deserved recognition. If someone wanted to stick out in my mind, I would like to see them be a person who attends Grand Chapter each year, not just one or two years, but several, and who has perhaps served on some Grand Chapter committees. For the ladies, having been a Deputy is not mandatory, but it sure helps because then you see much better how this person interacts with the members when they are in charge and it is easier for them to perfect their own ceremonial work when they come to the schools. It is harder for the men because we don't let them be deputies. I would want to know that they are well regarded in their Chapter so that their Chapter will support them and I would want to know that they have done some work in their Chapter too. For example, going through the line the first time is incredibly fun and exciting. The second time can be fun too because you are less nervous. But very few people go a third or fourth time for fun. At that point, it is more often the case that they are helping out their Chapter through a rough spot and they have stepped up to the plate and taken on the work and the responsibility to keep their Chapter going until some new people are ready to be leaders. But I can't really think of a time when sitting though the introductions has actually made anyone catch my eye, just from that. Now sometimes, when someone has suggested a name to me of someone that I should look at, so I already know the name, the introductions are helpful to let me match the name to a face, so that works, but if that happens once in a whole OV, that would be a high estimate. Another reason someone proposed to me for the introductions was to let the Appointive Grand Officers find out the names of their subordinates. But what that person didn't know, and I guess no one knows unless you have been a Grand Officer, is that at the beginning of each year, the Grand Secretary sends a list of all the subordinate officers to the Grand Officer for just this purpose, to let you find them and communicate. So, when I was Grand Warder, I got a list of all of the Warders in all of the Chapters in California. She sent it out in Word, but I asked for and got it in Excel. It was sorted by Chapter number, but I added a column for district number and then sorted it by district. Then, before each weekend, I would print out or write into my book, all the names of the Warders for the Chapters in each district we were visiting that weekend and then, when I got to the event, I could ask for the specific members by name. That way, I met all of my subordinates before the meeting actually started and could give them some last minute coaching on their work too, just to help out. So by the time they were introduced with the rest of their Chapter, I already knew all of them. It was harder when I was Grand Marshal because you have so many other things you are scrambling to get done. This year is back to being easier and it should get easier yet as I will have the same people next year and possibly some of the names will actually stick. I am great on the faces, but names are tough for me. The only trick is that I have found that it takes about an hour to meet all my people, chat with all the other members, give some instruction on the work for the day to help the Associate Conductresses look good and stand for pictures. Less than an hour and I can't get everything done. For the past two years, our goal for traveling had been to arrive an hour early, but this year, the decision was made to arrive at the OVs less than an hour ahead, more like forty or forty-five minutes, which is totally fine and I am sure that there are good reasons, but unfortunately that just isn't enough time for me, especially because I am a chatterbox and take longer to greet and chat with everyone, so often I have had to go ahead of the rest of the Grand Family to get to the hall in time to get everything done before we sit down and get started. I wish that wasn't so, but I don't want to short my girls or the other members or not have a chance to give my girls some tips to look good on the floor because they are often nervous and everyone is watching them and a quick reminder can make for a world of happy. Next weekend actually starts on Wednesday and I will be in Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Eureka and Ferndale.

Half a Year

So we've officially passed the half way point for this year, here at the end of April. And I've posted half a year's worth of entries. I know that more people are reading this than following it, mostly for a lot of reasons relating to firewalls and other security stuff. Let me know if you enjoy it so far. Coming to the half year point also means that a lot of things that were oh so far in the future are going to be upon me before I even realize it. I am collecting the responses from my spring letter and in August will have to actually start looking for the dress/outfit/fabric or whatever it ends up being so I can get ideas and make a selection in time to reveal it in July 2011. So far I've gotten about thirty responses to my questions on the Worthy Matron dress stuff, so I hope I get more before I have to start looking and choosing. The workshop for my girls that was forever in the future is now only four and a half months away and the registration materials need to go out the first week of June so everyone can get signed up and we can get a final count by the beginning of August to finalize the food and packet plans. Some of those will be able to go by e-mail, thanks to those who have let me know that e-mail communication is okay, but the rest get to go into lovely white business envelopes that I have learned to buy in the big, economy size boxes because if 200 envelopes is good then 500 envelopes is better. Gee, maybe I should buy some stock in Office Max or something. I am also reminding myself a lot that panic is bad and breathing is good because in just a couple of months, I should get next year's calendar and have to start doing all that stuff that my big sister had to do last year of arranging Transitionals all over the state for my girls and their new little sisters, including finding places and dates and time and doing an agenda and everything. I was spared all that last year, but now it is my turn. Hey, when did the little elf with the paint brush come by and put this bullseye on my forehead? Help! This year so far has been a truly great learning process and I admit that sometimes I think I will burst with all the information that has come to me. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to eat a Dagwood and I've taken too big a bite. :-) The hardest part is when I get completely different information from two different reliable sources and have to reconcile the two stories. And then I wonder why a bunch of this stuff isn't written down somewhere, darn it! Oral traditions are great, but I like paper. We are also coming up on the deadline for legislation items to go in for any changes that we want to see voted on for our governing documents at the next annual session, so which items go in and which should wait or not go is also a hot topic right now. Of course, I am trying my best to set a new record for sleep deprivation, so working on legislative items should really help me get over the top on that. :-) Sometimes I wake up in the morning and worry about what I am forgetting to worry about. I am sure that there is something and I am also sure that any day now, someone is going to come to me and ask me a question that they are sure I have been working on for months and have the answer all ready to go because of course I knew I needed to do that, right? AAAHHH! Okay, let's look at the checklist of things to do. I did my taxes and I got the car smogged yesterday. There's no milk in the fridge and no fruit or vegetable either, but those things are highly overrated. When people ask me how I am doing at events, I have taken to telling them that if I am in the right place, on time and dressed correctly, that's all I am asking of myself these days. Who would have thought that three years was such a short time. Next weekend, I will be in Whittier, Yorba Linda, San Pedro and San Marino.

