Almost exactly one year ago, I was searching for some stuff on the internet and stumbled across a thing called a weblog. And life changed. The blog was Chris Newman's Dagger in Hand (the stuff I was searching for was info on Oriana Falacci), and in the process of my quest for more explanation of this blogging phenomenon, I followed a link to Yourish.com. Thus began a most rewarding cyber-friendship. But I had never actually met Meryl, or even spoken to her, until yesterday.
Well, Philadelphia (and its suburbs) are more or less smack dab on the way between northern New Jersey and Richmond, VA, so S. and I enjoyed a great visit with the delightful Ms. Yourish, who's now on her way back home. She might even post some photos from Valley Forge National Park, which was brimming with people out to enjoy yesterday's beautiful weather. And we treated her to a feast of beasts that would definitely make PETA (and probably even some with less delicate sensibilities) squirm. Copious amounts of wine were consumed, as well, though I fear I did quite a bit more of that consuming than did Meryl. And has anyone else noticed how incredibly bright it seems to be today?
Once upon a time, when I was a kid, we had things called "pen pals." These were people with whom one was encouraged to establish a written correspondence over a relatively vast distance, resulting in exposure to different and more varied cultures, beliefs and ideas. Or so the theory went. I suspect it was basically a ruse to encourage us to express ourselves creatively through the written word, which is a very good thing. It was also more dramatic and, well, proper, than picking up the phone and calling a perfect stranger. But most of those correspondences petered out in relatively short order due to lack of interest.
E-mail correspondence, due in part to its immediacy and its informality, bears only surface resemblance to the pen pal sort. Especially since it's usually launched by an initial discovery of commonly held views and values rather than as a shot in the dark. I find it fascinating that over the past year I've discovered so many far flung "friends" and established so many and such varied relationships through this blog and those of others without a clue as to how accurate or complete my perceptions of them are. Well, "normal" personal relationships have the same issues, I guess, but they enjoy the benefit of hundreds of little clues of facial expression, vocal nuance and body language, not to mention sheer physical presence, that we learn to rely upon in moving closer, backing off or choosing how to respond in any given instance.
Where am I going with this? Nowhere in particular. Just some musings on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Oh, and this. I think we bloggers should try to get together in person more often. Maybe even with others who are not of like mind. It might enrich the tone of our encounters. And it can be a hell of a lot of fun.
Safe trip, Meryl. Let's do it again sometime soon.
And to all of you who are celebrating Easter today, here's wishing you a peaceful and joyous holiday.
