Out and About

Today I attended my first meeting of the Tallahassee Atheists.  That was a nice little hike, 3.7 miles.  It only took about an hour.  The meeting was held (for the last time) in a little storefront called The Divine Union.  Next month we're moving our functions to the All Saints Cafe.  The irony of a humanist group meeting in places with religious names is not lost on anyone.  There were about eight people there.  This was my first time, but I was recognized immediately.  I connected with the group through Facebook, where I am only known in my femme persona, but I attended the meeting in drab because of the heat and the distance of the walk.  Once I explained my situation, no one thought I was weird, which was a relief.

We didn't talk about much, just plans for founding a local secular community center, and some local political stuff.  Did you know that Florida's governor, Rick Scott, has the lowest approval rating of any governor in all the fifty states?  Yeah, it's down to 29%.  I haven't had a lot of time to absorb the local political atmosphere, and I learned quite a bit.  After that, we discussed the move to All Saints, plans for next month's movie night (Monty Python's Life of Brian) and plans for a barbeque, which ended up getting folded in with movie night, for an all-day affair.  There were refreshments, donuts and a Japanese snack called Daifuku mochi.  This is a rice cake stuffed with flavored red bean paste.  The one I sampled was flavored with peanut butter.  I've had all manner of peanut butter snacks, but this had the strangest texture I've ever experienced.  I won't try to gross anyone out by trying to describe that texture, but it triggered a moment of cognitive dissonance.  At least, I think that's the proper word.

Afterward, one of the members was generous enough to spot me lunch, and another gave me a ride home, and said he was willing to do so in future.  All around this was a really nice bunch of people.  It was nice to spend time with my own kind, so to speak.