Apparently the universe has decided to continue to push my growth in the area of flexibility. Our Blacksburg, Virginia trip has now been postponed another week leaving us wondering exactly when we’ll leave Virginia. In the meantime, we’ve been finding as many ways as possible to keep our hands busy and make the most of our time.

Thursday led us to the Portsmouth Rotary where the speaker combined quick quippy with genuinely thought-provoking life lessons. Besides an amusing speaker, this meeting was also the first on our travel year where we received a club flag. It was an honor that definitely had me smiling the rest of the day.

On Friday, after watching Evan’s cousin coach another baseball game with an overwhelming (11-1) victory, we had the opportunity to attend an experience we had only happened to find doing research because of our schedule changes. The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art was hosting a champagne social and a lecture from Annette Gordon-Reed, “the first Black recipient of Pulitzer Prize for History.” The speech spoke on her books about Juneteenth and Sally Hemings as well as the future of America from the perspective of someone who was the first Black girl in her school.

Saturday we joined the Rotary Club of Smithfield for a highway trash cleanup. It was an eye-opening reminder of the importance of environmental ethics as Evan yanked a piece of bubble wrap from the ground as if it was a weed.

Sunday morning was spent with Evan’s parents and dogs walking along the beach and boardwalk. Their 14 year old dog Chica seemed to forget her age and at one time dashed so fast I wasn’t sure if Evan would catch her. Afterwards, we helped clean the house to prepare for the delivery of a new refrigerator. As house cleaning often does, old memories were accidently dug out and one of my favorite moments of the day was watching Evan and his brother Sly throw pinecones back and forth with their old lacrosse sticks.