friends on the half shell

My house guests left on Tuesday morning.


That sentence sounds as if it was written by a hotel desk clerk.


In truth, two of my closest friends shared my life for three days here in Melaque, and have now returned to their home.

Jiggs bothered me for the rest of the day. I thought he wanted attention or to go for a walk -- or, more likely, both. But I think he simply sensed a change in the mood of the house -- two members of the pack were missing.


Tuesday morning there were hugs and handshakes and tears. What had once been a household filled with bustle was replaced with the melancholy detritus of visits.


In the background, Ella Fitzgerald was singing out her heart, telling us "Every time I say goodbye, I die a little." At times, I think George M. Cohan stages my life events.


But, I feel I am where I should be at this point in my life. Two months ago, I would have been incapacitated by Tuesday's heat and humidity. But there was a breeze that made the day pleasant merely to sit and think and read.


And to do the laundry. While the sheets and towels dried on the line, I did something I have not done in the two months I have lived here: I swam in the ocean behind the house. Or, rather, I did some heavy wading.


Showing my current home to my friends gave me another opportunity to find the rhythm of the house and this community.


But, to my friends, Roy and Nancy, I say thank you for sharing your lives with me. This is quite a journey.