Clarity of Vision and Heart

I just had dinner with one of the friends who has been the most clarifying for me.  Things that have been puzzling or troubling me get straightened out in conversation with him.  The fog clears.  If I've embarked on something new recently, but without confidence or without velocity, after a dinner with him I either adjust or I step on the gas.  We may not have talked (except in short e-mails) for months or even a few years, but from the time we enter the restaurant for dinner until the wait staff is putting chairs on the tables, it's like a continuation of the last conversation.


I hope I have even a fraction of the positive effect he has on me.


This time, when we met, I drove past him in the parking lot and so he saw me in my new ride, which he later confided has been one of the automobiles he has "lusted after."  As I drove home, in falling darkness, I enjoyed her a little more than before - a shared appreciation is magnified.  I exited the highway a mile before my road, and pulled up to the top of the ramp.  I lowered both windows and opened the roof.  The western sky had just enough light left to show the silhouettes of summer clouds, and the katydids were loud in the dark countryside all around me.  I put Anginetti in first gear and appreciated the low growl as we turned south and drove into the woods.  The wind was almost too cold, even in July, and the smell of fresh grass increased with our speed, and the insect chorus got noticeably louder as we approached the one-lane bridge over the stream.  I felt very much alive.


Thank you, David, for an exceptional evening and the renewed energy I will carry with me for weeks.