3 August 2007 - Northampton, MA

Our day-off went swimmingly, as they say. Fred served us homemade whole wheat pancakes and Maria gave us home-grown cantaloupe and we debriefed some more from the night before. Fred gave us book ideas (and books!) and Maria showed us photos. It had been an enriching few days. So wonderful, to make new friends in this way.

We packed up and headed into downtown toward the train station, our hosts’ grand-daughter Emma along for the ride, in search of Thomas the Tank Engine. The train was right on time. We said our goodbyes and boarded. On to Amherst, MA.

By early afternoon we were in the able hands of our next host, Jim, who gave us a driving tour of Amherst and “the valley” on our way to his home near Northampton. We met his family and his pets, then crashed for a few hours in the guest room, catching up on a few emails and napping onces again. We’ve been far more tired than we had anticipated, even when it feels like we’ve had enough sleep. Some combination of being “on” as much as we have been (hard work for confirmed introverts!), the traveling itself, the change and the newness, and the heat that seems to be following us wherever we go, has left us fairly drained, and we find ourselves just nodding off in the afternoons. That’s not like us at all!

We came out of our cocoon to a wonderful dinner with Jim and Torie and Emma and Ethan, sweet corn and sweeter conversation. Then we headed to bed for a full night’s sleep.

The next day brought us breakfast on the deck and more great conversation, then we headed into Northampton, to see the town and check out the space for the evening’s event. We’d be screening in the UU church right downtown, a re-built version of the previous building (that burned in 1903, I think) in which, we were told, Ralph Waldo Emerson had spoken more than once. I found myself wondering what Emerson would have thought of our movie.

The church was beautiful and spacious, with Tiffany stained glass filtering the sunlight. The day was headed into the mid-90s, and the church has no AC, so we’d moved the screening to 8 PM, hoping for a cooler experience, and a darker room. As everything was in order, we headed back to Jim’s house, to fit in a few hours of computer time and rest.

We had a wonderful dinner at an Indian restaurant, then walked up to the church to set up. We hauled chairs for the circle and set up fans. Emma manned the table at the door and Jim and his friend Tim got the sound and picture in order. By 8 PM we had over 70 people in the room. Sally and I made our opening remarks, setting up the doc as best we could in the few minutes alloted to us. The lights went down and the movie started.

The church was hot. But most people stayed until the end. They got up, stood in the back in front of a fan, one even laid down for a while (is it “laid”? I always get mixed up with lay and lie, no matter how many times I work to get it straight!), but almost all of them stayed. Somewhere in there a thunderstorm marched overhead, bringing a bit of relief along with the rain. It was 10:10 when the end credits rolled.

And still, 21 of us stayed for the circle afterwards, sharing feelings and thoughts and ideas until 11:30 or so. This circle was more varied than most, with people in many different places with respect to the issues explored in What a Way to Go. Despair was in the room, as was hope and encouragement, and feelings of relief and empowerment, anger and shame. Something often happens for people upon seeing the doc, and seeing that they can look at these things without being undone. They find themselves with a new feeling of personal power.

There was a strong agreement that this sort of circle dialogue processing was much needed, and one woman collected names and contact information, in order to organize an ongoing circle. That was very gratifying to see.

We got home after 12, decompressed with a bit of reading, then went to sleep. The next day will bring our screening at Hampshire College, in an air-conditioned room with sound and projection equipment already in place. And at some point we’ll have to pick up our rental car, as the trains won’t quite work for us for a while.

Onward,

Tim