Coming and Going

(Karen and Pete just passing through DC)

I am not going to write about the heat even though that's all I can think about. So I'll call my friend, Kiki who is driving a car load of kids back to New Orleans. She and her girls slept in my bed the other night, but I missed seeing her in person so we have to catch up. Now she's just outside Knoxville, and that horse is headed for the barn. It's the time of year when people are coming and going. Our friend, Caitlin who just got off a plane from Minnesota will come down from Baltimore today. My friend, Karen and her family were here for a night in between New York and Paris. Our friend, Derek is still here, but he gets on a plane on Thursday. And the Gilman family flies back to Moscow tonight.

Even though our relationships consist of very few hours together, I guess we are lucky to have planes, trains and automobiles- internet and phones and that forgotten gem, the post office. I always hold out hope I will see someone again even if it's highly unlikely.

I've gone to two reunions this year- one for school and one for the now defunct nightclub, d.c. space. The first was a bit nerve wracking- not remembering some faces, and not wanting to remember some faces-but laughing about it later with the people you came with made it all worthwhile. The second was just a trip- tons of people you knew well or only by nodding to at the bar, but it was a gathering of us oddballs who tip violently towards the artistic side of life.
Whatever brought us together back then was bringing us together now, and it felt a lot better than school.

Time to get Caitlin from the Metro. I can't wait to see her.