A Diarist Tour
Mon., May 16, 04:27 PM
“Ideas are like children: there are none so wonderful as your own.” That was in my fortune cookie, and it has the ring of truth. Certainly, my kids are the best. Even if they’re not perfect, they are so great that I seldom spend time worrying about how they might have been better… But ideas? Someone else had a terrific idea, better than any I’ve had recently, and it was
About a year ago, when I was in the middle of chemotherapy, I began reading everyone’s plans for JournalCon. At the same time, my caretakers were warning me about the dangers of infection – among other things, “don’t go out in crowds, don’t travel…” So, even though Washington, D.C., is a reasonable train ride from here, it was out of the question. I loved reading the plans of my Diaryland buddies – vicarious thrills. Two of my favorite reads, Cosmicrayola and Summer-Gale, went together and became good friends. I found the whole concept just – cool. I will probably enjoy someone else’s exploits this year, although I’m not yet sure who will be going to San Francisco.
I don’t expect to be traveling for a while. If I can’t travel with Husband and I can’t leave him home alone for long, the answer is obvious. I stay home, or at least in the vicinity.
And then I heard about some sort of get-together in Connecticut. Maybe I could do that, if I didn’t stay away too long and if U.D. was willing to “babysit.” (She does that for me at least once a week.) This was getting interesting.
Well, I don’t know why, but Spritopias chose New Haven – “just down the road a piece.” At this point, I am just the world’s party pooper; I can’t drink, can’t drive at night, don’t stay up too late. But they would be so close. At least I could meet them for lunch.
Spritopias and Golf Widow informed me that the group had decided on our old favorite, Royal Palace; did I think we needed a reservation? For how many people? You owe them the courtesy of warning them that you’re bringing a crowd. Once I got an exact count (or at least, something more precise than “a bunch of us”), I made the reservation.
Not all the usual suspects were able to appear, but there were at least ten of us around that table, including Golfwidow and That Man of Hers, the Tatnan, Cosmicrayola and Summer-Gale. The Purple Chai actually drove three hours to join us. I didn’t know some of the others as well – like Sunnflower, Spritopias and jyram – but I found them just as nice. As usual, the food was great, but the company was even greater. We must have sat there talking for three hours, before we took pity on the restaurant staff and hauled ourselves out of there, to reconvene at the hotel and continue talking. If I hadn't been worried about driving home after dark, I might still be there! Our buddies – even better in person than they are on line.
Little did I know, when I started posting the occasional essay three and a half years ago, that I’d find a whole new community. If I were looking for traveling companions, I’d choose women like Cosmic and Summer. (In addition to her affable personality – which we know about from her journal – Summer has a dazzling smile. I'll see it whenever I open her page.) Purple Chai and I share dozens of trivial things that keep turning up in conversation; for example, our grandparents came from the same area. Sunnflower really is bright and sunny.
I hope they all had as much fun as I did – because I felt as if they did it just for me. Isn’t that gratifying?
