The End of the Dusty Trail

This past week marked the last Official Visits for this Grand Chapter year.  I didn't even realize that we were on the last ones until someone mentioned it, but now we enter into Reception season and the next thing I know it will be time for Schools and Grand Chapter again.

People always told me that time runs faster as you get older, but evidently I am over the hill and gaining speed because for the life of me, I can't figure out where six months of this year went.  The end of this week is July and a week after that is the first reception, which is mine!  AAAHHH!!

So we made a big, big loop this past weekend, with lots of miles between locations.  I confess that I flew the circuit because I just can't sit in a car that long any more.  So I left San Jose in my little plane on Friday afternoon, flew to Bakersfield, attended the Official Visit there, stayed overnight, flew to Palmdale, attended the Official Visit there, flew to San Luis Obispo, rented a car and drove to Santa Maria, stayed there overnight and then drove back to San Luis in the morning for the LAST OV of 2011 and then flew home to San Jose.

My brave escort went with me on this flying loop and some of the other Grand Officers and Escorts were teasing her about being so very brave, but her dad was involved in aircraft so she's been around planes lots.  And anyone who has flown with crop dusters no doubt finds my flying a bit on the boring side, since I tend to stay in the middle of the air and avoid the edges (you know, ground, outer space, mountains, stuff like that) except when landing.  Every time I take off, I remind myself that now I have to land the plane, one way or another because landings must always equal take offs.  It is inescapable math, just like the speed of light and the power of gravity.  Try ignoring that sort of math and bad things happen.

It was hot in Bakersfield and Palmdale, although the locals told us that the weather was actually quite nice for their area for this time of year.  But then, I am a weather wimp and proud of it.  I want the temperature between 60 and 85 at all times and anything outside those parameters is cold or hot, respectively.  When my family left Boston and I started visiting my sister in Las Vegas, I made myself a promise not to live in places with certain problems such as

Having to dig the car out of the snow
Having to plug in your car at night so it doesn't freeze solid
Having to wear mosquito netting in your back yard
Having to use the tail of your shirt to open the car door because the metal is so hot it will burn your fingers
Having to wear sunscreen to go to the grocery store
Having to install misters so that you can use your patio

Luckily it cooled off a lot when we got back out to the coast, so that was great!

The Official Visits were nice, but there weren't very many members there.  I  wonder if we were running into vacation time since a lot of people I know go on vacation as soon as school lets out.  It would have been nice to get to visit with more of the members, but I had a wonderful time with those who were there.

In Bakersfield, we attended the traditional Kern County dinner and Social Style OV, which made me wonder about something that happened earlier this year.  When we went to the Orange Belt and to San Diego, I remember that some of the members were put out about having to pay for the meal and entertainment to attend the Official Visit and that it was suggested that we have a "free" part of the event where locals could meet the Grand Family and not have to pay and then go into our meal and entertainment part for those who did want to pay.

However, for forty years, or so they said at the event, the Kern County OV has been a dinner followed by the Official Visit and everyone pays and no one has ever said boo about it.  So is the problem the paying or is it just that it is new?

I also have started wondering about that on receptions because I was told, when I was an appointive officer, that you could not charge the attendees for a reception, although you could charge for add on events, if you organized a separate outing for those coming to the area or not.  But one of the invitations I got for one of this year's receptions asks for a payment for the food and such and I am curious if something has changed that I never heard about.  I am sure that someone will tell me all about it.

Anyway, in Kern County, there is a tradition that the previous year's Grand Family come and help serve the food and afterwards, they all go off somewhere and eat something else.  My daddy always told me to be a little suspicious about people who cook or serve you food and then don't eat the same food, so I am wondering a little bit, but maybe I will find out the secret in 2014, when I get to help serve for the first time.

The Official Visits in Palmdale and San Luis were Traditional Style, but they did not have as many officers and I would have liked to see for the numbers of Chapters in the District.  At least that keeps the introductions shorter. :-)

Next week I will stay home and finish the preparations for my reception and the Conductress/AC/AP Designee workshop, with two work parties planned and hopefully enough.