Random 5 for June 5, 2022 – Projects, friends, connections, social visits, weather

Gallery

Posted on by

Deck with partially completed pergola through our newest tree. The yellow thing is scaffolding.

Progress! – We’ve seen some progress on our deck. Just a few more weeks.

A surprise – One night this week there was a knock on the door. An old friend (literally and figuratively) was outside. He was nearby and made the effort to find us. He had a general idea where we live so he asked a woman walking a small fluffy dog (all the dogs in my immediate neighborhood are small and fluffy except for one labradoodle). She directed him to our house! I haven’t seen him in 15 to 20 years, but he hadn’t changed. He flushed up a whole new set of memories and people that I hadn’t thought about in years.

Speaking of old friends – I heard some Led Zeppelin songs this week and thought of an old friend. She loved Zeppelin. We were bestie friends for many years. there were a lot of rock concerts! She passed away about five years ago. I wondered if they played Zeppelin at her funeral. “Stairway to Heaven” would have been appropriate but her favorite was “Whole Lotta Love.” We hadn’t been in touch for decades, but I can still see her dancing wildly with her dark hair flying. She was a beautiful person who was gone far too early. These are the memories that make me wish I was young again to experience that exuberance. Much of my dancing these days involves losing my balance and ending up in a heap. It’s a happy heap but not graceful.

A week of friends – We also saw our “game night” friends this week. The host had a picnic style evening. We never did play any games. Too much chatter catching up. We are starting to call it the non-game night. The pandemic isolated us. I’m working on updating my social skills which are sadly lacking.

Time of the year! – Our weather has been perfect this week and will continue to be good for the next few days. It’s just wonderful. If I could live someplace with year-round weather like this, I’d move (if I could afford it). Warm sun, soft breezes – I keep thinking the beach has to be nearby with a tiki bar!

So how was your week?

56 thoughts on “Random 5 for June 5, 2022 – Projects, friends, connections, social visits, weather”

  2. It’s almost hard to be around people after all this time. I’m normally an introvert but I miss the interaction with people. I don’t know that many people in this little town, either. So when I do get the opportunity to visit with someone I become the most chatty of all people. I can’t shut up. Save me from myself!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  3. Your deck is beautiful, Kate. I know you’re going to enjoy it so much. And what a delight to hear from an old friend. I think after the last couple of years we cherish relationships a little differently.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  4. Your deck is beautiful, Kate. I suspect you’re going to really enjoy it! And what a delight to hear from an old friend, For me this week, not as dramatic, but I spent time with two friends I had not seen since before the pandemic and it was so good to be with them. I think I value the time a little differently!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  5. Your deck looks wonderful. I know it’s been a struggle, but progress? As for nice weather year round, I’d love that too. San Diego was lovely, but ur finances suggest otherwise. Enjoy your week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  6. Old friends are the best, especially if you can pick up where you left off like it was yesterday. I had a telephone call out of the blue a few months ago. I saw her name on the caller I.D., same as her maiden name, though she had married – I went to the wedding. But after what happened with the robo call that was not one of my best friends from high school calling me after nearly 50 years, but a robo call (I didn’t pick up, but Googled and called back later), I was reluctant to pick up. After ten rings, curiosity got the better of me. We chitchatted for about an hour, about our lives since 1979 and a few of our colleagues who had passed away, then suddenly there was nothing more to say. Just like my other friend mentioned above, we spent about five plus hours rehashing and catching up, I sent her some pics from a blog post I did about the five of us, then she followed my blog – have not spoken to her soon. I don’t feel badly as I start to wonder how great of a friendship we really had, but we were young and “young friendships” and friendship when you are older are not always the same. “Stairway to Heaven” was our theme song for our high school graduating class of 1973. It takes almost as long as commencement did (we had 613 in our graduating class).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

      • That’s true Kate. My friend Carol whom I often mention to you, moved out of the area after graduation. I’ve not been to any of my high school reunions, but at the five-year reunion, they already had a memoriam page on the handout and she was listed as deceased. In 2009 when I joined Facebook, after putting in my hometown, high school, etc. several high school classmates names drifted into my “feed” and Carol was one of them. It had been a rumor and we did connect after all these years. I’ve connected with a few others, but only really keep in touch with Carol, but have not seen her since we graduated high school June 13, 1973.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply ↓

        • That’s one of the reasons I like social media. So easy to stay in touch. Oddly, I haven’t maintained any friendships with my high school friends. My bestie died about 10 years ago and the rest were just friends for the season. We went different ways with different interests.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply ↓

  7. You had a lot of friend stuff going on! and that beautiful new deck and trees, too.
    I, OTOH, had a whole lot of cat stuff going on. “Want to come over, Luanne?” “I can’t–I’m on kitten and cat duty!”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • I thought the thing about balance and age was a myth until…I thought it was more associated with some illnesses. “Crazy cat person” is not recognized as a disease (yet). I occasionally worry about my bones as they are on the tinny side. Gotta love being a kid when it seems like you are made of rubber!

