Guide Us With The Light Of Love - To Somewhere I Can Sit Down

This past week was our annual statewide meeting for the Grand Chapter of California. The session was called Guide Us With The Light of Love, and what I wanted most in the world was to be guided to a nice chair where I could sit and put my feet up. I've been to a lot of sessions, but I am not sure I have ever gotten this much exercise, even when I was going to the fitness center every day. I headed down on Tuesday for a lovely dinner and small, traditional party and that was the last night that I got to sleep on the same day as when I awoke. On Wednesday, we had practices. That was a really good thing because we were performing ceremonies and formations that were new and special for the session, but I made a tactical error. In an effort to match my outfit, I wore dress flats instead of my nice walking sneakers. Note to self - next year, wear the sneakers for the practice day, no matter what you are wearing. The problem is that we practiced from about 8:30 am until about 5:00 pm with little if any time off, except the lunch hour, because the Conductresses do A LOT of walking, and the floor of the convention center is concrete. So concrete floor plus walking all day plus no arch support equals swollen feet by the end of Wednesday and that was only the practice day. After practice, we went to dinner and that meant I got to change from the flats to heels for my cocktail dress, but visiting with the members involved being on my feet some more until the dinner and entertainment started. Then we were back in the arena for some more practice and then we had a meeting that went to 11:00 pm and then I had to sort out tote bags and such for the next morning. Now it is not really the late nights that kill me. It is the early mornings that wring me out. Thursday morning was picture time, so we had to be dressed and ready to go by 7:45 am, which meant getting up at 6:30 am. It must be an offense against Heaven and Earth to get up earlier on the weekend for your avocation than you get up during the week to go to work. And the sentence for this offense is serious exhaustion. After all, you can do the math - go to sleep at 12:30 am, get up at 6:30 am. . . So we get up for pictures and take those and then we go back down to the arena to be with the members until it is time to walk in. Then we do some walking and then finally, we do some sitting. Then we go have lunch, then we do more walking, then we do more sitting. But some of the sitting ran late, so Thursday dinner was diet soda and cheese crackers before we went back down for Informal Opening. This is where the Conductresses, (that's me and my big sister), get to wear a race track in the floor by going to one end of the arena, picking up people and asking them to follow me, walking them up the middle of the long side to the other end of the arena, dropping them off and then going back down the outside of the chairs to the other end of the arena to get more people and then turning around and walking them up the middle, east, west, east, west, back and forth and back and forth. I haven't run laps like that in years. Finally we ran out of people so we got to sit for a bit. Then it was over and I went back to my room to check e-mail and catch up on everything and make sure my office had not burnt to the ground (the only condition under which I asked them to call me - well, okay, if a tornado hit it they could call me for that too. :-) And then I went to find some place that was still open where I could get some dinner. I now know where to find the Denny's in Visalia and I also know that the IHOP is only 24 hour on Friday and Saturday. So that finished two days of concrete foot pounding. But wait, there's more. On Friday, I had a breakfast to attend, so that meant getting up at 5:45 am to be at breakfast by 7:00 am so we could be done by 8:00 am to go back into the morning session. Day Three on the desert island that was my little platform on which I sat - food, session, walking, food, session, walking, food, session. . . you get the picture. The last session of Friday ended about 10:00 pm and I headed upstairs completely exhausted, but didn't actually get to go to sleep until about 12:30 pm again. I ate terribly at the meals, including desserts and rolls with butter, which are just about the worst for my diet. I was convinced that I would come home having gained two or three pounds over the five days, but I guess all that walking was good for something, because I weighed exactly the same when I got on the scale this morning - go figure. Anyway, on Saturday morning, for the first time in three years, I didn't have a breakfast - woo hoo! So I got to sleep all the way to 7:00 am, the latest since Tuesday, and by this point, I no longer had feet, just big swollen lumps where my feet used to be. My knees were also reminding me that they hated me and while it was very likely that I would live, it was no longer my first choice. Saturday morning was not too bad, at least not until we danced the stroll for the recessional, but the afternoon was a killer because we were back on the race track, going up and back and up and back until we ran out of people. By then, all I wanted was to sit down and never get up again. But then it was time to change clothes for pictures and then take the pictures and then change back for opening and then walk in and then change again for installation and then walk in and around again and then stand in a receiving line for an hour and then go to the first party and then go to the second party and then it was so far past midnight that there was no point in pretending it was still Saturday. Unfortunately, I learned that I had hit the wall in a really bad way. I was in such pain and so far beyond exhausted that the very innocent last straw produced a really bad and disproportionate result. My escort asked me about this coming week and when she should pick me up this coming Thursday, and at any other time, I would have calmly explained that I was too busy just surviving this week and had not considered next week at all and didn't have my calendar with me so I couldn't pin down a time right now, but if they called or e-mailed me, I would be happy to figure that out. That is what I should have done. But I was so beyond reality, that I opened my mouth and said a BAD WORD. Like watching a train wreck, I heard it come out and realized that I had reached the point where I was no longer able to be social, so I apologized to the person who asked the question, who luckily knows me pretty well, so she knew I was just tired and in pain and said she'd e-mail me this week and I told everyone I had to go and a couple of people suggested that I stay, but I had to tell them that I have hit the wall and was incapable of being awake another minute. That part was BLAH! I went back to my room and slept in, but I was too tired to recover on one night's rest. Then we had to pack up to go home. Now my escort and I had been unable to coordinate cars, so he had driven down also and we had two cars to take home. I thought that it was a bad thing that we couldn't drive together, but one of my Past Grand friends whose done this before told me that in the future we would bring two cars on purpose, just to get all our stuff home and it took me three hours from when we got home to get the cars unloaded and everything put away. I was going to write my thank you notes, but I was still only firing on one cylinder, so I will have to do those tonight. I have never been so exhausted by a Grand Chapter session before, but then I've never been on the floor doing escort at Grand Chapter before either. I've got to try to train up for next year since I am now Grand Conductress, so will be doing escorting again next October. Next weekend, I am in Hayward for Deputy Grand Matron School.

