| | on-the-spot fun
I ran into an old friend at Target today.
She was my first stay-at-home mom friend. We hung out together
when our firstborns were babies. We ended up talking
(rather she did most of the talking, I the listening  )
while all our kids played in the asiles and our husbands chatted.
We did that for nearly 2 hours. We could have been in one of our
backyards, for the fun we had. The patio furniture display was
just a few yards away, and we joked at the end at why we hadn't just
sat down and gotten comfortable, rather than hang on our shopping
carts, moving this way and that so that other shoppers could get by
us.
I was refreshed and happy after our visit, but also sad and a bit longing at the same time.
So what am I getting at? I guess I wonder what keeps people from
getting together and hanging out...why do I have a great time talking
with old friends when we run into them by chance, but we never *plan*
to get together? Life goes on, lifestyles change....and it's hard
to get outside of our little boxes and comfort zones, I guess.
Plus this particular friend lives about 20 mintues from my
house. Not a big deal really...but when you're in a small town,
anything over 5-10 minutes away seems like too far.
I have visions of all of my friends living in the same
neighborhood. What fun that woudl be! Would
they all get along together? Popping over to each other's homes,
kids running back and forth. Taking family walks in the evening
and stopping to chat at whoever's porch was the the chatting place for
the evening, or chatting up and down the street as we go.
Halloween would be fantastic...knowing and trusting evey house the kids
would trick-or-treat at....seeing what the neighbors had drummed up for
the fun. And block parties in the summertime, and lemonade stands
the kids could set up and be actually be assured of
buisness. Sounds really rosy, huh? But I'd still like
this.
Perhaps itis difficult to get with friends because of the element of
planning that is involved. In a neighborhood full of friends, the
planning aspect of getting together would be of no concern,
because there would be plenty of chance for impromptu meetings.
And maybe impromptu meetings is really what most friendships thrive
upon. Most of the best times I have with friends seem to occur in
impromptu moments, or in scheduled blocks of time where there are no
plans and no expectations of what to do with the time.
As an aside, the extrovert part of me longs for something like
this. The introvert in me gets exhausted thinking about it.
It's such a pull toward, then tug away from , repeat, over and over
kind of psychological landscape I have. How fun it is to
be me.
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| | Posted 5/8/2004 4:19 PM - 1 view - 2 comments
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