Guest from Far Away

Well, not that far.  (Although a whiff of the plains of western Canada blew through.) But for two days, we did have the pleasure of Stratoz's  company.  We shared dinner and gelato, wandered through the art museum, and visited the Tiffany-designed chapel at the cemetery, whose mosaics will, I hope, entice his wife for a visit.  I now have a lovely mosaic cross on my living-room wall and two jazz CDs in my car, personally put together (it must have taken hours!) by the man to whom months ago I posed the question: How would someone get started listening to jazz?  He did a very good job, selecting mostly pieces which I would recognize so that I can ease into a different way of listening.

S and I met as bloggers with a shared interest in Ignatian spirituality from something of an outsider's viewpoint, neither of us being Catholic.  I think that made it easy for us to find common ground ~ ground which even my own family does not share.  He was our first guest, outside of very close family and friends, since Josh died, and while he was here I was acutely aware of how reticent and quiet we have become in the past two years. We are very fragile, and we move around, among ourselves and in the world, with considerable caution, I think.  It was a very good thing to spend time with a friend who is attuned to life lived this way.

Thanks, friend, for making a VERY long drive.