Just yesterday I was feeling blue as blue and very nearly talked myself out of going to a church group progressive dinner last night.

Why?

Oh well the excuses were abundant; cold weather, not my own church, really not feeling like making small talk, knowing that my friends who would be there would want to talk about what was making me blue…

We went. We ate good home-cooked food, we laughed, we met new people who were genuinely interested in getting to know us, we were part of a community of people who opened their homes to us and shared their evening.

We discovered threads of commonality and a warmth of friendliness that has – despite the howling wind and weak sunshine this morning – warmed me to the core and set the blues at bay.

I have new recipes, new books and movies to share … who was it that said “nothing ventured, nothing gained”?

It was a timely reminder to me that my participation in life is as part of a number of a number of different communities, both actual and virtual…anyone want a copy of a recipe for the most divine old-fashioned lemon meringue pie??

And by the way, I don’t know if dissertations trump creating your own job.