"Reunited and It Feels So Good . . ."

We had a great day in Bemidji, Minnesota today! [Well, it's Saturday now by the time I'm typing this, but we spent Friday in Bemidji. I always type too late into the wee hours of the morning and get my "todays" out of whack.] We arrived at 11:00 A.M. and had lunch at Subway with our friends Susan and Tim and their son John, all from Houston, Texas. Susan has been directing a play for the Paul Bunyan Playhouse the last week and a half, so that's why they're in Bemidji now. Susan's mom is visiting them, too, and she has a room at Ruttger's Birchmont Lodge on Lake Bemidji. Thus, after eating, we all went to Ruttger's to sit on the beach. John (age 9) and our girls (ages 4 to 7) had a BLAST kayaking, swimming, canoeing, playing in the sand, playing with other kids, playing with the friendly dogs of the people beside us on the beach (including a Lassie look-alike [named Mollie] whom we kept asking whether Timmy had fallen in the well!), etc. Susan and Tim and Susan (my wife) and I got to spend the entire afternoon visiting and catching up and reminiscing. The weather was perfect for being outdoors, and the kids played so well and had so much fun, and it was such a picturesque and relaxing locale for a reunion with friends that I can't think of a better way to have spent the afternoon.

At 5:00 P.M. we went to see our friends Steve and DeeJay at the farmhouse they're renting just west of Bemidji. It's a lovely little spread with horses and pygmy goats in the pasture and cats and kittens in the barn and lots of beautiful flowers planted all around the yard. Best of all (from my perspective, at least): Steve and DeeJay take care of the mowing and the gardening but not feeding and dealing with the animals (the "animal husbandry," I called it); the farm owners/landlords do that. Our friend Jackie from Grundy, Virginia is spending the weekend with Steve and DeeJay, so we got to see her, too. The girls enjoyed the animals as well as the above-ground pool out in the yard! While they swam, we adults enjoyed beverages and appetizers in the serene setting: lots of very green grass and trees all around; flames crackling in the fire pit; a steady, cool breeze; country silence; and a sense of peace in that place. Indoors, we ate a good supper, and the girls played with the kids' toys in the basement play room, then watched movies. We adults played a game called "Imaginiff" and caught up on recent events and old times and wondered why we don't do this more often.

The girls were thoroughly pooped from the active day spent outdoors, and frankly, so was I. The nearly two-hour drive back home at 10:45 P.M. just about did me in, especially since everybody else in the vehicle was asleep pretty much the minute I backed out of Steve and DeeJay's driveway, making the van feel very sleepy inside! We're safely home now, though. I'm grateful for dear friends with whom we can just pick up right where we left off the last time we saw them, even if we go years between meetings.