October 11, 2011

Telling our stories

During our annual weekend in the mountains, my friends and I are good about giving each other space. Quilt Artist will go out to the deck to write in her journal. Makes Bread will find a chair by the lake and settle into it with a book. Signing Woman will grab her binoculars and look for birds. I’ll go off for a walk with my camera.

But it’s definitely not a silent retreat. Our main activity is talking. Even when we’re hiking to a waterfall, or walking a trail, or stripping down to swim in the lake, we get into the kind of deep conversations you can have with friends who know you well.

Saturday afternoon, Beautiful Hair and I decided to find a patch of sun by the lake where we could relax and talk. As the sun moved, we kept moving our blanket, keeping our bodies in the warmth, knowing that it might be months before we’d once again feel the sun on our skin. Gradually, our friends joined us, the conversation continuing as the shadows deepened, until finally it was time to go indoors for hot bowls of homemade soup and a crackling fire.


Friendship

Photo taken by Beautiful Hair.

6 comments:

L said...

I'm always so jealous of you and your life, seriously. There are times that being an expatriate and never being able to hang out with lifelong friends totally, 100% sucks!! :(

Sorry!

P.S. That's why I'm always so thankful for the friends on the computer, like you, and so eager to meet them face to face.

Jen said...

How wonderful it is that you have a group of women that you can spend time with like that, talking and even giving each other the gift of silence. What a beautiful autumn day!

radagast said...

I'm wondering what my Native American Women's Blanket-in-Sun Group Name would be. Nose Hairs? Farts When He Walks? Or maybe something mean.

justin said...

Wow, this looks idyllic ... sharing lovely scenery with lovely friends.

kathy a. said...

gorgeous.

Jeff said...

What a beautiful spot by the lake to spend at this cabin and with friends.