Weekend Friends

Last weekend was an oasis of friendship.  I realized I don’t talk to many adults.  Sure, there are librarians and retail workers, teachers and church members.  But I don’t have many friends and I rarely see them anyway.

First I went to Amanda’s book club on Thursday.  Amanda hosted, and played the part perfectly.  Her food was delicious, plentiful, and interesting.  The room was packed with lovely ladies and the conversation flowed.

Then the starring event: Miranda came to visit!!!  Holy crap, I miss that girl.

We did the Baker neighborhood by having brunch at Atomic Cowboy, then lusting over colors and textures at Fancy Tiger.

Some quiet visiting.

Then I went to my first concert at Red Rocks – The Avett Brothers.  Miranda is a HUGE fan of them.  I definitely see their appeal.  They were fabulous performers.  I liked a lot of the songs they did.  Their variety in sound is impressive and fun; some bluegrass, some hard rock, some folksy, some punk.

I’m not into music.  It’s fine and all, necessary to make dancing happen, and that’s all good.  But I’m not the type to study to it, clean to it, cling to it, or attend concerts.  My first show was at the end of high school (Collective Soul at CU Coors Stadium).  My last one was maybe 2007 (Neko Case at Boulder Theater). Probably fewer than 10 concerts in total.  I find them too loud, too stinky, too long, too crowded, too expensive, and the sound is always worse than the albums.

While Red Rocks was crowded and stinky (SO much pot), it was such a beautiful, bizarre place to see a show that the novelty made it fun.  Plus like I said, the Avett Brothers were really good.  Most every concert I’ve seen they just play their music.  These guys were dancing and shredding cellos and banjos all over the stage, with a well put together lighting design.

Before we got to the amphitheater it started pouring rain.  It continued on and off from 6:30 to 10pm, before finally stopping for the last hour.  Between the rain and the hike into the theater, I declared this the most camping I have done in the past decade, so I should be good to avoid nature for another ten years.

The next day was not nearly so exciting, with a pleasant lunch and a trip to Ikea.  Miranda packed up her kids for the long drive home yesterday.  It makes me blush that I whine about driving my guys to SLC.  She recently finished a trip to Seattle too.  That’s a lot of car time for anyone, even without two kids in tow.

I miss her already, but it’s nice to have friendships you can pick up again as if you never left.  Hopefully next time we can see Nate too, and meet in between our home states.