      Like

      Reply ↓

  9. I am loving the weather this week, too. I have my morning coffee outside and sit in the evening as well and just listen to all the birds. I hope it lasts a little longer before the heat really hits. Your deck is looking nice!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  10. What a wonderful surprise! That was so good of him to make the effort to find you. Your deck is looking beautiful and inviting. I love to dance. I used to be good at it. I haven’t ended up in a heap yet, but I do find myself losing my balance when I try something like a fast grapevine.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  14. We’ve had similar weekends. I miss being young, too, and for the same rock-concert reason.

    We got together with old friends this weekend also, and no game playing because we were too busy catching up. We get together with my childhood best friend and neighbor on occasion, but her younger brother also came to this weekend’s gathering. I was soooo excited. He and my little bro were friends, and I always felt like he was my other little bro. I haven’t seen him in 35 years!!! I’m still smiling at how much I enjoyed seeing him again. The memories were flying.
    Glad you’re enjoying time with friends. Sounds like our weather has been similar, too.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  15. Your deck looks great! We are almost done with ours and I’m looking forward to enjoying the summer on it. I see that several people have mentioned San Diego as the idea place for weather and I can’t disagree. Right now the sun is out, there is a bit of a breeze and, other than a few butterflies and bees, I don’t see any bugs. I was lucky that my parents moved here before I was born and that we bought our house before prices got crazy. Now, if only about 3/4s the population would move away 🙂

    How nice that your friend made the effort to find you. It’s nice to reconnect with good people.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  16. Congrats on the deck progress! It looks fantastic and can picture many an early morning reading and sipping a nice mocha on it.

    I recently attended a memorial service and they played the decedent’s favorite song, Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock & Rock” and everyone sang and grooved to it. It softened the blow of someone who was taken way too soon by COVID. Those kinds of services are more enjoyable than the somber heavy on the organ hymns. It makes me grateful I still remember those classic rockers and their best songs.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • I went to the funeral of a young person (about 35) who was the son of a co-worker. There were hundreds of people and the line snaked around the parking lot. They were playing Beatles music. It made the waiting so much better!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  17. Your deck looks like it’s really going to be nice! Glad to see it’s coming along — what a long odyssey it’s been for you. We’ve recently become part of a new circle of people, and the whole experience of being around people certainly has an odd feeling to it — I’ve spent the last two years trying to literally keep my distance. There is a tiki bar at the beach, not 10 minutes from where we live; we’ve never been to it! – Marty

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  18. That’s some encouraging pergola progress!

    I recently discovered I can’t spin like I used to on the dance floor. Bummer. Debating getting a little slider floor for the back patio and practicing where no one can see me…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  19. Yes, to the beautiful weather! Rain is coming this week, but today is still sunny and bright!

    Love the unexpected visitor! Friends are priceless, no matter how long it goes that we haven’t seen them.
    Glad you have fond memories of your friend that passed away too soon. Hang onto them and the smiles that they bring.

    LOL about non-game night! Sounds fun.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  20. How nice when an unexpected knock on the door is well received! The deck is looking good . . . soon you’ll be able to entertain your non-game night friends out there!

    Memories usually make me wish I was young again . . . in case any magicians stop by with magic wands, tell them I’d settle for being “37” (in perpetuity!)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • I think I’m on the non-game night docket for September. I loved by 40s and 50s. No real money issues, don’t care much what people think, good job. I also love where I am now. The only thing I miss is the socialization you get when you work (at a place you love).

      Like

      Reply ↓

  21. The deck is looking great! That is some great news and wonderful to see a picture. Your tree looks happy, too! I love San Diego… a whole lot. Visted three times, first time I fell hard for the weather and and all the lovely alfresco dining. Good Morning!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  22. The weather is absolutely glorious. No humidity – hooray! The San Francisco Bay Area gets weather like this a lot…just costs a fortune to live there, and you get earthquakes. I guess, having lived there for about 20 years, I had my time in ;paradise.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  23. Loving the weather this week as well! My vote is to move to San Diego – year-round mean temps in the low 70s, very little humidity, no bugs and water to be found nearby. As soon as I win the lottery…..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

Don't be shy, I'd love to hear what you're thinking!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s