Old Friends

I treated myself to a nice lunch over at the Middle Way Café this weekend. I do love that place = they have the best food.

Standing in line waiting to place my order, I discovered that my friend, the Coffee Guy (aka: Mike) is now working there! I’d met him and his wife over at the Elim Café when I gave my Earthwatch presentations there. They are both very nice people – I’m glad I found them again. I’m hoping to arrange a get-together soon, for some coffee and Costa Rica pictures.

Once I got my food and found a table, I settled in for some reading. I’m reading the best book: The Variety of Life = A Survey and a Celebration of all the Creatures that Have Ever Lived, by Colin Tudge. This is a fascinating book – extremely well written – so I was deep into it within a few minutes of opening the cover.

Halfway thru lunch, I heard somebody say my name and looked up to see some old friends from my pipeline days: Sue & Larry Motchenbacher. I hadn’t seen either of them in years! I invited them to join me, so they sat down and we chatted for a while, catching up on each other’s travels.

Larry worked with me on the pipeline – honestly, I can’t remember exactly what he did (I’ve blanked that part of my life out, apparently) but I do remember that he always had the greatest stories to tell. He also helped me out with my snake when I first got her.

Sue was a school teacher, and I read stories to her class on my lunch hours. She taught 5th grade, so some of the kids had met me earlier when they were in the 1st and/or 3rd grade – which meant they could make requests of books they remembered and wanted to hear again. It was a lot of fun… I kind of miss doing that.

Sue is now retired, and I think Larry might soon be as well. I talked to them about Earthwatch and the all scientific expeditions they could go on: I may have sold them on it! I gave them my contact information – we’ll see if they sign up.