Last night, on the spur of the moment, we went up to our friends Jim and Ann's for supper. I was not in the mood to socialize, having had the dinner from hell just the week before with relatives and being a bit depressed (or grieving) over the decline of the shop, economically. As is usually the case with situations like this, the evening was just what was needed..

I like to try to steer the conversation around to things of a more spiritual nature when we're getting to know new friends. I'm curious what underpins a person's life philosophegusly-wise. It's a lot of fun to see the different ways people deal with the central issues of living which I've distilled into "dealing with the past; not worrying about the future; living abundantly now." (That's another blog, I guess).

We come from very different backgrounds, Jim, Ann, Sarah and me. It was fascinating to see how choices we made in life years ago brought us together at this place and time. We found that we can speak the same language, and communicate without drawing blank stares or arguments from the listener. For instance when I was relating how I discovered the Tao de Ching at exactly the right point in my continuing spiritual quest, Ann actually got chills. I've been there before too. We also share a love for the desert, for gardening, for music and guitars, for dogs.

Anyway, more later, maybe. I'm including a picture they took of Sting wearing a beanie that Sarah knitted for him. Cool picture, I think.