Second Verse, Same As The First

Well, here we are full circle, back to just before the Grand Chapter session. By this time next week, I will have moved up to the next slot in this journey and will be starting out on another exciting year. I am all packed up and ready to move out in a couple of hours. Packing is what is top of my list today though. You know, I rafted the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, all the way from Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead, a bit over 300 miles in eight days, and everything I needed fit in a twenty-five pound duffel bag and a five pound day pack. Well, the duffel is in the car, but it is not alone. I had so much stuff to pack, for five days mind you and not eight, and truth be told, I am grateful that I can see out the back window. I've got a formal bag with a session dress, cocktail dress and installation dress. I've got another suit bag with a travel dress and a 15th Century Tudor with all required accoutrements. I've got the duffel with socks, underwear, sleepwear, make up, toiletries, pillows, etc. Then I've got tote bags, lots of tote bags. All I ask is that you don't call me a bag lady, okay, just because I've got: A legislative tote with the stuff I need on the floor of the session, legislative booklet, C&L, Red Book, Instruction Book, etc. A session tote with the stuff for this particular session, carrying piece, meal reservations, stuff for the state dinner, Secret Pal present, etc. A shoe and slip tote, with four pairs of shoes, petticoat and the other required undergarmets for all those dresses. A to do bag, with my IPod and GPS for the drive, snacks, and a book so that I can pretend that there will be a minute at some point to read, hah, hah! A computer bag with my computer and work stuff, since being out for three and a half days in a row means having to check e-mail and such. A hand cart, so that when I get there and there are no hotel carts, I am not having to bring everything up two items at a time. AND can you believe it, an entire flat of water. That at least I do not expect to bring back. WHEW! Now the only question in my mind is, what am I missing? I am leaving behind my two kitties, who have two helpers scheduled to take care of them for the next five days. And my contractor has the house, so I wonder what it will look like when I get home. Eeeek! The new linoleum goes into the laundry room today, but I won't see it until Sunday, so I hope they show up with the right kind. I am sure that I will remember what I am forgetting just as I pull up to the hotel. Wish me luck!

