I am happy to report that Mother Nature, with whom I have this running love/hate relationship, did not triumph over the dinner party last night. Everyone made it from their destinations, safe and sound. The people with the least distance to travel had, perhaps, the poorest of driving conditions on the first leg of their journey, so they left early, only to discover that the interstate was in much better driving condition than they thought it would be, and, thusly, arrived about thirty-five minutes early. Which was fine and fun. We were ready, just doing last minute kitchen preparations and we enjoyed the extra minutes of conversation and easy laughter.
As each couple arrived and hugs and greetings were exchanged, the laughter level rose until there were eight people, happy to be re-united and eager to hear about what each family had been doing since we last laughed together. Of course, there was conversation revolving around boating, since that is what initially anchored us together. (pun intended) But there was plenty of other general conversation about politics (We do have some polar opposites among us.), church involvement, work (One of us is still gainfully employed and one is employed part-time. The rest of us are now societal slackers, I guess you could say.), former work (two owned and sold their profitable businesses), and whatever other tack the conversation thread took us on. With this group you never know what direction the lively conversation will travel in. One of the more interesting conversation threads involved everything coffee, from where to buy your beans, to what type of beans to purchase, to the proper temperature with which to brew your coffee, coffee grinders v.s. bean crushers, the importance of a uniform grind to the beans, the best coffee brewing machines, etc. All, of course, interjected with laughter since there are some very funny people in this group. Even the topic of what foul-weather gear to wear became so humorous I don't think I can ever don clothing for inclement weather without a smile coming to my face. Brussels sprouts as a topic of humor? With this group, yes!
All of this laughter was inspiring, a good kick-off to the Holly Daze season. It felt good to laugh and be merry, even if it was for just a few hours. For those few hours, the realities and frustrations of life were temporarily shelved and, yes, forgotten about. The pumpkin did really become transformed into the glittering carriage and although the pumpkin reappeared at midnight, it looked better than before.
For this I am thankful.
Ancora imparo
