Traveling Cow

Foro is packed up and waiting in the car for us. We’re going south, in my own country, to meet up with friends. The amazing thing is that it’s my friends!

I had a group of around four good friends in high school. Each individual one of us had their own five or six friends, and the extended group was about thirty. Of my group, I still have regular contact with two of them. One of them died of stomach cancer in his early thirties. One of the ones I’ve lost touch with was his girlfriend at the time. She’s lovely, but I think she chose not to hear from me anymore for some reason. She tried for a long time to make art for a living. I like(d) her work a lot; she was a good painter (this is partially in past tense because I haven’t seen any of her work now for many years.) I think she had a hard time of it financially, and had a hard time as well figuring out what else to do. I think she didn’t want to keep in touch with her past. I get that.

The two I’ve kept in touch with are two really interesting men. I like having men friends. I like having their perspective on the world. Many people are so gender-fixated that they think a woman and a man can’t be friends. I have proof to the contrary.

So this friend we’re meeting up with moved to Austria somewhere back in the early nineties. His partner and him have a lovely daughter, who at sixteen has become a climate activist. His partner is one of the classiest women I know. I don’t know how to define “class”, but she has it. She’s got a strong character, and so does he, and when they argue they often both become jerks. I can’t take his side just because he’s my friend; he’s often pretty objectionable himself sometimes.

We’re meeting them up in the mountains. Funny thing is, we arranged this before Corona hit, and it’s about the only vacation option that is available.

The “amazing” thing is that my partner likes them, and has no objections to meeting up with them. I think I’ve never been able to share my friends like this before with someone.

Foro is packed away and ready to go. I got a quick shot of him as he got ready to jump into the suitcase. He’s ready for a vacation, too!