Left (Pause) Left (Pause) Left Right Left

This past weekend was Revelation and Grand Officers' School for the incipient 2011 Grand Family. This blog is my fifty-third entry, marking the first of a new year for me, although technically, next week is the "Entry before Grand Chapter" entry, due to how the calendar has fallen. Revelation is when the Associate Grand Matron and Associate Grand Patron get to reveal who they have chosen to be their ten appointive Grand Officers for the coming year. It is a very exciting time for everyone. The people who have been asked to serve get to come out of the closet and are relieved of the burden of lying to their best friends and loved ones, the current Grand Family get to find out the identity of their Little Sisters and Brothers, which also means finding out how far you are going to have to travel to make the Former Grand Officer Presentation to the next person (closest one - same district; farthest one - across state lines), and the Grand Line Officers get to meet their next Family and look forward to traveling with them for a year. The one thing I wish, more than anything else, in connection with Revelation, is that there was some way to get people to stop asking the question, Are You Going to Be a Grand Officer Next Year? The answer is always NO. Whether the answer is really yes or really no, the answer is always NO. Please do not make your friends lie to you. They are not programmed to respond in this area! Please do not try to figure out when the secret weekend is, when the officers all met each other for the first time, and please do not call your friends houses to see if they are gone that weekend. Please do not hint that you know where they went and please do not tell them that you know that they will be an officer next year. Please do not try to guess the hotel or location at which they are meeting and please do not go there and search the parking lot for cars and license plates that you recognize. [No animals were harmed in the making of this rant.] I realize that everyone loves to be "in the know" but if you love them, leave them alone. And for goodness sake, if you asked and they lied, do not blame them for it. You put them on the spot and gave them no choice, so while the rest of the country may have a quandry, Don't Ask, Don't Tell needs to apply here. We've gotten the Don't Tell down, now we need to work on Don't Ask. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. So after the Revelation, which was particularly cute this year with a power point presentation and cartoon stick figures (who doesn't love cartoon stick figures :-), we all start in on Grand Officer's School. This is a two and a half day boot camp for the new "kids" to polish their performance of the various ceremonies of the Order, and I do mean boot camp. You don't sit very much, every nuance is checked and re-checked and they feed you enough food for an army. I realize that the 2011 fun emblems of a panda and a snow leopard are traditional zoo animals, but does that really mean that we needed feeding time every two hours or less? Well, maybe so. :-) By tradition, the AGM's Chapter fixes the meals and snacks and the school is held at her Chapter's meeting place or close by. This year, some members from the AGP's Chapter also came up to help, which was really nice to see, especially for me since these same folk fed me in 2007 and 2009, so it was nice to see them. But next time, a few less cookies perhaps. :-) Perfecting your Ritual work can be a really intensive experience, but it is utterly necessary because in just three short weeks, (actually a little less now), we have to be the demonstrators and teachers for the Deputy Grand Matrons, who will watch us like hawks watch mice. Woe betide the Grand Officer who doesn't know which line to walk on or when to step out and on what foot. They are dooooooooooommed, dooooooooommed. So to give us the best possible chances of survival, we drill and drill and drill to get it just right. The school is also a great chance to get to know your soon to be new family. Even though you are totally excited about the process, it is very scary too. For those of us in our third or fourth year of this, we know what to expect. But when it is your first time, you are at the lowest tier of ignorance - You don't know what you don't know, so you don't even know what to ask. At one of the meals, I was sitting with three of the appointives and their escorts and I think we spent most of that time talking about tips and tricks for being on the road, what to expect when the year is over and The Three Things I Most Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was A First Timer. I wonder if they'll share the info with the others. :-) All in all it was a great weekend and we got a lot done, both in terms of perfecting our Ritual and in starting to get to know one another more fully. Now if I can just remember everyone's name, I will be two thumbs up. :-) Next weekend I am getting ready for Grand Chapter and leave for the session next Tuesday.

The House That Men Built

As I said last week, I had an interesting conversation about a hot topic of contention in various parts of the state, which is the renting of Masonic Halls by Eastern Star Chapters. To provide some background, long ago, in the before time, Masonic Lodges had very steep initiation fees. Most of that money was used to purchase land and construct Masonic Halls all over the country. Here in California, many, if not most, towns have a Masonic Hall, usually located on what was the main street of the town, back in the before time. Some of these locations are still prime real estate, such as the Grand Lodge Building in San Francisco, which sits across the street from Grace Cathedral, and some of these locations have become the older and more tired part of town, especially in those areas that have not revitalized their downtown core over time. Most of these buildings were paid for long ago and are owned free and clear by the Lodge, which administers the building by means of a Temple Board, usually appointed by the Master of the Lodge. The Temple Board is responsible for setting and collecting rents, for the upkeep and maintenance of the property, for obtaining insurance and for doing all those other things that property managers usually do. So here is where recent conflict has arisen. I do not yet have all the facts on what was told to the Temple Boards by the Grand Lodge, so I may be missing some information, but I will try to be accurate on what I have heard. Evidently, some time in the recent past, a directive was passed down that Temple Boards should find out what the fair market rental value (FMRV) of their facilities is and make sure to charge that when they rent out their buildings. Presumably this is to fund ongoing maintenance and expenses, since most of the buildings are paid for. But there seems to be some disagreement whether a discount may be offered for groups that are part of the Masonic Family, as opposed to the rate charged to the public at large. Some people tell me that no discount is supposed to be given, regardless of any affiliation. Some people tell me that a discount from FMRV is allowed for youth groups but not for adult groups. And some people tell me that all Masonic Family groups, including yours truly's Order, should be allowed a discounted rate over that charged to the general public. So there is some confusion on what is and what is not allowed. A lot of Chapters are being told that their rent is going up. Of course in these economic times, any increase in expenses is going to be viewed with concern and dismay. But some Chapters seem to feel that they are not getting information on why the rent is going up. Most people can handle the fact that there are needs and expenses in connection with owning property, but it is frustrating to be told that you have to pay more without any understanding of the situation. The end result of the whole thing seems to be that there is a need for some better communication between the two groups on what is going on. Perhaps some of the Lodges with these issues could let the Chapter choose a representative to come to their Temple Board meetings, not just the Worthy Matron who may be too busy to attend, but any one member chosen by the Chapter, just so someone hears the discussion of how the rent is set and how the money is used and needed. And maybe the sacrifices made by the wives of all those men who paid in all those dues to build those buildings, many of whom are members of the Eastern Star, and the funds paid by Eastern Star members to furnish and fixture many of those Halls needs to somehow be acknowledged also. Next weekend I will be in Livermore and Hayward.