1. As I reached the picnic table at what I consider the end of the Wellness Trail, I thought the time might be drawing closer to continue on the trail that goes beyond the Wellness Trail and heads rather steeply on up the hill where, eventually, I can head east and get on an old road that comes out in Vergobbi/Italian Gulch. I think some time in early May I'll have enough strength and wind built up to give that hike a try.
2. For two and half hours this afternoon, I was on Zoom with Bill, Diane, Colette, Bridgit, and Val. We covered a lot of ground and felt a lot feelings together. Colette and Bridgit read superb poems they've written. Bill performed a song he recently wrote. We talked about what we are experiencing and what we've observed in the last several weeks of the pandemic. Family histories, family difficulties, past and present, came up. These stories gave rise to the sharing of emotion, compassion, and valuable insight.
3. At Whitworth, Bill, Colette, Bridgit, and Val were students of mine roughly forty years ago. I met Diane about ten years ago, a couple of years after she and Bill got married. As we all talked today, it was hard for me to believe that I had been their teacher. Now all of us are in our late fifties or in our sixties. About forty years ago, I was the talk talk talk teacher guy, trying to guide these friends to have a good experience with Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, George Eliot, and a host of other writers and trying to help them write better. Today I marveled at all that we've experienced over the years, all the knowledge and wisdom we have accrued collectively, how the teacher/student relationship is gone, and we have become mature adult friends. I was fairly quiet and enjoyed listening to all of the stories, ideas, insights, reassurances, reflections, and creations that circulated between us. I am most grateful that we are going to do our best to continue these conversations every couple of weeks.
Here's another limerick by Stu.
Whether football, or golf, maybe skating?
Baseball, rugby, horseshoe or fish baiting.
Soccer, bowling or tennis,
This virus's a menace
And not watching nor playing we're hating.
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