Musing

Took the dog for a walk today
Took my wife to the matinee
Took my mom to the high school play
And now we host the cast par-tay

* * *

Idly surfing for evidence of people making their escape. Crawled along an intertube and found pictures of the one SCA event I ever went to.

I'll not forget it. I was desperate to be a part of medievalist activities. I had been to the Renaissance Faire. I was a geek and a reader of Sword & Sorcery and terribly lonely. But I had a nicely compliant girlfriend and she wore a peasant dress and I rented some tights and we took the bus from North Berkeley up into Kensington for a Twelfth Night Revel.

January 4, 1975 -- There are pictures of the event, pretty much as I remember it. I'm not in any pictures. We floated on the periphery, shy and uninvolved, and then fled once my inability to merge became terminal.

* * *

Laughter fills the hall. The play closed tonight, and all the kids are here, gorged on our food, sprawled in our furniture, intertwined like so many puppies, good kids, girls and boys full of life and energy and love and promise. Right now, at this moment, I hear cheering. Whatever reason.

Out there somewhere, there are kids who are desperate and lonely and cannot merge. But mine are not among them, and for that my gratitude has no limit.

(And those lonely kids have my sympathy, and hopeful thoughts. I can't do anything for them, but I will always know they're out there.)