The bedroom was completely dark when the phone alarm went off at 6:05. I couldn't believe that it was correct. I thought my phone was malfunctioning. I mumbled that it had to be a joke. I managed to show up to the rotary board meeting by 7:01, barely late at all, but it was ugly. I didn't speak a whole lot, which has been my usual pattern. By the end of it, I became increasingly aware that my appearance and attention span was ugly, but I was not the only one. Most of my fellow rotarians had pale, puffy faces, and more of then had bags under their eyes than didn't. I talked to this year's president on the way out of the Y where we meet, and he said that once upon a time he wanted to suggest moving the monthly meeting to a different time of day, and the two past presidents encouraged him to bring it up. (At the time, he was either on deck or second in line to assume control for a year.) So he made a motion to move the meeting to a more civilized time of day. The motion died an ignominious death. Even the two past presidents voted against it. So to this day, we roll in looking wrinkled, sucking down coffee. I know some of the members of the board wake early, and this is no big deal to them. But to say that I am not a morning person is such a pale description of how horrible mornings are for me, or how stiff I am physically and mentally before about 10 am.
Not all of rotary was a struggle to stay awake and relevant. The lunch meeting was actually pretty cute. We had a very special guest of honor, and members were encouraged to bring children or grandchildren who wanted to meet him. Most of the kids who went to sit with Santa and ask for presents were on the young side, but there was one 16 year old who was super excited to talk to him. She is our exchange student from Croatia, and she was having a blast playing along with this particular American tradition. I don't know how she celebrated winter holidays at home. I have an idea how she approaches religion, in line with the majority of her country. But where Croatians fall on the whole St Nicholas/Santa Claus tradition. I have invited this exchange student to a basketball game, which will have to be in January (how can there be NO home games during winter break?). Maybe I can ask her then what her childhood Christmases were like.
Snow is supposed to be coming in the next few days. Tomorrow we are having a Saturnalia party, Thursday we are celebrating Festivus, and the family smack-talk email chain is growing in length in preparation for Christmas day. Maybe soon it will feel less like October and more like the holiday season.
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