Half A Dozen

Half a dozen of people I knew have passed this year.  Some I knew better than others.  I genuinely liked all of them.  They all lived in western North Carolina.  A lifetime.  My lifetime, too.  Like all of us, they lived what they knew.  There were a few in particular, who lived in many spheres at once.  They held the moment.

One in particular, is in my thoughts now.  Don passed last night.  I didn't even know  he was sick.  I met him eight years ago at the home of a friend.  A group of us met weekly and Don always stopped by.  Funny, happy, silly.  You could count on him for an outrageous costume at Halloween.  Provocative.  I remember too well, the time he dressed as a mammography machine. Only Don could pull that one off. 

So much has happened in the eighteen months I have been away.  I've come to love two worlds.  Two places. Western North Carolina which opened up a whole new way of being.  In my absence, the state has gone very conservative. Yet in a hamlet, a group of people thrive.  New ideas, new ways of being.  Decidedly removed from the busy world. Many drawn because of the rafting in the Nantahala River.  Many drawn to the Great Smoky Mountains.  All well traveled.  Enormous clarity. 

Seacoast New Hampshire.  My family is here.  We have mountains, though not as magnificent as the Smokies.  But do we have oceans!  Some eight minutes away. Pristine shores.  Marshes. Small town.

Vigorous people who get involved.  I am still meeting them and finding my group (s).  Holding the moment.  More than grateful. 

Two worlds. Two places.  Half a dozen passed in one.  The clock is ticking.  I am missing my friend.

Rest in peace, Don.  You rang the bell.