At the risk of sounding like something Hallmark would print on a coaster set, let me just say this: old friends are important. The kind you can see after not talking to them in 2 weeks, or 6 months, or even 4 years, and have a good conversation, and leave just feeling better about life in general, but not feeling like "keeping in touch" is going to be a burden. The kind where you can say, "I'll see you later." and not know when that's going to be, but just know that it will happen sometime, sooner or later, and you will pick up wherever you happened to leave off. I've gotten lucky enough, a few times in the last couple of weeks, to run into some of this type of friend, and have lunch, or coffee, and enjoy one another's company and conversation and brains and point of view and stories for a while, and then go our separate way, having been blessed. Of course you have to have the people that you keep up with and communicate with on a regular weekly or daily basis. People need intimate relationships. But it's also just nice to catch up with people who "knew you when..." and have had enough distance from you to notice you change and grow as a person. Anyway, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to head out. I'm still housesitting, and not staying at home these days, so I can't write at the ungodly hours of the night. And the horses are probably hungry. I'm out.