On the backside of the Monument Valley trip, John stopped in Albuquerque to visit his brother. In fact, drove seven hours just to spend a late evening, and half the next day before heading home. He had a great time. Today we both got plaintive emails - 'Great to see John, but tough it was so short'. Short? John and I looked at each other... Why to us, that was pretty great quality time. What did he expect?
In Monument Valley we shared a drink then breakfast with three different sets of people we were happy to see. Less than two hours total each probably, yet all good connecting time. Friends that we're used to catching here, there, and everywhere for a quick touch in then moving on. NYC, LA, SF, Utah, Maine, Austin, NM, fest du jour - it's a moveable feast. I guess our own little version of a jet set life, though we're by no means jet setters. Our life's on the move, catching friends over decades in moments. What did the brother expect? I love the hit and run aspect in our relationships. I love the deep connect that comes in a seriously intense 20 minute conversation in a festival hallway or over a quick meal. To the cynic, we're showbiz pals. To me it's the buzz. I'm not interested in dining with the same two to four couples every saturday night. That's never worked for either of us. Sure,there's some continuity. There are a couple of closer pals we're happy to see over and over. But more often than that, it's the moveable feast.
Traveling to DC last year to sit on an NEA panel, my NYC mom said, "Do you have any friends there?" "Why?" I wanted to know - "The panel work keeps us busy." "Oh" she said, "At this point I just figured you pretty much have friends everywhere, don't you?" And it was kinda cool to think yes, well actually we do.
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