On September 7, 2019, I attended the All Tapestry Fall Picnic. Before participants started arriving, I recorded a voice memo describing the playground where the event was taking place and reflecting on some of the meta questions I was chewing on at the time, including how to form relationships with the youth and how my…
I met Hannah and Sam at a deli in Powell Gardens after a morning of hustling around. I thankfully remembered before I left the house that I would need to go to a local music store beforehand to buy an XLR cable to use with my new shotgun microphone, since today would be the first…
I heard Liz ask Zoe about how school was going, and she said her grades were some good and some bad (two A’s, two F’s). Liz then said, “Oooh, tell me about the A’s.” I ordered an iced coffee and came back to the table. I listened as the group chatted for a bit, then…
I arrived at the course on my bicycle mid-morning. I could see a group that looked like Hannah and company in a large tent structure. I walked around to one end and came in. Upon entering, I said hi to Deacon Derek, and then sat down and talked to Liam, Hannah’s husband. He asked about…
Although I would not yet apply for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for my research for many months, and I wouldn’t start taking long-form field notes until my next engagement, I nevertheless think of my participation in this holiday party in late 2018 as the beginning of my formal ethnographic presence with Tapestry. This event…
On November 19, 2018, I met Sam for the first time. I rendezvoused with the co-directors at a major transit hub, and we walked a couple blocks to the nearby lobby of the Hotel Downtown. They told me they frequently take meetings there. I have returned myself at times when I’ve been in the neighborhood…
On October 4, 2018, shortly after relocating to a West Coast metropolitan area, I attended a worship service celebrating the appointment of a new leader serving a regional church role there. I arrived late, because my hometown baseball team was in the playoffs, and I stopped in nearby pub to watch the end of the…
