One is silver, the other is gold

It's no easy task to maintain great friendships.  After all, we're no longer high schoolers or college students with little to no real responsibilities.  Theoretically, we are grown-ups: with bills, jobs, and families (or at the very least dogs, cats, boyfriends, and girlfriends).  When you are in school there is nothing to do but make friends and build relationships, and you take that constant state of socialization for granted when you're in the thick of it.  As a so-called adult I find myself far less likely to pick up the phone or spend time outside of work with any human being other than Mike.  Let's face it, living with your best friend can be a real detriment to your other relationships even though it is also the world's greatest blessing.  On almost any day I am perfectly happy to return from work, walk my dog, and work around the house until it's time to go to bed.

But then there are those times when you do connect with your people and you do have conversations about all the things that don't matter at all but somehow actually matter the most.  There are the times when you have a meal with a new(ish) friend and get to know them better, or the times when you gather with old friends and they fill the room with more laughter and joy than thought could fit.  We all have our own lives, our own worries, and our own responsibilities, and it's easy to lose touch or to never get in touch to begin with.  Still, we should count ourselves lucky to have people in our lives that are new and different.  And we should all be so blessed as to have the kind of old friends who can make you feel like no time has passed since you were still just growing up, even though it may have been months or even years since you've last seen them.

Over my spring break, I was lucky enough to be in the presence of a few of these kinds of friends.  I am always amazed at how, with so many of my old friends, we can just pick up where we left off in high school or college.  When you're in school, you see your people every day and you are too young and crazy to feel awkward or self-concious about anything.  Upon reuniting as adults, you go back to being young and crazy and forget about the pettiness that makes you so selective with friendships now.  Don't misunderstand, I love my life the way it is now, and I cherish my new(ish) friends.  I wouldn't go back to being 14 or 18 or 21, but I'm so glad that I can bring back the very best parts of those years every once in a while.

PS I stole the above photo from our friend and soon-to-be wedding photographer, Carlos Thomas.  (The first one was taken by none other than Mama Hask.)

Sanity Week

There is this spot on route 9 coming up on Croton where the tree line thins to give way to a wide angle view of the river, now half frozen, and the mountains, now scattered with snow but ready to spring back to life.  Today the weather was bleak.  While driving, dark gray clouds monopolized the sky and fat raindrops plummeted onto my windshield in an uneven and obnoxious rhythm.  But among this apparent and broad gloom, I had the same thought I always have on this spot of road as I drove home from home (to Brooklyn, from Garrison) this afternoon.  I am beyond lucky.  I am so fortunate that I feel as though I'm going to have to spend my lifetime trying to pay the universe back for all the good favor present in my life.  Even that will not be enough, but I'll try anyway.

My Valentine's Day Presents from Mom. 

Can you tell that I am feeling well and rested?  It's the product of February break - a welcome week off to rejuvenate the spirits and thus reinvest in the work of the school year.  For this blessed week, I did not travel off to a warm climate or a cultural epicenter.  Instead I spent the week relaxing at home with family and running necessary errands.  I feel like balance has been restored to my being and my surroundings and by Monday I will be all but zen-like. 

Some of the best dogs ever.