Have we met...?

today i met the most interesting couple. they have lived in my neighborhood over 40 years and even had their last name designed into an architectural detail on the exterior of their home. myrtle, the lady i met said that was her husband's doing. over the 5 years that i have lived in their neighborhood, i have always noticed that detail on that perfectly weathered home on the main avenue. funny, i imagined that those originals who had their house engraved must be long gone from here.

But they are not gone at all in fact very much here.

we met today because we found ourselves on the same corner near both of our houses to see what the brought two firetrucks to the neighborhood. she was standing alone when i arrived, and her husband had walked closer to the action to find out what was really happening.

so myrtle and i talked and immediately i found myself in a conversation about fences, bachelors, marrying, remarrying,obesity, sweet people, and living alone. When her husband returned the conversation turned to hindu religions, sanskrit, what in life is divine and universal, digital filmmaking, dvd dubs, historic paint and digits.

digits? i never had that one before. it had to with supposed historic paint colors and whoever came up with that concept - she said she was sure it was 'justsome digit came in here and decided." i we both laughed outloud. she later said she sounded like a yankee talking like that. i told her that was why i could understand her. we laughed some more.

i have never had so much in common with two complete strangers. for that matter i haven't had that much in common lately even with most of the people that i know very well. especially these days. let alone a in-their-late 60's southern couple who have lived in stelmo for 40 years.

what occured to me after leaving them was that in so many and so unlikely ways you shed your skin and new things appear and other things continually fall away. relationships change along with everything else in the world. why then are we always so shocked and disappointed when it happens again. While i have been bummed and distracted about feeling like i don't seem to connect the same with alot of my closest friends, like we have little in common now - i am made aware today that there are always new and unlikely connections to be made. in fact, perhaps i should stop trying to look for those connections in the same obvious familiar places. afterall, they do seem to be turning up elsewhere now.

these days i'm picking up everything that is placed right in front of me. it always takes me exactly where i'm supposed to be. and that always means leaving things behind.