The Democrats Are Coming!

Since yesterday morning the city of Charlotte has been abuzz with the news. The 2012 Democratic National Convention will be held here. From my visitor's perspective, the downtown area seems ideally set up for such an event.  Charlotte had been on the list of prospective cities for the 2012 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, until Convention chose to return to Indianapolis.

But for most of the nation, the Democratic National Convetnion is a tiny blip on the radar screen. The massive winter storm has been the major cities for the past couple of days, with the protests in Egypt taking a close second. Followed by whether or not the Groundhog will see his shadow (Punxsutawny Phil didn't).

And for those of us here for the NAECED Annual Tapestry Conference and Annual Meeting, the storm is definitely high on our list. Will people be able to get here--inlcuding some of our board members and speakers?

It's always a risk holding a meeting during the winter. I remember people questioning the decision to hold Will Our Faith Have Children? in Chicago in February. No one would be able to get there because of the weather. As it turned out, getting to Chicago wasn't the problem. The last day of the conference, a major blizzard closed airports along the East Coast from Washington, DC northward. Some of us didn't get out of Chicago for two days after the end of the conference.

But for those of us here setting up the conference here, we have plenty to do other than focus on the endless winter storm updates. Registration begins tomorrow afternoon. While we are so far ahead of where we've been in past years in terms of preparation, there are all those little things that can't be done until the last minute.

The clock is ticking.

And speaking of clocks, this is the view outside my hotel window.  I couldn't tell what it was when I checked in, but looking out the window while working at the desk yesterday morning, I saw what it was.

It's a giant sundial.