Almond Cookies and Elderberry Wine

This weekend, I enjoyed a long standing tradition for the third time, the Kern County OV and Dinner. In that particular part of the state, there is a tradition that the Official Visit to that county is followed immediately by a dinner where the previous year's Grand Officers, at least those that are not still Grand Officers, help serve the meal and then go have a mini-reunion. Serving this dinner is one of those things that I call a residual obligation. Those are obligations that you have in the year after you've been a Grand Officer, like attending the SLC Christmas Party. Well, the first time I attended this event, in 2008, is when I learned of this little tradition and dutifully wrote it down in my little book as something that I needed to know to do when 2009 rolled around. But of course, by the time 2009 did roll around, I was again a Grand Officer, so I didn't have to serve after all. I have been told that perhaps I only agreed to go up the Grand Line to get a free roster every year and put off serving this dinner until 2014. Somehow, I don't think those were the reasons. So last year, I got to see all my 2008s, and this year I got to see all my 2009s, but neither year did I get to go with them for the mini-reunion. In fact, this time they even had a meeting in another room of the same hall and when I popped in for hugs and hellos, they shoo-ed me all back out. Of course there was a good reason for it since a bunch of what they were doing is to surprise me, but I really didn't go in to peek. I would have liked to peek, but the 2009s are all pretty sharp and there was really no peeking opportunity, darn it! But the part of this tradition that always sort of makes me wonder is that after serving the meal to us, the former year's Grand Family go somewhere else for dinner. You know, my daddy always taught me to be suspicious when folks serve you food but then won't eat it themselves. He also mentioned once how easy it is to hide the cyanide in almond cookies because you expect almond cookies to smell like almonds. And what about those little old ladies in Arsenic and Old Lace, who poisoned the elderberry wine. You never saw them drink any of it, did you? So what's up with this tradition that they serve the food but don't eat the food. Even if they want to go have their own private party afterwards, shouldn't they at least play royal food taster and eat a bite or two of each dish, just for our peace of mind? I mean, so far as I know, no one has gone to the dinner and died yet, but why take chances? :-) On Sunday, we attended the first of the receptions for the 2010 Grand Officers. All of the Grand Officers, except the Associate Grand Matron, the Associate Grand Conductress (me), and the Grand Secretary can have receptions if they want them. Sometimes they don't choose to have one, but they can if they want to and most do choose to do so. There are different philosophies on when to hold them too. Some WGMs have all their officer receptions at the end of the year, so last year, almost every one of them was in August. Some WGMs spread them out throughout the year, so in 2008 and 2010, they started in April and trickled out through the year. Each way has its up sides and down sides and no way is perfect. On the all at the end way, it is nice to have your reception towards the end of the year because it really is a celebration of your year of service and it is nice to celebrate that towards the end. But at the same time, it is a bit less special when yours is one of two or three receptions in the same weekend because it gets a touch repetitive for the Grand Officers and for others who are going to all the events too. When they are all bunched at the end of the year, you have to have several in a weekend. So the end of the year positive is balanced by a mild one of a group negative. When they are all spread out, you can put just one on a weekend and you are the only honored member that weekend, which helps make it your very own special weekend. Unfortunately, that also means that you can have it in April when you are only half way done. So the one and only positive is balanced by mild earlier in the year negative. Regardless of when you have it though and regardless of whether you share a weekend, your reception is your very own special time. The one last Sunday had lovely music and nice refreshments and a fun theme. There was plenty of happy laughter. It is also pretty funny to hear the introduction speeches. There is a tradition that after all the preliminaries and escorts and speeches by distinguished members and such, some person, often a member of the family, gives a speech introducing the Honored Member, after which the Honored Member is invited to speak. This introduction speech often gives historical facts about the Honored Member, like where they went to school and where they worked and stuff like that, but it also usually contains some funny stories. Well, no one can tell funny stories about a lady like her husband. I think the best part is that sometimes, the husband doesn't seem to understand why what he just said was so funny. On Sunday, the crowd couldn't help laughing when the Honored Member's husband, who was completely, innocently talking about how, years before they got married, he would carpool people home after work, commented how his wife to be always got in the back seat. Maybe you had to be there, but the crowd just burst into giggles and our terribly dirty minds started to wonder if there was any "parking" involved. ;-) Last year we had one husband who really told funny stories and we all wondered if the dog house was full and if the couch was comfortable. You never know what is going to be in the introduction speech, but of course it's okay because it's only being heard by the three hundred people in the world most important to you, so no problem. :-) Of course, what they sometimes forget is that when it is your reception, you get to speak last, moo ooo waaaa aaaahhh. Next weekend, I will be in Patterson, Ceres and Fairfield, but not Orland.

