Neighborhood Exchange and horse show

I woke up early this morning to attend the 9th annual Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange, where I was a speaker. My topic was “How to Build Healthy Neighborhoods” and, unlike last year, I was flying solo for this presentation. Going in, I had little to no idea what I would be speaking about but I think I managed to weave my insights together in a coherent manner.

After giving the presentation twice, I attended the keynote speech that Chief Harry Dolan gave, where once again he provided me with the title of a leadership book I should read. It was nice to say hello to him again and to meet so many interesting fellow citizens.

After the Exchange was over, I met the family at home again where we all relaxed a bit at home. I left with the kids for a trip to Habitat’s ReUse store to buy any outdoor ceiling fans they might have had. It was two minutes before they closed but we still managed to bring one home.

At the Exchange I was the recipient of two free tickets to a horse show, so we ate an early dinner and headed over for that. It was of course at the fairgrounds which was packed wall to wall with N.C. State football fans. It was State’s first game of the season, this one against South Alabama. After crawling down Trinity for what seemed like forever, we arrived in a reserved parking lot for the horse show and spent the next hour and a half enjoying a delightful parade of horses.

I had no expectations for this event but kept chuckling to Kelly about how fun it turned out to be. There were people around us who took it very, very seriously but for me it was simply a peek into a world very unfamiliar to me. Part of others’ expertise may have rubbed off on me because when Hallie asked me at one point which horse in a competition I expected would win, I correctly named the horse that eventually won. Beginner’s luck, I’m sure!

Back home now I’m ready for an early bedtime before tomorrow begins and once again I’m trying to make a difference in the world.