The social life

At this stage of my life, I don't often enjoy social gatherings. I'd say 90% of the social situations I find myself in are not as enjoyable to me to being alone with a good book. This is especially true in recent years, after out-living every single one of my closest male friends. So it's rare for me to enjoy "a social evening" as I did last night.

We had T. from my piano class and his wife D. over for dinner. I made cassoulet, bought a good Petite Sirah wine (I would have bought it at the Blackbird Wineshop if I'd had time to drive so far -- I need to stock up), H. made salad and dessert. We made a bet about whether they'd be early or late. H. said late, assuming they'd get lost since our little house is off the street and not the easiest to find, especially at night. I said no way, T. struck me as a guy like myself, who might even make a dry run a few days before to make sure he knew how to get there. A guy who was habitually early. I was right.

D. and H. hit it off right away, so did she and I, and it was just a great evening of learning about one another. T., five years younger than I, is a Vietnam vet, who had a stroke a few years ago and took early retirement as a computer programmer. He also is recovering from a wild past. (I find folks with wild pasts a hell of a lot more interesting than clean upstanding types.) They're from D.C. originally.

I'm an early to bed guy, so when T. started yawning at 9, his bed time, I had to grin. We sent them home at 930 and expect to see them again. I had a terrific time, as I almost never do in social gatherings.

Meanwhile, I zillion things to catch up on, and I hope to make some headway today. First Wednesday is coming up, and my singer has a sore throat, so I've got to cover her in case she can't sing.