Of Congregational Meetings, M&Ms, and beekeepers

This past weekend was amazing.   I spent a grand total of 25 hours in the state of Florida with Temple Beth Orr, in an absolutely fabulous whirlwind.  (I also felt very grown up - for the very first time in my life, and keep in mind I turn 34 next month, I packed my own hair dryer with a defuser!)

Cut and pasted from the TBO Facebook page:

Shalom! At this morning's congregational meeting the congregants of Temple Beth Orr listened to the report of the Rabbi Search Task Force and learned why the task force and the Board of Trustees felt confident presenting Rabbi Michal Loving as TBO's next Rabbi. Subsequently, Rabbi Mark Gross and members of Senior Staff discussed their meetings with Rabbi Loving and submitted glowing recommendations. Congregants observed a question and answer session between President, Steve Feinstein and Rabbi Loving, while also having the opportunity to ask questions themselves. After this all, a vote was taken and the congregation voted to approve Rabbi Loving as Temple Beth Orr's next Rabbi. We appreciate everyone's consideration and involvement and look forward to a bright and wonderful future. We are and have been blessed to have Rabbi Gross as part of our family and we look forward to bringing Rabbi Michal Loving into our family as well.

The "Oprah-style" interview

Overwhelmed by the applause after I was voted in.

The flights back were the perfect cap to the lovely weekend.  On the way to Phoenix I sat next to a young man, a Navy veteran, who spent his military career making bombs and is now in the medical field, because he wants to heal instead of hurt.  We geeked out over Harry Potter, Firefly, DC versus Marvel, and quoted When Harry Met Sally and Good Will Hunting to each other.  Then we got deeper, and talked about PTSD, the necessity of compromise in relationships, what we can learn from world travel, and more.  I didn’t crack open my book once.  The airline ran out of food before they got to us (we were in the very back), and a flight attendant gave me free M&Ms because she felt sorry for me; we split them between us. When the flight touched down and everyone started getting up, the people around us were cracking jokes about it.  “You talked for four hours!” said the man sitting directly behind me.  “Four hours eight minutes!” said someone else in the row in front. “I went to sleep and woke up, and they were still talking!”  My seatmate and I just grinned, and he said, “That’s what happens when you get two extroverts together!”

Then, on the way from Phoenix to Sacramento, I sat with a woman who is a migratory beekeeper.  She explained how one keeps bees, how they live and work, how she and her husband go with the bees from CA to Minnesota to Mississippi so they can pollinate the appropriate flowers.  They make money because the farmers pay them to bring their bees to their fields, to make the crops grow, and then they sell the honey to Sue Bee Honey.  Did you know that one bee only makes a quarter teaspoon of honey in its entire lifetime?

My seatmates made my trip, because the only negativity of the whole weekend was trying to board the plane.  You haven’t lived until you’ve had TSA give you a full pat-down, dismantle every piece of your breast pump and go through your entire carry-on at the airport.  Turns out I wasn’t carrying dangerous.  No kidding.