Thursday, August 21, 2008

Bloggers who Lunch

Just got back a little while ago from a quick trip across the Strait to have lunch with CUUMBAYA, Joel Monka, and his wife Ginger in Port Townsend. If you are a reader of Joel's page, you'll notice that there is a picture of "The Monkas" right up front, so I assumed I was looking for chocolate covered nude people when I got off the boat.

However, sweet as the Monkas are, they were neither chocolaty nor nude, and they swept me off to lunch at a very nice little French bistro they had discovered in Port T. where we had a delicious lunch (they had exotic things like something manque and quiche with duck soup; I had fish and chips---but they were excellent fish and chips) and discussed the state of the blogosphere, the presidential campaign (both UUA and USA), and how you can indeed be both a conservative person and a UU. Joel is Mr. Diversity himself---a conservative UU Pagan.

We traded cat stories---my Maxie for their Lorelei, their Simon and Garfunkle for my Loosy and Lily---and marveled at the ways animals attach themselves to us and we are HELPLESS. Ginger and I talked horses; we are both horse nuts. (Wait, that didn't come out right.) We love horses.

I didn't think to tell her my family's story about my horsish obsession when I was a kid. I remember that we were driving along some gravel road near Athena; I must have been about 10 and was raving about the horse that a man in our church had loaned me for the summer. The horse's name was Dan, and he was a rangy, elderly thoroughbred with a backbone like a coral reef who was extremely interesting to ride bareback (that means no saddle, not no shirt).

So we're tooling along this country road and I'm raving on and suddenly I babble out "I am in love with Dan and someday I'm going to marry him and Daddy will pronounce us Gelding and Wife."

I don't remember my parents' response, though it was doubtless kind and straightened out my faulty understandings. My sister, of course, remembers this incident in technicolor and it gets better every time she tells it, which is why I generally let her tell it. So Ginger, if you're reading this, my sister's version is much more interesting!

Anyhow, it was a good day and I'm delighted to have met such fine fellow UUs, far from home. Next time they come visit Ginger's mom, they're going to come visit me on Whidbey! I hope.

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

This sounds like fun! I always like meeting fellow bloggers. I think I would have gone for fish and chips too. Sometimes you really can't beat fish and chips.

Um. And I'm glad you didn't marry a horse!

Mile High Pixie said...

Baahahaa!! I love it! What odd things we say as kids, and what odd things make total sense as children!

And what joy to meet far off bloggers as well as to wax poetic and loving on our furry friends. My mom had to put her 17-year-old cat to sleep today, so it was a bittersweet day for us. (My sister Miss Kitty at Educated and Poor will be doing a eulogy for Teddy, the kitteh.) Thanks for sharing a part of what sounded like a very fun day.

Anonymous said...

So am I.

Lilylou said...

Vell, you could be a little hoarse; I could haf had a little colt.