Lovely to see you again my friend.

SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2010


Lovely to see you again my friend.

I have taken it upon myself to try to make contact with some old friends and one of the things that sparked this was listening to music. Basically it is a question of balance.

I have been in touch with several really close friends lately. It is not really a question of networking but that part of it can’t be ignored.

Listening to old music is what got me started on this kick. I then searched for a few friends who I had not talked to in a while on FaceBook and found them. I never realized how many real friends I had or how long I had known some of them. That kind of thing happens when you get old.

I have an uncle who is in his in his 90’s… now that IS old. I need to crank out an email to him to let him know that I too am still hanging on. My godmother also is still online and I have to get in touch with her to remind her she forgot to send me that college graduation card.

I had lunch with Dore yesterday and she even took pity on me and since we talked business over lunch she was able to put it on her business AmEx card and Uncle Sam will buy my lunch if not hers. Having uncles is a good thing.

Tuesday I am going to lunch with Bobby. He was always out there and even was the photographer at my wedding. I paid him some but apparently not enough because he took out what he figured was the balance in the food we provided. He took some great pics and quite a few of people that I didn’t even know were there. He also got quite a few good pictures of my wife’s butt which either he was fascinated with or that was what was prominent in pictures he was taking of me or others I don’t recognize now.

DakotaDawg has some old friends too but since she is still young even if you account for dog vs. human years they are not as numerous as mine. Her best friends are the kitties and most especially Cassie, the Purrfect Kitty. Her other BFFL I think is the old Black Lab that lives next door behind the big wood fence his owner put up. She always goes over to the shadowbox part of the fence to see if he is there and will respond to her singing pleas for his presence at the fence. He is a little like Uncle Ray and is older than dirt.

Most of my friends have managed to stay pretty distant over the years. Mike lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. I just whipped off an email to him asking if he was still alive. If not I probably will not get a reply.

Bill Ladd is also still out there as far as I know. I found him back when his daughter was going to college here in town. We had a couple of meetings over lunch or dinner but lost touch again. I am going to call him while it is free nites and weekends. Either they have caller ID and decided that I was not as good a friend as I thought I was or they are out. I left a message on their wonderful Voice Mail system.

Some of my other really good friends are the fish in my fish pond in the back yard. There is Jaws the koi we got when he was only about two inches long. Over the year that we have had him he has become a monster with his fluorescent orange mask on his head. He inhabits the fish pond with Hoover and Roomba, the two large goldfish that operate like the vacuums they are named after when fish food or kitty kibbles are floating on the surface of the pond. We also have Moby Dick who is getting to be a rather large white goldfish and his little buddy, Little Moby. There is one guy named Spot that is a white goldfish with a large orange spot on his head. Most of the other fish in the pond are just not such good friends because either I don’t even remember their names or they don’t have one yet.


I am waiting for my best friend to finish up with her pottery lab so we can figure out how we are going to spend the rest of the day. I think some shopping will be involved since she thinks I need a new pair of pants which she is going to give me for Father’s Day. In a left handed kind of way I guess I qualify as dad to all these mammals and fish.


Uncle Ray used to be the keeper of the video archives of the family before there were computers or DVD’s. He used to take out this huge light bar that had about six spotlights in it that would give you sunburn when he wanted to take some home movies inside the house. We used to groan every time we visited Ray and Gladys when he would go into the hallway closet and drag out the big screen and the projector. Now, I miss those days. I wonder since Ray is not a technophobe if he has put any of those old movies onto DVD’s yet. I guess that is something I can ask him in the email.

It is time to wake up the snoring DakotaDawg and drag her out into the heat for an afternoon romp around the golf course. I will not forget to bring her other good friend that plastic bag. Although I am sure the Not So Cute Orange Little Talking Kitty will want to come, he is going to have to suffer in the air conditioning. He does not behave on the Yo-Yo leash. Big Gray looks comfortable on the back couch where he can keep an eye on the wildlife in the back yard so I doubt he will want to come.

Maybe we will see some of DakotaDawg’s other friends when we are out on the walk. If not I am sure she will notify them that she passed.

I better call my other best friend my brother since he left me another message that he called last. And I heard that Lee's iPhone is acting up so I will back up a Voice Mail message with an email.

© 06.19.2010 steven d philbrick SR+ DakotaDawg