Guest what happened to me...

(No, nothing really happened. I'm just making a pun.)

It is really hard work for me to be a guest in a stranger's home. Every meal I've been to so far has been with a large-ish crowd and I don't know how to contribute to discussion. So I sit quietly, sometimes for three hour meals or more.

I'm looking forward to being with just one or two people at a time. I met one person today who I really liked and who might turn out to be a friend. Let's see if that develops. (There are a lot of people that I like, but that doesn't mean they'll be my friends.) The truth is, the most engaging conversation I was able to have at a Shabbos table today was with a mother who was asking advice on books for her child. So I was talking shop, and I don't know how interested she actually was, but I guess that's just what makes me tick.

On another note, I found two alternative communities for myself last week. I say alternative because they are not Jewish communities, they are just other places where I can belong.

One is with a writing group that meets in the library twice a month. After the meeting this week I was totally reinvigorated towards writing.

The second place is theTenafly Nature Center. I agreed to volunteer there a few Sunday hours per month. A little voice inside me said it's a bad idea to volunteer too early. But a more personal voice said that I need to be in the outdoors, I would love the physical labour of trail maintenance or whatever they have me do, and that I can spare the time for something that deserves it like this.