Somerset, Kentucky

It's hot in Somerset.  I've been sitting inside Baxter's coffee shop for almost three hours, where the a/c has made my fingers tingle, it's so cold in here!  I sit here and do my work, and sip on a "Blitz," which is Frappuccino-like, although better because they make it with soy milk!  Last weekend I sang at the wedding of a friend whom I've known since before kindergarten.  A Filipino-Catholic mass it was.  Beautiful and bold.  I sang some songs I haven't heard in years, jazzing up my accompaniment with 7th chords and adding 9's everywhere.  I think it was the hippest version of "One Bread, One Body" that ever was in St. Mildred's.  I discovered a new appreciation for the Catholic faith, in that I believe that it works for some.  The structure of it, the ritual, the programmed responses.  It was lovely.  I noticed myself saying to myself, "I'm thankful for this community.  Even though I do not attend mass anymore, I can appreciate the people I grew up with here.  I always liked the stained-glass windows."