Whew! I knew I wasn’t ready to spend a whole day plus at a symposium around a bazillion people. I told the GG that. He pressured me anyway. How did I do? I did my best which was okay. After lunch at the time when the event gets uber busy, I took myself out of the action. I went out to Mooon Yooonit, opened some windows (it was pretty warm today) and read a book for a couple hours. No one seemed to have a problem with that.

By the time I decided to head back in, it wasn’t long before it was time to break up camp, which is what’s happening here. I didn’t really get many other pics this year. It somehow wasn’t very photogenic this year, not sure why.

It feels like we are at a bit of a crossroads of a sort. The last time I went to the symposium, the same old beloved friends were there. They did not attend this year, except for Greg and Tom and Joan, who is actually a new friend since the last symposium. By the end of the evening, I was well on my way to making new friends, introvert that I am.

Oddly enough the person I spent the most time talking to today was a young college senior soon to graduate. She attends the college in my home town. I mean Sault Ste. Siberia, the town I grew up in. One of the places she lived during her college career turned out to be two blocks south of my grandparents’ house.

Boy did that bring back memories. I lived 7-8 blocks away from my grandparents depending on whether I took the “hypotenuse” through St. Joe’s parking lot. The whole neighborhood went to Stinkin’ Linkin’ elementary except for the kids who went to St. Joe’s. So I knew (and still do) that neighborhood like the back of my hand, walking and biking through all its twists and turns, nooks and crannies. The Gully? Yes. This young woman seemed totally okay hanging out with a baggy old bag, even seeking me out when I wasn’t hiding out in the car. I had a great time with her.

There was lots of discussion about whether our North Country Trail chapters should set up a fake campfire and a little tent in our booth. It didn’t happen but fake fires seemed to be *the* thing this year as a lot of booths had set them up.

Pizza House rounded out the evening and we are now chilling out in our hotel, ready for what I hope is a slow drive back to the planet tomorrow.

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