I have called you friends

Back from Baltimore. What a terrific group of people the In Trust group puts together for these workshops - this year the writers met with the mentors (experts in finance and governance) who work for In Trust, and together we brainstormed plenty of articles to fill the magazine over the next 18 months. I will be working on the topic of accreditation, which I actually find pretty darn interesting.

I left on a foggy Tuesday morning.

Penn Station in Baltimore is rather small, and somewhat dilapidated, but it has several extremely nice old features. I hope someone preserves it soon.

The workshop was on the campus of St. Mary's Seminary, but some of us stayed at the nearby Radisson, which was fine with me - I was able to try a Sleep Number bed (and ended up leaving it on the highest, firmest mattress number, which was where it was when I arrived).

I love being in a hotel. Seems incredibly luxurious - almost any hotel. Perhaps if I had ever stayed in a hotel as a child I might not think it's such a big deal, but I was actually quite old before I ever stayed in a hotel room, except for one trip with the Girl Scouts (which seemed exciting and very, very sophisticated to me at the time).

Tuesday night the group had dinner at the Dogwood Restaurant.

As we walked to the restaurant, we saw a giant flamingo on one side of the street.

Directly across, a flamingo guitar in a store window.

No idea why there was a flamingo thing going on in Baltimore.

The next day was gloriously clear.

And, thinking about the folks I've met through In Trust, I was happy to note this verse over one entrance to the seminary - John 15:15, "I have called you friends" (dixi amicos).