It is almost midnight as I write this, fighting sleep to try to reflect upon the active and intriguing day that I had. From the moment I went to a somewhat late breakfast with my folks I did not return to my room for more than a couple of minutes until finishing a late dinner. What happened in between is the tale that follows.

When we went to breakfast, my stepfather had pancakes on the mind but never ended up getting them because he found so many other things that he wanted to eat instead, as is often the case, that he did not want to make for them to make some hot cakes on the griddle. Although most of the restaurants tend to have the same mix of foods available for the buffets, there is a different ambiance between them and I happen to like the place I have had breakfast the last couple of days. Of course, though I got to eat and talk in a leisurely manner as I prefer, I was reminded by a friend asking me about where choir practice was that I had to get ready for choir practice, and so it was off for a shower and a quick change into my church clothing because I knew I would be busy for a while.

And so it proved to be. Choir practice went pretty well–there were a fair amount of people singing and we did pretty well for the songs and then it was time to go to the information desk. As only two of our crew were there an hour before services it was time for a lot of sharing of responsibilities as I manned the table and the other person there early went off to run announcements and guide people to various hard to find-rooms. (It should be noted, as an aside, that the hotel is a bit of a labyrinth so finding some places is a challenge.) I was asked to give the opening prayer which required more exploration of unfamiliar passages. After services I had another meeting to go to, this one for speakers and songleaders and people involved in special music, which included the second member of a particular family to surprise me by being at Puerto Vallarta.

As church services ran a little long, by the time I was done with the meeting it was already time for the Single’s meet and greet to begin. As it happens, I ended up being fairly early to the event, and perhaps unsurprisingly most of the people seeking the food and drinks (I had a couple of virgin piña coladas myself) were not in fact single at all. My thoughts about singles events in general are complicated, but although it was full of non-singles, it was perhaps less awkward than such events often are. By the time we were done talking, it was high time for our dinner reservation so it was time for another quick change and then sweating while we waited to be seated in the restaurant, where dinner was excellent.

All throughout the day it struck me that the sort of activity that I find myself enjoying is inversely proportional to the amount of time that I have to reflect on things. There is a great deal that happened that would have been the occasion for reflection, from how it is that one tends to meet some people often while other people seem to deliberately avoid meeting. While too little activity does not provide the fuel or material for reflection, too much activity does not provide the time to do so.