Tuesday, March 23, 2010

A Rekindled Friendship

I'll get to the heart of this post and the meaning of the title in a moment, but first, Amber and I are on vacation this week. After our weekend at the coast our immediate goal now is to act like we're retired, sort of, but also get some much needed work done around the homestead. I spent the morning yesterday doing work, as in business work, then in the afternoon tackled the messy garage. Reorganizing and cleaning the garage is something I do about every 6 months then it gets back to its cluttered state again.  I think it might have something to do with Murphy.  Why is it that flat surfaces attract stuff?

I'm not proud of the photo above, that's why it's smaller and not the top image to the post but it's typical of how the workbench looks most of the time. When we were first married it seems like I could keep things organized and in their place.  I guess I've lost control.  Does this mean I should join a cluttered workbench help group?

Now to the real reason for this post. A little over a month ago I posted on a Honda 90 that I came across in my travels. It was called Honda Nostalgia. In that post I mentioned that as a teenager I rode around on a borrowed Honda 50.  I also mentioned a good friend being a part of those rides.  After writing that post and having some wonderful memories come to the surface I called him to see how he's doing.  We hadn't seen each other since the mid 80's and only talked on the phone a couple of times since then. He lives in the Seattle area and has owned and ridden various motorcycles all these years. We had a great visit on the phone and decided to get together in March when he would come to Portland on business.  Last night we met at a restaurant near the airport and and had a great time catching up on each others lives. 

It's really special to re-connect with someone you've known almost all of your life but haven't seen for many years. When my family moved into that neighborhood in Southern California I was one month shy of 9 years old. There were four of us including his older brother who became best friends that summer. Later there would be two more who would move into the neighborhood.  I'm certain that the six of us would agree that we grew up during the best era and had the best friendships.  I'm very grateful for that.

As we parted last night we agreed to stay in touch and even get together for some riding. It was really great to see him and realize that we'll see each other more often and even ride together again. If someone had told us years ago that we'd both be living in the Northwest and get together at a restaurant near the Portland airport one night to re-connect and discuss riding again we'd have said, no way. It's interesting how events in life come together.

I hope you're surrounded by a lot of family and friends.  Life is short.  Treasure each moment and relationship. 

Oh... I got the garage and workbench clean.  We'll see how long it lasts.

11 comments:

  1. Very cool that you got to reconnect with an old friend. I've lost contact with all my childhood friends, but this past winter I opened a facebook account, and stumbled across one girl friend, who is moving back to the area. It'll be fun to see her again.

    LOL - Your garage looks like our garage...the before pic that is! I know what you mean about horizontal surfaces! I set up a table in one of the kids room for all the mail and clutter that has been on the dining table, and guess what...now we have two tables full of mail and stuff.
    btw - nice job on the garage! :)

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  2. Mike/BlueKat:

    do what we do, when you run out of tables, start using the floor.

    bob
    bobskoot: wet coast scootin

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  3. Kari,
    Facebook is very popular. I have a cousin in Calif who wanted me to join. I did for a day and canceled it because it seemed too intrusive IMHO. Be careful. :)

    I worked today in Eugene and took an informal poll about garages and workbenches. Everyone admitted to messy garages and the same struggle to keep them organized. It's good to know that we're "normal". Thanks Kari. :)


    Bob,
    I laughed out loud when I read your comment! That's usually the next step... the floor! Thanks...

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  4. Next step at the dining table is to pull out the chairs and pile stuff on them too. Motorcycle gear can then easily be hung from the chair backs...who needs hangers!

    I actually dislike facebook & have considered deleting it. I don't get all the little game things people post. I never visit my own page unless I get an email note from someone I know.
    I'm glad that I found an old school friend though. That was one nice thing. Guess I'm not much of a social networker :)

    lol - that's funny, you did a poll! Did you ride to Eugene? If so it was a great day to ride!

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  5. I did ride to Eugene. My wife and I are on vacation but we both worked today. I was just writing a post about it but decided against it (don't get upset :)). It was based on a street vendor outside of the U of O Bookstore. Google U of O and street vendor and you'll see him. I see him every month and today was the first time I talked with him. Interesting guy. :)

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  6. Good! I'm glad you got a ride in!
    You guys really need to work on the definition of vacation! The street vendor sounds like an interesting fellow. But since you're on supposed to be on vacation, you're excused from posting. :)

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  7. Thanks Kari. I hope you were able to ride yesterday - it was a great day!

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  8. My wife keeps in contact with several of her old friends. I can't seem to find any of mine, even with Facebook. Found my best friend from high school but found bad news about him at the same time.

    Your post also reminds me; It's time to clean my garage.

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  9. Danny,
    Facebook seems like a great way to contact old friends. When I did join it I was amazed at it's ability to "connect the dots" on who I know. That's what I found kind of scary. It's a little too much info for me personally. Sorry about the bad news with your high school friend.

    Spring is a good time to clean the garage! :)

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  10. BlueKat via: Mike

    I know what you mean about hanging riding gear on dining room chairs. I used to have all the chairs filled but now only hang one and put the rest away.

    Mike:

    I'll bet you can't go 24 hours without turning on a netbook, computer, smart phone or any other device which hooks up to the internet.

    Same with a camera, can't leave home without One, or Two, or Three

    bob
    bobskoot: wet coast scootin

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  11. You're right Bob, I can't even go a couple of minutes without an electronic device. I carry a company BlackBerry. And you're right on the second point - I try to always have at least one camera near me. I'll bet it's the same for you! :)

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