Far Away Is My Favorite Place

Wow! Is the weekend over already? Where did it go?

I had a reunion of sorts with an old friend this weekend that I had not seen for nearly a year. I was recently reconnected with him and he showed up Friday night with gifts and import beer. We drank the cold Sierra Nevada beer and it was like no time had passed. It was good to see him again. He was always like an adopted son to me so I had missed him. I was very happy with the gifts. He brought me some framed photos of one of the Grateful Dead who he had seen play recently at a music festival. The pictures now hang on the wall of my music room.

Most of the weekend was centered around my granddaughter, Chloe. I picked her up on Saturday afternoon and she didn't leave until Sunday evening. Most of the time it was very pleasant if never ending in activity. Chloe is like the "Big Bang". When she comes to my home she rearranges every molecule of my universe. Of course, when you are a grandparent everything you own is a source of curiosity for a child. On Sunday afternoon we had a tea party. The participants were Jerry Garcia, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Muppet, a nearly 30 year old stuffed animal that was a toy for Chloe's father, Chloe and me. St Francis of Assisi and Buddha declined the invitation because they are "delicate" and can't be played with. We ate "salad" that Chloe picked off the evergreen bushes in my front yard. Later in the evening we walked around the neighborhood. She was on my shoulders. When I asked her where she wanted to walk she replied, "Far away"! I asked her, "Why do you like to go far away"? She replied, "Far away is my favorite place"! Gee, she's not quite four years old and already has wanderlust.

I was happy last evening to receive a very nice email from a woman in Scotland who reads my daily thoughts. It still amazes me that my thoughts typed from my little desk in Kentucky sometimes end up in other parts of the world!