This morning I got a text from an unknown number. But as soon as I saw the photo, I knew that an old friend has a new number.
Look at those munchkins! Brian was five years old; Cami was just shy of five. Cami's mom and I had been friends for 30 years at that point (over 40 now! 😮); both of us are old moms of only children.
Last night Rick and I (and Lance, who I rode for
his exercise) went for a sunset walk and started talking about friendship. Rick sympathizes with Brian, who he feels hasn't had many close friends. I think both of them have trouble finding people they can relate to, who share common interests, then stew about it. Me, I've never had a
flock of friends, but treasure and maintain the ones I've made along the winding way of my life. As a result, I feel like I have a priceless 'charm bracelet' of special friends – two from high school (including Cami's mom); another added in college; two more added while Rick was in vet school; several added after we moved here to Oregon; and even more when I started blogging. And it's not just a male/female thing. I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day about getting together with one of my friends (the first one I met upon moving to OR 30 years ago who now lives in HI) and she said, "That's one of the things I admire about you. You have worked at maintaining friendships over the years." (In Mom's defense, working long hours as an administrator left her little time to nurture relationships outside of family.)
Yesterday after work I stopped by my favorite store from which to buy plants (they only sell them in the spring and early summer; it's not a nursery) to pick up a mint. Like parsley, there is no substitute for fresh mint in some recipes. After smelling and sampling small leaves from an orange mint, a peppermint, and a chocolate mint, I came home with the first one as the best addition for pesto, along with a calibrachoa to tuck in the same pot "just for pretty." And here they are in their new home:
The other day I noticed some blue flowers in the pasture near our entrance. There are bachelor's buttons up there, but these are different (I had to zoom in or climb over the fence; I zoomed):
When I was riding in our arena Wednesday, I saw two more of what looked like the same type of flower in the bottom pasture, but in different colors:
I think they are all cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus), wild relatives of my cultivated-but-out-of-control perennial bachelor's buttons (Centaurea montana, also called perennial cornflower).
I also noticed a deer in our stand of firs in the bottom pasture:
Thinking I might get to see my first fawn of the season, I walked closer:
Then I got concerned; she never moved. As you can see, she is extremely thin; I worried she might be dying. But the next morning I saw her walking past the henhouse, so at least she was up and moving. I may call them meadow rats, but I hate to see any creature suffer.
The deck was wet and it was downright cool this morning, although it's partly cloudy now. Crazy weather; our high today is forecast to be 62, but look at next Tuesday and Wednesday! (May the hot weather be gone as quickly as predicted; amen.)
That's it for now from . . .
8 comments:
I commented to a friend that she was fortunate to have kept in touch with so many of her friends from school and college. She said that it was hard work to maintain friendships of quality. Guess I had never thought of it that way but she's right. Some people just don't have the knack of making "friends" and then some people call everybody they know their friend.
Yes, FFG, sometimes it IS hard work but I was raised with a work-hard ethic, and the benefits are so worth it! Friends really are the life-blood of life.
An adorable picture of Brian and Cami. I could tell it was Brian before you even identified him. I think, in general, females in adult life have more friends than males do. Or maybe the males have friendships that are on a more superficial level. My sister-in-law who is in her late sixties has a group of girlfriends who have been friends since high school. I think that's a real rarity these days, especially in that the 6 or 8 of them all still live within close distance of each other.
Life does take us down different roads where some friendships drift away, some reconnect and pick up where they left off. They are all treasured. It's not always easy to maintain a balance between family/work responsibilities and keeping in touch.
Looking at your weather forecast, ouch! And I thought it was more than enough that we'll be in the 80's next week. Stay cool!!
More mint in the garden....wonderful.
Life sometimes separates friends, but you know you've got a good one when you reconnect and it's like no time has passed. <3
The 'experts' say social connections are one of the reasons women tend to live longer than men, Mama Pea, and why married men generally live longer than single men. Shows just how important friends are!
Will do my best to survive the 'hot flash,' Debbie! I haven't had mint here in years; looking forward to its availability.
Isn't it wonderful when that happens, Kat? Makes you realize how much you've missed by not staying connected through the years!
Such a darling photo of the children!
Friends . . . As Bette Midler sang, you got to have them. I've lost a few in the past couple of years - one over the election, and one over the relationship I'm in. The latter was tough - friends for many, many years and she knew us back when we started, but can't seem to find it in her heart to be happy for us and only sees the death of another friend (which is what reconnect us). It's hard. And when you begin to feel that you're doing all the work . . . well . . .
aww ... that dear broke my heart. I have such compassion for animals. Why don't I have that same compassion for people?
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