Humanist Holiday - "Gemera"!

Every year, near to the southward equinox, Aretéans gather in their communities to celebrate nature and everything we symbolically associate with the classical element of Earth, through the holiday of "Gemera"! Schedule and locations are down below!

We'll officially dedicate ourselves to the holiday season at 1pm with a special Aretéan "religious" service, called a "convocation". We'll sing some songs and hear some inspiring messages about the holiday, and then we'll go spend some time "tending the world as the garden it is"!

One of our traditions on Gemera is to spend time as a community laboring in the stewardships of our Earth Members. As part of their membership commitment, they have each claimed a small plot of public land (called a "stewardship") as their personal life-long responsibility to care for and improve, a little bit like getting married to that piece of land. On Gemera we help our Earth Members with their responsibilities, which helps us prepare to one day take on such responsibilities ourselves!

This Gemera we'll help Colin Campbell pick up trash in his stewardship in Balboa Park, meeting at 3:15pm. Make sure to allow plenty of time for yourself to find parking, as it can be difficult in that section of the park. Colin will provide all of the necessary gloves, bags, and other tools necessary to help out, but make sure to wear clothes you're comfortable working in.

After we finish in Colin's stewardship, we'll travel over to Al Smith's stewardship in the Serra Mesa neighborhood at Murray Ridge Park at 4:30pm for a picnic potluck on the nice lawns there! We'll do some outdoor meditation as a group, eat delicious food together, and toss around a frisbee and play other party games in the grass! It'll be a fun time!

Be Excellent to Each Other, and Party On!

Schedule:

• 1300h — Holiday convocation at "Harmony Place"
• 1515h — Trash pickup in Balboa Park
• 1630h — Potluck picnic at Murray Ridge Park
• 1900h — Wrap up

There are three different locations we'll be meeting at over the course of the day:

• Harmony Place: 898 Sawtelle Ave, San Diego, CA 92114 or https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tm5AkFVt5moqX3qf6
• Colin's Stewardship in Balboa Park: Next to the Natural History Museum or https://maps.app.goo.gl/PERYgLDrAiJcxLT26
• Al Smith's Stewardship in Murray Ridge Park: 2558 Escondido Ave, San Diego, CA 92123 or https://maps.app.goo.gl/ELgCSdwV6Mrc9kQH6

Potluck Signup Sheet: https://www.perfectpotluck.com/HEVN6653

Can only attend one thing? Come to our convocation at 1300h! It's the main celebration of the beginning of the season!

P.S. The dress code throughout the day is clothes to garden in or spend time outdoors in nature!