Weekend Travels

Wife and I are in Little Rock today (Saturday). Wife came over a couple of days ago and has spent some time with friends, and I drove over last night. We're now at her parents' house and we'll leave in the morning to drive to Missouri for Younger Son's camp closing.

He may or may make the nine-hour drive back home with us. As I wrote a few weeks ago, he and his buddy drove there in his friend's car so, if he wants to ride back with him, I totally understand. We are looking forward to seeing him, though, and having him back at home after his nearly month-long absence. Soon after he gets home, he'll start his Senior year. That's very hard for me to believe.

I was able to get to Little Rock last night in time to meet one of my old friends for pizza. It had been a long week for me and the pizza and beer -- and especially the company -- really hit the spot. This is one of those guys that I see too infrequently but when I do, it's always an upper and it's always as if no time has passed since we last got together.

He takes me totally as I am, never scoffs at the stupid things I might say, laughs at things I say that I think are funny (but probably aren't) and listens to all the things I tell him about my life and family, showing genuine interest.

And I extend him the same courtesy. I know this is not anything profound and that I am stating the obvious but I'll say it anyway: the older I get, the more I believe that there are only a few things in life that really matter, and solid friendships are among them. It was sure good to see my old friend.

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Backtracking just a bit, Wife and I decided things were just too quiet around our house last weekend, so we hit the road and headed south, first to Tuscaloosa where we spent the night with great lifelong friends of mine who relocated to this part of Alabama from South Arkansas about seven years ago. Like my buddy I just wrote about, being with them is like continuing a conversation. No matter when the last installment might have been -- whether days, weeks or months -- the next part just naturally flows. What a blessing.

Saturday morning we headed to Auburn where we spent some time with Daughter and delivered her a piece of furniture she'll put in her house this fall. She has had a good summer there and has, I think, enjoyed the more relaxed pace of summer school. We had a nice, leisurely time with her and enjoyed one of her friends who hung out with us a bit too.

Older Son stayed at the house with Ralph the Dog, who was no doubt grateful that he didn't have to visit the doggie hotel. Ralph continues his progress with the crate. He doesn't love it by a long shot but he enters it when asked, which is to sleep and when we leave the house. And there's no evidence of any of his "autographs" on the rugs.

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Life will definitely return to a more normal flow when we return home with Younger Son a couple of days from now. He will no doubt have a bit of "re-entry" to deal with as he gets used to life with us again and we'll give him the grace he needs. But we'll sure be glad to have him home.