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| On the way home from town today--March 19, 2017 |
Today I was reminded again of the cliche of how quickly time passes--how inexorably the years slip away. I had breakfast this morning with an old friend from Baton Rouge, Faith. She is the kind of friend you can pick up and be comfortable with even though you haven't seen each other in literally decades. We've kept in touch--mainly through Facebook--but haven't really been part of each other's lives in a long time.
As much as I enjoyed the brief visit with her and her friends, I would have loved to have been able to curl up in front of a fireplace and talk. You know--really talk. About how she is managing her life as a relatively recent widow. About how she spends her days. About what her joys and fears are. About my life. I sat across from this woman who looks wonderful, in spite of the passage of years, and think about the women we were when I first knew her. We were English teachers working in a difficult situation, one which grew intolerably bad until we fought back and exposed some major malfeasance in office from the administration. This was one of the most difficult times of my life, and having had Faith endure this with me cements the bond we had. Of course, we had some wonderful fun times as well. Anyway, it was great seeing you today, Faith, and I hope you come back up here sometime so we can have a longer visit. Wanda has talked about us all meeting sometime in Louisiana. I'd love to come to Breaux Bridge and have you show us around your neck of the woods.
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| I'm the second from the right if you can't tell. |
Speaking of old friends, I have two best friends, women who have known me since 1963 when we were in the 7th grade. We have literally grown up together I suppose. One of them, Brenda, recently moved to Waynesville!! At dinner last night we were commenting on how we seem to quickly lapse into some strange hillbilly accent that we acquired years ago but only bring out when we're together. I love this lady dearly--she's kind, compassionate and funny as hell. She knows me better than just about any other human being on this planet. Her sweet husband died in June, and the past 18 months have been difficult, to say the least. I think she is beginning to be happy again, little by little. It gives me great joy to know that she's close by. I was not able to do much to help her when her husband was sick, which made me feel like not much of a friend at times. I look forward to showing her more of the area when it gets to be Jeep weather again. Her new mantra is "I am free of fear". Encouraging words to live by for sure!
Carol recently got two new knees, and I'm kind of jealous. I've been dealing with more and more knee pain that has severely limited my ability to do much of anything on slopes. It's almost time for yard mowing, which definitely includes mowing slopes, and I need to be ready to do that. I also haven't been able to do any hiking, which has been fine up until now. Carol will be good to go soon, and i want to be able to share some hiking adventures with her. I can't live on pain pills and knee braces, so I hope I can find a solution to this problem. Another aspect of old age, I guess, and one I certainly don't like.
Spring has almost arrived at Ridgehaven. I think our frigid temperatures of the past few days are over. The daffodils are fading, alas, but we have a few tulips coming up. The goldfinches are turning gold again. Blue birds are scouting for a nest in the box in the front yard. Sweet Bella will no longer need her sweaters to go outside. And it's almost camping weather again.
Life is good, and I'm glad to be alive and relatively healthy.
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