Just Among Friends

Just Among Friends

Did you ever gaze into a kaleidoscope?  The slightest twist produces a different mesmerizing swirl of color.    My friends are like kaleidoscopes, a group of colorful people with ‘character’ as the one common factor.  

I’ve always believed it is those who are slightly off-center who keep life from dulling over.  When my friends refer to each other , their comments are usually prefaced with “He’s a real character.”  Or, “Isn’t she a trip?”  They would never, of course, make such comments when referring to me. 

A group of my friends came together this past week for a long overdue catch up.    Snippets of conversation will be forever engraved in my memory. 

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

“I’ve gained a ton.”

“Well, I’d still know you anywhere.”

“Most of us have put on a little.  That’s just normal.”

“I wouldn’t want to be abnormal.”

“Did you read her column last week?  The one about Chattanooga?  I liked that one.”

“No, but I will.  What’s it called?  I can’t ever remember….”

“Patricia’s….”

“Patricia’s Porch.  You can Google it.”

“No!  It’s Patricia’s Porch ‘TALK’.  Patricia’s ‘Porch’ is the name of a painting.   You have to add TALK.”

“I see.  ‘Patricia’s Porch’.”

“It’s hot and sticky out here.  When the weather gets like this, my feet swell.”

“I don’t smell them.”

“I don’t either.”

“So, don’t worry about it.”

“That’s not what I….”

“ . . .  after living so long in Vegas, this feels cool to me.”

“I wish I’d ordered what you have.  Yours looks better than mine. ”

“I think we all look good.”

“So I can just do a search for Patricia’s Porch?”

“NO!  That’s NOT the …”

“So where are we going from here?”

“To her house… to see all the flowers.”

“Oh.  I haven’t been there before.”

“Right.  But I told you about it….how when you open the front door, the back door’s …well, right there.”

“Jeeze!  It’s not THAT small!”

“Just a handful of people and it’s full….if that tells you anything…”

“Really?  It’s THAT small?”

“And owl decoys are scattered around the back yard to scare away the snakes.  I told you about that, didn’t I?”

“Nooooooo…..”

“Oh, yeah!  Owls.  You’ve gotta see this.”

“Stop poking fun at my owls.  I just don’t want any snakes crawling around back there.  That’s not so unusual…”

“Yeah, right.”

“This check’s not right!  It says $18.00.  That can’t be right.”

“Your wine alone was $9.00.  So that’s about right.”

“It couldn’t be!  It has to be more!”

“If you thought it was going to be more, then I wouldn’t complain about it.”

“But there’s six of us!”

“We have separate checks.”

“Oh.”

“We can always take a walk on the Riverwalk.”

“Hmmmmm…. yeah, we can, I guess, if the bikes don’t mow us down.”

“They should have built a separate path for all those bikes. ”

“First comes the vision…then comes the hindsight.”

“Funny how hind‘sight’ can fall on deaf ‘ears’.”

“Well, hindsight always arrives a little late.”

“By the way….did you ever get the hang of wearing contacts?”

“Not really, but I’ve developed a new appreciation for anyone who can just pop them in and out.   I finally managed to get them in, but with great difficulty.   First of all, my eyes are shaped funny.  And the contacts are clear so I’m working with something I can’t even see.”  

“I think they look real good on you, hon.”

“Oh, here comes the waitress.  Ask her if she’ll take our picture.”

“And look at me… I’m just thow’d together.”

It’s been a full week and we had a wonderful time. . .  my friends and I.  I wouldn’t swap any of them for all the ‘regular people’ in the world.   They are my blessings.

Copyright 2007 Patricia Paris
 patriciaparis@gmail.com 
Patricia Paris is an author/columnist from East Tennessee
Member: Tennessee Mountain Writers, Int'l Women Writers Association, Tennessee Writers Alliance, Chattanooga Writers Guild