visiting

i had every intention of sitting down right away last wednesday evening, and typing to you all about my visit with tracy. 

but then there was painting, and then camping, and then my grandfather, and then wordplay.  and now here we are, a whole week later and i haven't even shared with you about my fun - really, it was so much fun - day with tracy and her husband and their friend.

there was the harbor.  and there were crabs.  messy, crazy cracking crabs 

 

(have you cracked crabs?  if not, you couldn't begin to imagine.  the hammers and the mess and the claws that make these teeny little cuts in your hands and the spices that get into those cuts and sting just the littlest bit so that it doesn't hurt, really, it just heightens the sensations of the day.  it's an experience.  i don't actually eat them, by the way.  but i love to crack them.  takes me way back.)  

we sat at that table opening those shells for three hours.  eating and drinking and talking and enjoying each other and the breeze and the glorious june day.  there were several trips to the bathroom to wash the spices off our hands.  and there was more talking and laughing and talking and laughing. 

 

i remember thinking to myself, and then saying out loud, that i didn't feel at all like i was sitting with people i had never met.  it felt an awful lot like sitting with old friends, catching up, filling in the cracks of time and space.

 

and then - ooh this part is so good - they agreed to stay in town for the afternoon and come for dinner!  i loved having tracy - and her loved ones - in my home.  i loved sharing my space with them, the new kitchen, cooking for them (such cooking as it was!  a bit rudimentary, to say the least.), introducing them to my children, sitting on my deck eating, listening to the kids sing camp songs, talking more, laughing more.  until it was time for them to go.

the details of the day have blurred a bit over this last week.  (you can read tracy's accounting of the day here.)  but i am left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this blogging neighborhood.  for the connections i've made.  for my friend who drove all the way from wisconsin to washington, and then drove some more to meet me for lunch.  for creativity and connections and oil paints and meditates and wordplay.  and for being alive at a moment in history where such encounters are possible.

Comments

[hrsj]

you are so good at putting life all into perspective and appreciating the moments. your visit sounds so nice, like you are all one family.

[amisha]

the visit sounds like so much fun! i am so grateful for this community too... it is amazing to me that someone who is in front of you for the first time can feel like an old friend. it's wonderful.
and the crab story made me smile... i haven't done it since we lived in louisiana and i'm so bad at it. it's my mom's favorite thing to do, though, so i always tried to eat crab with her and have her crack them for me :)
xox

[erin]

oh!
she is the best, isn't she?
and n and m are great, too.
i am so happy you two had so much fun!

[Mary Smith]

That first photo made my mouth water!!

[Stefani]

Aw, y'all are so cute! I'm so jealous of all the meeting up going on!

[TD wool design]

it reminds us of the goodness in our fellow kind. happy for you all :D and hoping these past few joys ease the trials of this that we call life.

[leslie]

what a great thing.......it's what life is made of.......making lasting friendships and lasting memories.

[Tracy]

oh, dear friend, this made me a little bit teary, in the best way. Remembering that day again with you. Thanks! It was so, so great. I know that if I could see you all the time, it wouldn't be the same, but I still wish we could get together more often!