Just Hatched Just Thinking: Travel

Life used to be...I don't know... simpler, i guess. More "Mr. Rogers" and less "Kill Bill". Did any of you grow up NOT knowing your next door neighbor's? How about the one's next to them? Anybody remember block parties? Seems that for many of us those things have fallen by the wayside; only memories now of our childhoods as we all build fences to border our yards. You know, Mr. Rogers- he was really on to something...

Or...take coloring, for instance. When is the last time that you picked up a crayon? Or wandered thru a park with no purpose other than to look at how many shades of green you could find? When was the last time that you looked at anything with eyes other than your own? Ah, that's the kicker, isn't it? Who has time for THAT? Most of us barely have time to live in our own crazy worlds none-the-less have time to spare for someone else's!!

Well, that's kind of what life had been getting like here in the Gregan household; a little spin crazy, shall we say? Work starting up at the college again, the Songbird is starting a new semester in school, the garage rebuild is going to be starting any day now, new quilt classes for JHP (YEAH!!!) and so on and so on... but we had two special things to keep on the calendar. Two weekends with new friends . One just passed and the other is coming up in September.

Now I don't know what traveling involves in your household, but in ours? Ai, yi, yi.... puppy needs, dietary stuff, and don't forget my squishy pillow should sum it up. LOL And that isn't the craziest thing about this first visit! The crazy part is that the Hubs, the pup and I were making a 4 hr. drive to northern Wisconsin to spend the weekend with a "friend" of mine. Yep, a friend... well, a quilt customer, actually. We ended up passing a bunch of emails back and forth about the quilt that she was ordering and those evolved into emails about life and then we became Facebook friends and well, we HAVE talked ONCE on the phone... Yeah, her girlfriend said she was nuts too! LOL "What? ...and they're staying with you? Are you crazy?" Maybe a little....

THE FACEBOOK KITCHEN

I dunno... I've said it before - Facebook has become the "kitchen" for many of us... we grab a cuppa in the morning and fire up our laptops and all meet each other around the screen... or maybe our schedules are more middle of the night - the cool thing is that it doesn't matter. I can catch up with Carol and Sue no matter what the time even tho we are NEVER functioning at the same time for a long phone call. And, this time, it allowed for Diane and I to become friends from 200 miles apart. Can it REALLY be that simple?

It seems that we are still wanting to be part of a neighborhood... still wanting to be part of a group, still wanting that particular closeness only we are no longer needing it to be next door! Mr. Rogers must be spinning! I know that my Mom just shakes her head every time she visits and the topic comes up of my circle of girlfriends: Samantha in GA, Phoebe in WI, Diane in WI, Jan in CA, Ruth in WI, Jodi in CO, Rachael in MA, Angela in TX, MB in AZ, and there's even Carol in Slovakia! (Please don't be mad if I didn't list you! Just trying to pull a random sampling, sisters!) She doesn't understand how my close friends aren't well... close! The last time she was here I tried to explain that I DO have friends who are close geographically ... I then added that the world has changed and my neighborhood is just different from hers. Her response was "Only if you let it." WOW.

CAN IT REALLY BE THAT SIMPLE?

So... back to choices. I decided for myself that it IS that simple. I reconnected with a dear high school friend... after a week or two of "Do I really want to go back there?" I realized that there IS no going "Back there"... there is only going ahead and inviting someone to go with you. That is what she was doing and in accepting her most gracious invitation we have started the journey of a brand new friendship...one that I count myself most lucky and blessed to have. Carol - D'akujem. I can't wait for more letters! :-)

And there is taking a chance on a brand new face in a whole new neighborhood... that is Diane... and the seeds for this whole post! In a nutshell, Diane and her hubs are much like me and mine. She and I both struggle with health issues, hubs both work wayyyy too many hours and then bear the brunt of the house upkeep. We're all about the same age but this lovely woman and her husband have a delightful son, Jack, who is 7 and he is DOG CRAZY!!! He does not have any grandparents so I am his "adopted Ya-Ya", a status that I wear very proudly. So... off go the Hubs, the puppy and I for a weekender to northern WI. ...

We spent the entire weekend chatting on the family room couches while Jack rolled around, ran around, and generally played litter mate to our 3 month old puppy, Cullen. Glenn and Diane had never been around a Corgi so they were quite amused, to say the least. Jack made great progress with Cullen - he taught him to go up (and, more importantly) DOWN the stairs! We went to an area Farmer's Market and bought luscious fresh fruits and veggies ..which we promptly made into salads whose recipes we shared.

Then, best of all, we spent an entire evening coloring together. Yep, every last one of us. Coloring. Stained glass dragons, snowflakes and even Erte' women were beautifully colored in and held up for perusal and opinions in front of the table lamps during the course of the evening. Tessellated designs and knights in armor made appearances soon after as the puppy went from couch to easy chair making the snuggle rounds to each pair of arms. Easy laughter and soft conversation slowly became gentle hugs and wishes for nights of blessed sleep. Jack gave one last squeeze to Cullen and off we all went to snooze away the night. If it could only always be that easy...

Diane and I both know that we took a chance but we had the faith to do so. We took a chance on opening up to one another and it worked. I know things don't always go that way, but I am awfully glad they did this time around. My neighborhood got that much bigger and I am grateful. I got the chance to see the world for just a little while thru the eyes of a precious little 7 year old boy... and ai, yi, yi was that a trip! LOL Wouldn't have missed it for the world! I have another visit much like this one coming up in September... I am looking forward in faith that it will be just as much fun... and my neighborhood will grow again....because yes, it really is that simple.

I'll leave you with three things tonight... First - the wise words of Mr. Rogers....

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,

I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?

Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?

Secondly.... a little laughter with Jack and Cullen ....