July 06, 2006

That weekend when everyone went away to Corwin’s cottage to eat his mom’s raspberry pie, I stayed behind in the city where I not only sang karaoke, but I also took 973 photos at Laubach’s annual literacy conference.

Last year I went to the conference for the first time — I was working for Laubach at the time and I was thrilled by everything I saw. This year was no different — for two days I went around feeling waves of communal joy and snapping pictures.

Snap.

People. Known and unknown and all of them wonderful. The girl they hired for my job this year is insanely efficient, helpful, and pretty. Much prettier than me, in fact. I felt slightly jealous.

Snap.

Stories. Everybody had one. Perry had a hard attack since last year. It came upon him suddenly when he stepped out of the shower one morning. He told me all this as we were having coffee between seminars. He walks with a cane now and his eyes seem slightly tinged with melancholy.

Snap.

Nights. Mornings. Afternoons. It’s incredible how much happens in the span of two days. I slept for about four hours on Saturday, so by the end of the weekend everybody moved about in a blur. I was swirling in a sea of people, drifting from one face to the other, trying to capture moments. My hands shook on the camera from too much coffee. And then, as quickly as it started, it all ended. I packed my gear asking myself, “What the hell was that pleasant, swirling sensation that just hit me?”