Quaker Youth Book Project Meeting In Progress

My purple coat has been showing up on random editorial board members running through the rain. Okay, it has just been Rachel and Katrina but I still find it greatly amusing and am glad I can give something to them in this small way. It has been raining as hard here these last two days as it does in Oregon. But here, however, it just seems prettier, cozier. This may perhaps be because this is a beautiful place and we have been inside most of the time working together. This morning Rachel started a fire in the fire place so we have been talking and writing with the rain pattering outside the open windows and the fire crackling inside. It's a warm rain, the air is what we have been calling "thick" and I like the warmer weather. This afternoon, two of the staff from the center we're staying at brought us cookies and water. We thanked them profously and dove in. The macadamian nut and white chocolate (which was still warm and melty) were our favorites.

The first night we were here together, Katrina was helping me bring my bags up to our rooms when we found Harriet sitting in the road writing in a small notebook so we sat down beside her soon joined by Rachel. So there we are, chatting away in the dark in the middle of the road, getting to know each other as people and not just through our posted bios. We admitted to each other that our bios were a little intimidating as everyone on the board is very talented and accomplished in their own right. Now we know each other as friends and understand in a depper way that we are unified in our diversity. We hail from around the planet and have had to work at using words we all have the same meaning for, but that has only enriched our writing and time together. We have told stories about our lives and practices in the countries in which we live. Last night we went bowling, the first time for John/Lomuria, our Friend from Kenya. Wouldn't you know, he was quite good! For our second game we were in unity to use the bumpers on the lanes. I wish I could tell you my score improved a great deal.

Yesterday we spent crafting a submissions guideline and coming up with questions we want to ask. I'll be posting those later. The ten of us, the editorial board and our project coordinator Angelina, get along VERY well. Angelina teased us that we like each other too much because our times together are filled with laughter as well as discussion. We like how Rachel says "Pank Lemonade", how John wears so many layers because he is from the Kenyan desert, that Wess takes his life in his hands riding his bike around LA, and we tell Harriet, "Your England is awesome!"

These last several days, I have gained a different view of Quakerism. Before, I have mostly known Quakers from the Northwest, but now I can call Friends friends from around the world, literally around the world. I have also gotten many, many Quakers from the East coast and they have a different flavour of Quakerism than in the west. It's been nice to get a more balanced view and to see things about Quakerism I have not been intimate with before because of the type of Quakers I'm usually around. For example, did you know Quakers are touchy-feely? I didn't but do now.

Many of these new friends I met through Quakers United in Publishing, a group dedicated to the written word which I am now seriously considering becoming a member of. I am greatly amused at God's skill to bring me into contact with the people I have needed to meet and get to know. One night at dinner I sat at an empty spot which happened to be next to the editor or staff member of Quaker Life and across from a British woman who offered her help if we needed type setting help for the Quaker Youth Book Project or my own books. I remembered as I fell asleep later that night that I have been praying fom a graphic artist who knew Adobe In Design. Thank you God!

The things that are different here:
-Rabbits. Whereas in the Northwest, we have wild cats running around our neighborhoods, they have rabbits. Wild rabbits run hither and yon.
-The color green. The leaves are a neon green, I've never seen that before.
-There are hardly any evergreens, most of the trees are deciduous.
-The food. They use more spices and beans. I like it very much and I even tried a new vegetable that looked very odd and as if it could be very hot but it tasted good.
-The accent. I admit, I have only heard the "south accent" here and there from the natives. I have heard more of the Bolivian, African, and British accents.
-The Buildings. Both in houses and community buildings, the architecture is different both in age and style.

I am going to go relax for a while before dinner. I will write some deeper, more reflective paragraphs later including posting pictures when I get home, but right now, I would rather live my time here instead of writing about it. I will leave you with this thought we have been discussing: Younger Friends are the Friends of today AND tomorrow.