Cheering Buddies, Too

Hiking Buddies

Strange New World

I don't know how to people anymore.

I suspect we're all in the same boat, but over a year of not being a part of a gathering of humans left me completely incapable of gathering with humans. But, it was time. All of my people are fully vaccinated, with the exception of the kids, so Memorial Day seemed like a good of a day as any to try that whole peopling thing again.

It was awkward. But OMG SO WONDERFUL.

My small group of friends did the whole food and sit outside thing for several hours. It was a lot of nothing and yet EVERYTHING because wow did I miss my people. So much. I also missed knowing how to plan for a gathering of people. Like, I used to keep some basics on hand just because. At some point I stopped? I don't remember making the decision to stop having bottled water on hand, but apparently I did. It's usually a thing I just have, even though we don't use it much. Also, plastic forks. I buy them by the case and ALWAYS have them. Yet, somehow I didn't have them? I'd super like to know which human who lives here grabbed the last one, threw away the box, and thought nothing of it. That's a momentous occasion, y'all. It demands a moment of respect. THEY DO NOT RESPECT MY PLASTIC FORK GAME. GAH.

Another weird moment - I had to look up the recipe for grilled pizza dough. I thought I had it permanently embedded deep in my brain, but I guess not doing the thing for a while caused me to have a solid case of amnesia.

And then there was the conversations and not wearing masks and all of that. It was fine, but SO WEIRD. Like, that's a thing we can do now! See people without masks! I don't know what to do with myself in this fancy new world.

Neither does the one remaining bullfrog in the pond. As we all sat gathered on the patio, the one remaining bullfrog kept joining the conversation. For what it's worth, I hadn't seen or heard him for days, but either he desperately needed to find a woman and thought maybe we could help, or he was very excited to see the return of actual people to the patio. He yelled at the top of his lungs dozens of times, but it's worth noting that he has chilled out considerably since. He was definitely putting on a show for the group.

I get it. I kind of want to talk everyone's ear off, too. It seems like the only conversations I've had for the past year are either work-related or directed at a kid, so chatting with adults with no purpose in mind is an absolute luxury.

I can't wait to do more of it.