Debbie is in town

Debbie has been in my state since the 12th, visiting family and friends. She has been here in Beautiful City since a week later, arriving the evening of the 19th. 

Whenever Debbie and I see each other, I always notify Marie ahead of time. But this time I somehow forgot to say anything until we texted each other the morning of the 20th about getting together later in the day. Then I suddenly thought, "Oh shit!" and sent Marie a quick email with all the plans that I knew about up till then.

Hey love,

Just a note that I forgot to mention before. Debbie's visiting [this state] for a couple weeks. She was in [another city] for a while, and last night drove all the way [here], where she's staying in the house of some of her friends from [the UU church that hosts our Sangha]. I have not seen her yet. 

I got a text from her this morning, and she has come down with a cold (ugh) but is testing negative for COVID. So we might have dinner or something, if we can find a place with tables outside. I forget how long she is in town, but this is not her last stop. (Sometime next week she'll go on retreat with a Buddhist Fellowship that she's connected to, down in Big City.) But I think she's here for a few days.

As I say, I didn't think about it when you and I were talking, because it was driven clean out of my head by our exciting discussion of [your current writing project]. (Actually I mean that seriously!) But when I got her text a few minutes ago, I remembered that I should drop you a note before seeing her. (And as noted, if we can find a suitable set of tables that probably means dinner-time.)

So far, so good. And all of it was true, as of the time I sent it. Marie replied briefly.

Oh, thank you for keeping me posted, love!!!

Very considerate of you.  I hope you do get the opportunity!

Later in the day, Debbie and I worked out things to do. We went to see a matinee showing of "Inside Out 2," which was a lot of fun. Then we went out to dinner, at a place which did indeed have tables outdoors. (But the wait for those tables was longer, so we ended up eating indoors after a couple minutes of discussion.) Debbie is trying to get 10,000 steps in every day, so after dinner we went for a long walk before she drove me back to my apartment. That was Thursday.

Friday she had other stuff to do, and other people to see.

Saturday there was a parade downtown. Debbie and I met downtown on the parade route, along with a couple of her other friends. (I've met them a few times and we're all friendly to each other, but I don't think I know them well enough to classify them as "my friends.") After the parade we stopped somewhere for lunch. Then the friends went back to their home. Debbie and I drove to the house where she is staying, and hung out for a few hours. "Hung out" means we mostly talked, and partly just sat around in each other's company. No sex, of course! No quasi-sexual activity! Just hanging out. After a while we went walking around the neighborhood, so Debbie could get her 10,000 steps in. Then she drove me home. I stayed up crazy late writing my three recent "blast from the past" posts. (This one, this one, and this one.)

Sunday she went to church. I got up late and felt lousy for staying up so late the night before. After church, Debbie had other commitments all day that I don't remember.

Today we went hiking in the hills back of town. I picked Debbie up about 9:00, and we were probably on the trail by 9:30 (I guess). Debbie chose the trail, which was marked as "hard" or "challenging," though she and I have hiked it successfully before, more than once. I tell about one such hike here, that took place eleven years ago. That time, we got all the way to the far end of the trail and then turned around and came back. Today, Debbie and I got … halfway? two-thirds of the way? … and then stopped for a long rest before turning back. Neither of us had brought enough water for such a hot day, nor any food. I've gotten fatter and weaker in the intervening eleven years. (It looks like I probably weigh about forty pounds more than I did back then.) Debbie has had trouble with her breathing ever since she got COVID-19. Anyway, we were worn out.

Finally we got back to the car, somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00. I put on the air conditioning. We drove back to the place Debbie is staying, to decompress and drink ice water. Also she changed shoes. Then we went out for a late lunch, and talked some more. Finally I took her back to her place and then drove home. Since then I have been doing as little as possible. Tomorrow we will see each other at Sangha in the evening, and then Wednesday she leaves for Big City, to visit with her Buddhist Fellowship friends.

As I left her this afternoon, we hugged tenderly and kissed on the lips twice—no, three times! She said, "Thank you for these few days. I love you with all my heart." I told her I love her too. 

The last information I've sent to Marie is the communication I describe above. Maybe I should send her an email tomorrow. Failing that, we have a standing phone call on Wednesday, and I can fill her in then. I'll do my best to cover everything important, but I may abbreviate some of the less-critical bits.