From Here to There

So our weekly dinners have been off-kilter for a few weeks now, but we had almost everyone there last night. I love these Monday nights with my friends, because I know they won't last forever and because inevitably there will always be some interesting conversation. But last night, the most honest discussion came in the car ride on the way back from dinner.

Car rides have always struck a special chord with me. I do my best thinking and writing in the car, composing leads to stories or the map of an entire future conversation. As a child my parents would drive me around the neighborhood to put me to sleep, which still works on me to this day (I call it carcolepsy).

I think there is something about the combination of the isolation, the confinement and the inevitable end to a car ride that makes it a perfect breeding ground for solid conversations. My best friend and I, though we live very close to one another again, don't spend a whole lot of time together and have even less one-on-one time, which makes our carpool rides to Monday Night Dinners especially special.

You know the feeling that you have after a pleasantly satisfying meal. You didn't stuff yourself and the combination of ingredients satisfied your taste buds just so that you leave the meal unable to budge the slight upturn at the corners of your mouth.

That's how I felt when I stepped out of the car last night. I can't recall all the details of our conversation. I can't even say that we had any monumental revelations or a particularly significant discussion. I can say that I felt so fortunate to have a friend that I can talk to without having to think and to have the time, the space and the place to facilitate that experience.