Connected

This Sunday, I had a refreshing conversation with a really cool lady. We don't know each other whatsoever but we connected right away. Isn't it funny how you can knock yourself over with trying to make some friendships gel while others just spark to life over watermelon slices and a paper plate?

This one sparked to life.

She used words like faith, open, mystic, love and immediately I knew she probably kissed her dog on its face too. We won't see each other again, but that's the point. Connection doesn't necessitate longevity.

This really cool lady and I decided that life strings some of us, as people, to each other at just the right time even if the moment feels all wrong.

Case in point: When I first arrived here in Virginia, I was slow to meet other moms. My neighborhood is filled with them only they are at work during the day while I am at home with kids and fourteen hours to fill before bedtime. Zoom ahead a year and I find myself at a playdate with three new-to-me preschool moms. One of which was very outgoing. She was the ringleader, the spokesperson, the one I shied away from.  Andy had just left for a year long deployment, I was reserving energy, and needed quiet companionship.  Gregarious felt wrong for me.

Zoom ahead three years and this mom is now one of the four soul sisters I rely on here. We have spent so much time together that she can tell if something's wrong by how I exit my car. I can hear her thoughts when her mouth isn't talking much. We connected when I least really wanted to. And now, the path of our lives is forever intertwined through coffee, blue frosting, Marshall's, burlap burn where the sun don't shine (tube slides), play date wine, and so much more.

Some friendships are connected for life. Others are brief conduits on our way to someone else. Others still smolder in preparation for a future that will unfold in its own due time.

If I've learned anything from being me the last four years, I've learned to appreciate the system as it happens naturally. Not to force the ones that make you feel uneasy. Not to worry over or mourn friendships that may not have an organic foundation anyway. 

You can always tell when it does have promise. She'll use words like mystic, faith, open, love, or your version of meaningful. 

Sometimes the best connections happen when we least expect or even want them to.  Personally, I think it's because we're not the ones in charge of the system.

Meeting the Neighbors

It's amazing what leaving the house can do for your mind, body, and sense of belonging.

Yesterday we went for a walk. Not a 5 minute jaunt to the park but a real honest walkin'-the-dog, walk. It started to rain the moment we set out but we went anyway because it was cool, smelled like wet leaves, and felt good. All of us got a little bit soaked but none of us cared. We met lots of new people and all of them were friendly, chatty, and a little bit eccentric. My cup of social tea. We met a middle aged lady with blue highlights. She had a fluffy dog with the presence of an over protective older sister. Sadie was impressed, however, and danced around her in a jitterbug.

We saw a nice older gentleman walking quickly. Fist in one hand, umbrella in the other. I've seem him walking every single day since we moved in and my curiosity has been getting the best of me. Is he single? Widowed? Getting a walk in after a Physics lecture at the local college? I have to know. As we crossed paths, he wore his usual flat expression and seemed like he was all business. Something in me told me otherwise so I smiled hard in his direction. To my sincere surprise and joy he smiled even wider back at us! He even paused a moment to take the five of us in. We all uttered clumsy hellos and kept going our separate ways. What a handsome fellow he was with that captivating grin. I can't wait to see him again.

We met a nice older couple who were holding hands as they walked. They stopped us to ask about Sadie. They thought she was "such a nice dog" and of course we think they're right on. She's the greatest with people she knows and people she soon will know; a lifetime of new- friend's inquiries. She's our very own personal Liz Taylor.

Then we met a mom whom I just may have to try to meet again. She had a toddler on her shoulders, reckless curly blond hair, and some ink as I recall. She looked down when she spoke to us but at the backs of our eyes when she listened. I am trying not to get my hopes up because she probably has plenty of friends but hopefully we'll run into each other again and we can let our children run around our backyards while chatting about things that matter and things that don't.

Oh, and funky gardens abound here. Serious eye candy pour moi.

All in all, it was a great walk and I'm so glad the rain came when it did.