Hellos, Goodbyes, Churches, Cigars

It's been an interesting week for friendships, indeed.

As I mentioned in my last post, my good friend Natalie packed up and moved off to California this weekend.  I'd known about the move for months but the actual goodbye was even harder than I'd planned for.  When it was time to leave I just found myself hugging her and crying, not really knowing what to say or able to put into words how much she helped me get through this summer.  It's hard to meet someone you connect with only to turn around and say goodbye.

All that said, I wish her the best in California, as she's working in a winery and seriously that's pretty fucking cool.

The sweet to that bitter is that my friend Amie from Maine arrived on Saturday and will be staying with Robbie and I for the next month at least.  The timing couldn't be better, what with Natalie's departure and the fact that we aren't even halfway through this fucking fire roll and I haven't talked to my husband in six fucking days.  She's been doing a great job--whether it is intentional or not--of keeping me busy and out of my own head. On Sunday we frolicked downtown checking out the local church action and, of course, hitting up the Coyote Cantina before it closes for the winter.

I might be a bit of a strange atheist for saying this, but I love churches as well as church services, assuming of course that they aren't talking about striking down gays or putting them on an island or telling me that as a woman my body is a wrapped gift meant only for my husband.  I think that even if you aren't religious, as I am not, taking a moment out of your day to think about how fucking amazing it is that you are here (whether by design or by SCIENCE or a combination of the two) and that we are all having this shared experience called life can be awesome and, dare I say, spiritual. For me personally, Catholic churches hold a particular significance for me since my grandparents, who were a huge part of my life and still are though they have passed, found so much comfort in Catholicism in life and in death. The first church pictured below has a private chapel for praying and I've honestly considered going to just slow down, think and appreciate.

Also, I went to go walk Cypress the other day and my landlords invited me over to have a high-end cigar with them and a friend who's staying with them that buys things like high-end cigars.  I've never smoked a cigar, but it was surprisingly pleasant as far as inhaling shit into your lungs goes (yes, cigar smokers, it took me a bit to realize that you aren't supposed to inhale cigar smoke).  They invited me just after their dog attacked Cypress (and Cypress won) so I figured why not, you know?

Anyway, that's what has been occupying the vast and frenetic space inside my head for the last few days.  I'm so glad that fall has come and that soon my Robbie will be back where he belongs: surgically attached to my hip bone.  True love, amiright?!