One of my neighbors phoned yesterday. Her father died, and she wondered whether we could feed her cats for three days while she and her daughter were away for the funeral. Of course! This is not a big deal. Older son has watched the cats before, so he even already knows the fine points, such as the possum that eats the food left on the porch railing for the outdoor kitties. He and I went down today and picked up the key so we're set for our first visit on Tuesday night.
It bothers me, though, that I haven't really chatted with this neighbor in several years. We used to see each other quite a lot when our dogs were puppies and liked to play together and older son and her daughter were in elementary school together. We'd sit around on a summer evening, sip margaritas or daiquiris, and expound on life. Then the dogs got older, and her daughter went to a private high school, and we somewhat lost touch. We chatted occasionally if she were out in the yard as I walked the dog, or if she were driving in or out as I walked. Hi! How are things? How is (insert kid's name) doing? See ya later! I knew her dog had been ailing, but I didn't know she'd had him put down in July.
What happened? Life got in the way. I've thought more than several times how it would be nice to spend time with her again, to share a bottle of wine or watch a sunset. I've thought that I should call her, but never at a time when it was actually convenient to make the call. I told her today, as older son and I were leaving with the key and after I'd given her a hug, that I felt bad that we hadn't really seen each other in oh so very long, and that it seemed wrong that it took a death for us to get us in touch again. She said that she, too, had often thought that she should call me, but never at the "right" time. I need to make sure that when I take her key back, we set something up, make a date to get together.
Life has been getting in the way a lot lately. I have the start of a post about Election Day in my precinct sitting on the desktop computer. I've been working on it for several days, in between finishing up a project for a client. I got the project submitted 15 minutes before the deadline Friday afternoon, the lateness due in to the client's sending me an incorrect data file more than once. I'll get paid for the hours (lots of them) of work that I had to re-do because of something that wasn't my doing, I would rather have had the time. I don't like feeling stretched as thin as I've felt stretched lately. I'll try to post the election thing tomorrow, but now I'm going to go sit on the couch and knit and ponder ways to get life under control.
1 comment:
Oh man, I so understand where you're coming from! I hope your pondering brings some answers. You know, I have to admit that finding out you feel that way surprises me. I've come to feel you're about one of the most balanced people I've ever known. Makes me feel like at least I'm in very good company.
Post a Comment