What Do You Mean "Busy?"

This past weekend I actually got to stay home. What a bizarre experience! It felt truly weird to not pack on Thursday night. I think I spent the whole evening feeling like there was something I was supposed to be doing that I was forgetting and I finally realize that what I was forgetting was the packing that I did not have to do. But it's Thursday, the back of my mind kept saying, we pack on Thursday if we didn't already pack on Wednesday. We didn't pack. We're doooomed! AAAHHH! I think it struck me the hardest on Friday when I was taking my pills and vitamins and then I actually put all the little bottles back in the drawer where they go and not in my travel case. Wait a minute, the back of the mind said, you need to put those in your toiletries bag or we won't have them tomorrow. We'll die! AAAAHHH! So I get over the dislocation of actually being in my own bed on Saturday morning and for one brief shining moment thinking Wow, I have no where I have to be right now, and then reality kicked in hard and demanded my attention. Nice try, silly person, reality said. You have to do your taxes, go to the gem show for parts and charms, clean your car, prep your flight plan for next week, clear your dresser (you know, the one that all the stuff is falling off of from all the weekends you came home with stuff and just threw it on there), get some groceries, catch up your thank you notes, finish your spring letter, finish your new question sheets for the girls, go buy envelopes to mail the spring letter, clean out your gutters before the rain starts again, strip the tangerine tree down to a manageable number of fruit, go through the newspapers piling on the kitchen counter, and get your car smogged. Okay, I said to reality, that's a great list, but I don't think I can do it all. Let's start at the top and go from there and see how far I can get. You know how far I got? I finished number one, did my taxes. Did I get even one other thing on this list done? No, and I wouldn't have gotten the taxes done except that they have a real deadline and I can use my refund money. Do I still have to do all these things? Yes. Are they going to get done any time soon? Well, I will do the flight plan tomorrow because you have to do that before you fly and my flight is Wednesday. Any of the rest of it getting done? Well, I will probably finish my spring letter tonight and get the envelopes tomorrow and then I will start thinking about getting the copies made and the envelopes stuffed. When will that happen? An excellent question. If you find out, please let me know. I will get the thank you notes done tomorrow because thank you notes are like a frisbee over the ocean. As long as the frisbee is flying, you are okay. The second it hits the water, plunk, it's all over. So getting the thank you's done before I travel again this weekend and more thank you's pile up is vital. The rest of the list? God knows, but he ain't tellin'. Sometimes I can look back and remember when I was in college and I thought I was busy. Oh yes, I actually thought I had a lot to do, what with classes and labs and homework and a job and everything. What a total naive, ignorant idiot I was! I had no idea what busy meant! Busy, I have discovered, is when every minute counts, when you slot tasks into time periods worked around other time periods and there are no extra minutes at all. Busy is when it takes you three tries to get to the bathroom because stuff keeps interrupting and then you forget what you were doing so you go do something else instead and then you say, wait a minute, I was in the middle of something else when the phone rang; what was I doing? I was on my way to the other room - oh yeah, I was going to go to the bathroom. How's that for busy? I have so much to do, I forget I was on my way to the bathroom! How pathetic is that?! Thank God for good bladder control! The rest of the list, well, I don't think I have promised away Memorial Day yet. Maybe that will be a good time to tackle those rain gutters. Next weekend, I am in Bakersfield and Escondido.