somebody that i used to know

i've met some truly amazing people in my life.  some are happy accidental meetings, like Nick and Jerry and their entourage of dogs, others are jammed into my life through work or school, like James, Marie and Stanzi.  They are all low maintenance people, like myself; I don't need much attention, and it's not unusual to go for long periods of time with no contact.

some people will always come back, and the conversation will start back up as if no time had passed at all.

and then there are the people that will never come back.  at least not all the way.  sometimes there is no recovery from a long period of absence.  and all that can be said are awkward "how do you do"s and "just great, and how are you?"s.  it's almost like the person you had long, meaningful, and insightful conversations with in the past is somehow unable or perhaps unwilling to return to that level of verbal intimacy.  all that is left is the memory of that magical moment in time when things really clicked, and the ideas you shared were fertile ground for something amazing. but that amazing thing is never brought to life because the conversation is put on hold indefinitely, and the spark created from casual conversation dies with the passage of time.

sigh.

part of me wants to believe that eventually, everyone comes back. but there is some more practical part of me that knows better. i hate to put people into categories because i hate using labels.  one group isn't less important than the other in terms of how their presence in my life affected me.  still, i feel compelled to think of people i've met along the way as the "people i know" and "people i used to know".  The former is of course the group of friends whose conversation with me is lifelong, and the latter is the group of people with whom i can never resume a conversation.

but enough of conversations.

a quick note about Frank, the wonder dog.

we took him for his weekly bath tonight, and as usual, he dug in his heels at the door going in, but as soon as he was dry he was all smiles and playfulness for the cute girls at the dog wash.  normally, after such a traumatic event, he is wiped out, but not tonight.  in fact, for the past two weeks he's been full of something.  even though he has been having trouble keeping his legs under him, he has been really active in the house.  he's been chasing the cats around, trotting back and forth between James' office and my office (known as the living room), initiating walks and engaging both me and James in play time.  he's starting to wear me out.


sorry Flo, no photo tonight, but i hope you enjoy the ones i texted to you.