Dearest Rachel –
Well, I think you’d be mildly pleased that the house is still a gathering place for the old gang… eventually. It may be as a last resort, but that it’s still considered as such is enough for me to consider it a win in my book.
The situation started nearly a week ago, when Ellen mentioned in the group chat that Ramón, in particular, had had such a good time hosting everyone last month (or maybe he just wanted an excuse to set up and torch another bonfire) that he and Jeanette wanted to hold another get-together before the season’s end. Which sounded like a fine idea, but as I’m not the one with scheduling difficulties, I figured it wasn’t my place to respond with enthusiasm or dissuasion. So I let it hang out there, waiting for the others in the group to react to the proposal.
That was probably not the best call on my part, but at least I wasn’t the only one making such a decision. By the time Friday afternoon rolled around, no one had said anything, whether yay or nay, as to whether they were keen on going. Since the original discussion about them hosting us (and whoever else they might have chosen to invite as well) was set for either yesterday or next Friday, in the absence of any chatter affirming that people were interested in coming yesterday, they took the silence as indication that everyone preferred next week, and made no plans for yesterday. If we were to show up (as I think most of us might very well have done if we hadn’t been so warned), they would find themselves caught rather shorthanded.
An understandable conclusion, to be sure, but that left everybody at a loose end. Because for once, it seemed like everyone could actually assemble at the same time (this turned out not to be quite the case, but we’ll get to that part of the story in time). Everyone was available this particular evening, but with nowhere to go, what was there to do? Why, fall back on the old reliable meeting place, of course. Just as Daniel, Logan and I are always available of an evening (especially on a weekend; no dates for us, that’s for sure), so too was the house open for everyone to gather. My only caveat was that we weren’t going to prepare a meal – none of the girls could give specifics as to their arrival time, other than that it would be after seven in the evening (a time at which I’ve purposed to myself not to eat at anymore, if I can help it), and in any event, the six of us would be hard-pressed to agree on anything, anyway – so, as long as everyone was okay with eating on their own, everyone was welcome to show up and hang out in the mancave I’d made out of our bedroom.
Why there, you might ask? After all, we have a perfectly serviceable family room, and it’s not as if the television there doesn’t work; in fact, it’s much newer than the bedroom behemoth (although both of them are of recent enough vintage that you wouldn’t recognize them). Well, Kirsten in particular thought we might want to revisit Yorimoi, since they’d given it to me upon my return as a belated birthday present (although she had gone and watched the entire series in its fansubbed form some months ago), and I have the series loaded on the computer in the bedroom rather than the family room (which stands to reason, as I don’t do any downloading on the latter machine; we never have, as you’ll recall).
Granted, she didn’t get the chance to see much of it, as I didn’t want to play any of it until everyone had shown up, and she had to leave about an hour after Erin arrived. Prior to that, I was chatting with Ellen about the whole Illinois flag competition, and after that (in order to defuse a political discussion brewing between Daniel and Logan about some item that had been in the news that Logan claimed wasn’t happening), I switched on a video about the antics of the world’s worst superhero (or most inept supervillain, more like), Florida Man. It wasn’t the deepest of interactions, but I’d like to think we had a reasonably good time together, at least for the time we actually had together.
And it looks like next week is going to work out as well, if only for a few hours when everyone’s schedule coincides; it will be the last chance we’ll have for the rest of the month, at the very least. Ramón and Jeanette will be able to host their own get-together, and he’ll get a chance to burn off so much more of the stuff in their backyard –you would really get a kick out of all that; it’s a shame you can’t join us for it.
Still, at least you might be able to keep an eye on us, honey. And if you could wish us luck, that would be great, as I’m sure we’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 