Noise From New England: So Utah was fun!

As you may know, Abby, mom and I have recently returned from a fabulous convention in Utah (yes, Clover, it was quite nice! It would be nice to make it out sometime, too!). We saw old friends and met new friends and even met people we have known for a while but never met face to face! The convention was beautiful! It was set on a hill overlooking a small valley that crescendoed into a mountain. The red of the dirt sharply contrasted with the blue blue of the cloudless sky. A highway wound around the mountain in the distance, with a truckers honk faintly audible every once in a while. From the entrance of the dorms, the peaks of the top of the tent jutted into the sky, providing a great photo-op (which I failed to take advantage of. Shame on me!) Kids sat in circles laughing and sharing stories of home while the adults tried to figure out connections between everyone. The older folks spoke of how the economy and the weather had had an influence on their farm or ranch since they last saw each other. Runways, head of cattle, how to pronounce "Worcester", cuts of meat, hairdos, the Texas heel-click, altitude, population, population density, clothes, shoes, pets... Between all of the age groups, not a topic was left unmentioned. The 90* weather didn't phase anyone, except for the few who who wandered off to find a sweatshirt due to the dryness and the breeze sweeping in from the north. Even though the people were different, the place was different, and the food was different, what we heard was the same, which made it easy to overlook the formerly mentioned differences and feel right at home. I love it when that happens!