Tuesday was a wonderful day, sunny and warm, a welcome relief after our late snow. Trees were blooming. Flowers were blooming. The grass was so green now that it reminded me of Ireland. Cardinals had built a nest in the rosebush twining around our porch, and Mrs. Cardinal was already sitting on eggs.
Out and about on our morning walk, the dog and I met Naz (rhymes with Oz, like the wizard of Naz, she said when we first met) walking her dog Binnie. Binnie is a beagle of a brown so mild it tends toward peach. I reached down and confirmed that her ears are still amazingly soft. “Yes, she just had a bath,” Naz agreed, and we parted ways, she and Binnie heading east and Rascal and I heading west.
Within the block, Rhonda waved from her car and stopped to talk. She had just walked brother English cockers Ollie and McGill, and they were quiet in their crates in the back of the car. We spoke of this and that, her great new hairstyle, knitting projects, hers and mine–and we laughed together. We must have spent fifteen minutes there in the street. No one minded, not even our dogs, but at length we parted.
Rascal and I turned the corner to walk north, and came across Naz and Binnie again, walking south. They had covered a lot of ground, and we had not. “We’ve just been chatting,” I admitted. “Chatting is good,” Naz answered. “We need chatting.”
Rascal and I carried on, over our favorite boardwalk and through Oakwoods Nature Area. On our own street again, we ran into our neighbors Bill and Vicki, and spoke of projects around the house. You know how it is with houses; there’s always a project.
When we all reached our court, we came upon Don and Ovidiu, socially distanced, talking in the street. Our immediate neighbors were on their porch, and we discussed their morning bike ride.
By prior arrangement, Janice and I planned to sit outside together Tuesday afternoon. Janice was waiting for me in a rocking chair on the porch, while Peter worked on yard clean-up. He moved Janice’s rocker and another one like it to a shady spot on the driveway, and Janice served us icewater in enormous University of Michigan booster glasses.
A woman neither of us knows, out walking her dog, stopped on the sidewalk to tell Janice how nice her garden looked. Janice countered that it needed maintenance. The woman assured her it was lovely, and she and her dog moved on.
Janice and I spoke of this and that. What a deal she’d found on the rockers. How pleasant to have had a haircut at last. How her daughter-the-teacher’s school year is going. How my daughters-the-teachers’ school year is going.
Jennie drove up and pulled into the driveway. She couldn’t stay, she said; she had her grandson with her. But Janice prevailed upon her. Jay got himself out of the back seat. He’s six now, capable and articulate. We discussed his new shoes, his completion of kindergarten and promotion to first grade, his interest in the game Magic. Once he grew bored with us, he buckled himself back up in the car and Jennie took him to her place, a few houses down the block.
Joan and Christine walked by. Joan long ago pronounced herself my Taiwanese mother and me her American daughter. When we first met, our only common language was knitting with a smattering of English, but that was enough for hours of animated conversation. We still meet to talk–at least we did, before the pandemic. She and her daughter Christine, who lives a couple houses down the block and with whom she has lived during the shutdown, continued their walk after mutual greetings.
Next-door to Janice, Lynne was working in her quite-wonderful yard. Janice enticed her to take a break in the shade with us, and set up another chair. The three of us spoke of this and that, and Janice’s phone range. It was Jill.
“What’re you doing?” Jill asked. “Having a party in my driveway,” Janice answered. “Come on over.” “Okay,” Jill said, and arrived shortly thereafter. When we all had water in giant U-M glasses, we spoke of this and that. Hair, family, health, resale shops, moving furniture.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in a year and a half,” Janice said, and we all agreed.
We’ve missed seeing people’s faces, sitting outside in fine weather, sharing lives and laughter and the warmth of easy, inconsequential conversation. We’ve missed the rhythms of being out and about. We’ve missed being in community with each other.
One day of chatting does not normal make, but it certainly helps. As Naz said, we need chatting.
30 April 2021