Convention

Convention: (n) a meeting or assembly of people who share a common interest.

Every year we have one of these and invite guests for the duration and have guest speakers to preach. This is hardly the place to discuss what they talk about but suffice it to say that our usual numbers swell. People = noise.  More people = considerably more noise (it is not a linear progression) and my ears do not cope well with excessive noise. On Tuesdays at lunch time I habitually take the dog for a run, but yesterday I was feeling a bit cold-y so thought I might skip the run - until I saw and heard the masses clamouring around the lunch table. I don't do small talk well. I have little patience for queuing. I have to admit that something in me broke and I literally ran away. With the dog. Barefoot (both of us). So peaceful. Time to think. I do not think that time was wasted.

I came back, of course, but by that time the clamour had died down to manageable proportions.