MelB Marvis: Convention C & C

Assignment: Compare and contrast the conventions from the last two weekends. To keep them straight for the purposes of this essay, call the one in Iowa M, and the one in the center of this state A.

Similarities:

An overabundance of food for the soul.
Helped with preparation of natural food.
Morning walks.
Middle of the night treks to the bathroom with a great view of the stars. I'm not getting that old that I have to make lots of trips in the night. But, the problem is that I drink less during the day so I don't have to go out during meeting. Then at the end of the day I feel really thirsty, so I end up drinking a bunch of water at night lunch. This results in the late night bathroom treks.
Seeing some special people - both woikas and non-woikas. Some of the special people at A included JC, Myra, Dana, M&M, Kim, Tim&Kate, and of course all the people that I meet with on a regular basis here at home. It's sad the list is that short after living here for more than eight years. It really wouldn't be that short if I actually listed all the "regulars".
Sore posterior by the end.
Very nice clear blue skies for a couple days.
Tent dwelling. That's right - I tempted the forces of nature and braved the tent again.
Helping with clean-up. I would highly recommend it - I consider it a good way to ease out of the convention life.
Stew!

Differences:

Social interactions. At M, there were several people of similar age and station in life present to hang out and visit with. At A...not so much. I had my pick of young married couples with children to visit with - or middle-aged and older people. Not that there's anything wrong with that. There were a few single people in their mid to lower twenties, but I'm starting to be ancient compared to them. The weekend also brought a couple more people my age, but still not a lot.
Horizontal resting hours. Jack-E and I stayed up past 11:00 PM several nights talking at M. At A, I regularly broke the Crafty Ducky rule of not heading to bed before 9:00 PM. I think one night it was even as early as 8:30. I wasn't sleeping by 8:30 by any means, but I had already started the nightly teeth brushing routine one night around that time. In my defense for being so lame, the allergy stuff was making me feel a little bit draggy. Plus, when you have stuffy sinuses and you're trying to talk amidst a din of other people, it makes conversation a bit of a challenge, so I gave up on it.
Walking companions. I had some at M, but not at A. There are benefits to doing it either way. When you have less social stuff going on, it does make more time for God if you can manage to quiet your mind.
Food preparation. We mixed the veggies and put the dressings on at M. At A, I was on the other side of the coin preparing the veggies. After the experience at M, as I ate at A I can tell you that I paid much closer attention to the salads and how the dressing was mixed, etc. It was also interesting to observe how long it took for the veggies to go from our processing until I saw them appear on the table. Often it was a day, but not always.
Tent situation. No rain at A except maybe a small sprinkle one night that I'm not sure was even a sprinkle. As previously mentioned, that certainly was not the case at M. Another difference in tents was the size. Jack-E's tent was very spacious with plenty of room to stand up and walk around. My tent on the other hand is.....tiny. There is barely enough room for my single air mattress and my small duffel bag. To put my clothes on, I pretty much have to lay down.
Temperatures. M was first unbearably hot, then rainy, then on the cool-to-cold side. A was more moderate. It was only slightly cool on Thursday, and then Friday through Sunday were very pleasant with each day getting a little bit warmer. The nights were pleasantly crisp at A.
Corn on the Cob. As can only be expected of Iowa, the corn on the cob at M was delicious, and we had it twice. I dare to be blasphemous to Uncle Walt and say the corn on the cob there was as good as it is in ND. I suspect they plant the same brand and variety of seed. Now A wasn't bad and it was better than some years, but it wasn't up to the same standard as M. I would give M an A+ in the corn on the cob department, and I would give A a B+.
Empty places. Not being a "regular" at M, I had no way of knowing if people were missing. I certainly noticed a few people missing at A. The biggest gap I noticed was in the veggie room. It used to be that the space at the sink to wash the buckets, knives, etc. after all the chopping was done was never open. This year though, it always seemed to be open. I can't remember exactly who used to do it, but I think it's a combination of one of the helping ladies dying and several of the men getting older and not being able to help as much as they used to. Since school was already in session, I think the benches in the meeting shed at A were more than half empty for the first two days.
Phases of the sun. At M., I noticed the beautiful sunsets. It was the beautiful sunrises that I saw at A. It could be related to which way the tent was pointed and to which direction had the most unobstructed view.
Smells. M was kinda heavy on the chicken poo smell occasionally. A didn't have any real strong smells, but one day I think I did smell horses or cows. It wasn't quite strong enough to know for sure.

We heard so many good things, I don't think I can narrow it down enough at the moment to leave you with any single special thoughts. One story I enjoyed that we heard and that came to mind this evening was a little boy who was having a struggle. He came to his mother and was wanting to talk to her a little bit. She asked the boy if he had shared his trouble with God. He said he had. But, he also said, "I need someone else with skin on them." It is nice to walk in the way with some other people, isn't it? I should be clear that neither convention was better than the other, they were just different. It's kind of amazing how they can be so much the same and yet different at the same time.