Showing posts with label sweet friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sweet friends. Show all posts

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Collision of People And Places


Our Transportation 

Sometimes you are fortunate to find somewhere in this world that holds a special place in your heart; a place you’ll remember for the rest of your life. If you are even luckier still, you’ll be blessed to have people in your life that mean the whole world to you. When these two phenomena collide at precisely the same time, you begin to understand the meaning of “heaven on earth”.
I had such an experience, an intersection.
On my birthday. On Laurito Beach. On the Amalfi Coast. In Italy.
Da Adolfo, Positano
Friends, fun, laughter, and a perfect day on the water.
Spaghetti with clams, thin crisp pizza, fresh whole fish, and white wine with peaches.
Pottery shards washed up onto the beach faster than we could sift through them. They took the shape of sea glass with edges tumbled terracotta.
All nine of us began a collection, looking all afternoon, each proud of our finds and keeping only our favorites. Strangers on the beach joined in because it seemed like fun and came up to me asking, “Do you like this one?”
Telling me to lie down, my friends covered me from head to toe with their brightly colored pieces. They were almost hot to the touch from being in the sun but felt splendid on my body.
As always happens, such good things must end. Yet…
I brought it all and the memory home with me. And put it somewhere else special. Somewhere I could appreciate it all summer long.
We’ll never be able to duplicate this day; this collision of such uniqueness but we made a pact to die trying. I bet we’ll come close, and it may mean more to someone else, but it will never be the same as MY day at Da Adolfo.
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Red Writing Hood: Location, Location, Location
If you choose memoir this week, take us to a location that holds particular meaning for either a particular event or for your life as a whole.
You have 250 words, so make them count!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Very Best Way To Spend A Morning

A sweet friend recently asked me what my three most prized (tangible/material) possessions were. We were stumped, both not really into that kind of stuff. At the time, I answered photos and my grandmother’s wedding ring. I couldn’t come up with the last but TODAY I remembered exactly what that third one would be…

My road bike! Riding it makes me smile and happy and feeling free!

I probably say this way too often. There are few things in my life that I love more than spending time with my close friends. I’m lucky and I know it. So when Cathy called this morning and said, “Come ride with me. It’s the perfect morning.” I simply answered, “Pick me up.”

Cathy and I have been dying to get on our bikes and really ride…actually since we put them up in our respective garage attics last November. And today proved to be all anyone could ask for in an ideal morning. It was truly gorgeous and I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend it…with her and on my bike.

Also, I’ll never hesitate to do anything that gives Cathy some peace and enjoyment (A Post About Hope).

Throwing our bikes on her rack, we drove to the I & M Canal (the old shipping and barge route) just 15 minutes away to do the 24.6 mile loop. Living in the suburbs of Chicago, it’s pretty challenging to find streets less traveled (scary for fear of vehicular/bike collisions).


There’s only one place better to bike in the Chicagoland area and that’s the lakefront.

What’s great about the bike trail here is that it’s meant for this purpose…strictly biking. You get serious racers, people looking to get in a good workout yet be able to converse, as well as leisurely afternoon pedalers. We all coexist in the most harmonious way. You just have to remember to say “On your left” loudly AND unclip when you stop!

It was beautiful and quiet. We probably saw only 10 people in close to 25 miles.

Did you know when butterflies hit you in the face as you're going 18 mph it actually hurts?

This awesome morning transported both of us to another place. Of course, my troubles don’t hold a candle to hers. 

For me, I enjoyed two hours away from my increasingly sad way of life. I’m entirely consumed with getting Eleanor to her favorite place in the world, the lake, so she can just "be" for as long as she has left to do so.

Soon, old gal! Soon!

Sometimes, escaping reality in a simple way, if only for moments, makes all the difference in your day. 


Have You Ever Seen The Rain
By Creedence Clearwater Revival

Someone told me long ago
There's a calm before the storm
I know it's been comin’ for some time

When it's over so they say
It'll rain a sunny day
I know shining down like water

I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day