ARLIN AND RACINE ENJOYING THEIR INVIOUS WAYS

Shiny Happy People

I hope no one says I’m being sincere because as W.H. Auden announces: “When a reviewer declares a book to be “sincere,” we know immediately: (A.) that it is not sincere, and (B.) that it is badly written,” but the weekend of waffles with Matthew and semi-informal sleep patterns was a wonderful excursion into the arms of a long sought after break from routine life as I know it. Auspiciously, my adorable puppy-friend Zach is now visiting more often and spending a suspicious amount of time sniffing another short person (although it should be noted that Zach can jump much higher than me) named Mary. Its nice to have a couple more friends who are good for double dating.

Although little Eden didn’t have much to say about it, her parents, who we have been courting religiously for some time now, graciously agreed to bring her to our annual “Explore all the State Parks of Pennsylvania so Olivia Can Accomplish a Goal” camping excursion with Matthew and Olivia and Lyric. Following in the tradition of the offices of Deacon and Deaconess to which they have recently ascended the Barnharts grandly decided to share what they have been given – an orderly household of funny little girls – with those of us still impoverished irresponsible. It’s nice to have friends with such generous hearts – although it also indicates that they may be blind to our greedy sense of entitlement.

As Christmas picture taking season rolls around I am again reminded that families that smile together take good pictures together and that peanut M&M’s taste better when they come from a vending machine. Even when Chinese buses smell like sewer, if you discuss the lives of other people, particularly your friends, time goes by fast and Jennifer smells even better than usual. I’ve also been thinking about how I like things that have two consonants in a row (maybe because “Darren” has two “R’s”): I like things like: Matt, Rossabi, waffles, Jenn, Glass (Philip and Ira), Caravaggio, Hessler.


LITTLE EDEN


A HAPPY FAMILY