…One Is Silver And The Other Gold

Last week I talked about Friends– about making new ones and trying to fit them into your grown-up life, about keeping the old ones who have known you forever… (reminds me of that Girl Scout song, ‘Make new friends, but keep the old…’)  And today, I find myself talking about them again.  Well, one friend in particular.  And this one friend I have known since the 6th grade.  She’s my goofball friend, the one with whom I can laugh at any occasion (appropriate or not), the one to whom I can say incredibly inappropriate things and she wouldn’t bat an eyelash, the one with whom I have gotten into tiny amounts of (innocent) trouble many, many times in the past…

I grabbed onto her flexed foot, she grabbed onto that air vent, and I pulled myself up with sweaty knees and forearms.  And once I got to the top, we both stood up and squealed like the children we used to be, did a little dance and took it all in- the view from up there felt familiar.  It felt both peaceful and exciting all at the same time.  I looked down at her leg.

She looked down at mine.

…in unison-

(laughter.  lots and lots of laughter)

We walked over to our old spot and sat down.  We were a little out of breath, a lot excited, and a lot happy.  We decided we needed to take pictures.  This place was about to be torn down and we knew it would be our last chance to relive these memories.  So I opened up the camera timer I have on my iPhone and looked for a place to prop it up.  This part took about 15 minutes- us trying to figure out how to properly prop my phone up in a gutter, have me push the button and then get into position (up on a roof, mind you), all within the 5 seconds the timer gave me to do so.  There are A LOT of outtakes from that…

this is merely one of them.

 

But we finally got the shot we wanted, and made sure to get one of our banged up legs.

 

“Don’t let go!  (laughter) Don’t YOU let go!!”

We didn’t wanna leave.  We were having the time of our lives up there on that roof, that place where we used to spend hours and hours of our time as children.  We secretly scaled that wall and did our homework up there on that roof, we wrote songs up there, we laughed and probably even cried up there on that roof.  We stared at clouds and stars, we talked about boys and life and how being best friends was the most important thing in the world.  And what’s interesting is that most of that hasn’t changed.  Up there on that roof yesterday, we talked about boys, we talked about life, we sang our song, we laughed and probably even cried up there on that roof.  We are older now, both of us thought silently.  We are older and wiser now, up here on this roof, breaking the rules, but doing it for the best reason in the world- for friendship.  For a bond that cannot be broken.When I called my friend to come run with me early yesterday morning, I only knew I wanted to see her.  What I didn’t know is what the morning would turn into.  And now, I feel as though we went into battle together and came out stronger and happier…with the wounds to prove it.Then…

…It’s all fun and games (and poetic) until you realize you have to get back down again.

We considered camping out up there for awhile, just sort of making it our home…but then we thought our families may miss us (we had momentarily forgotten that we were, in fact, mothers and not teenagers…that’s the power of a good, old friendship).  So my mom (and the family pit bull) stood there in the yard, trying to convince us to find a way to climb down, like we did to get up…but we knew what we had to do-we knew we had to go for it.  We looked at each other, that mischeivious glimmer we both get in our eyes before we know something awesome is about to happen, and we knew we needed to go old school.  We knew we needed a proper 13 year old dismount.

On the count of three…

 

Shown here as a part of our dinner last night- Roasted Chicken Legs and Blistered Corn…and a glass (or two) of 2013 Christian Salmon Sancerre

 

This can barely be called a recipe, it’s just about combining certain ingredients to make them something magical, but it is so good that you will want to make it all the time this summer- when the peaches and tomatoes are sweet and juicy, and the herbs are as vibrant as the sun.All you do is layer or stack thick slices of ripe peaches (any variety), tomatoes (any variety or size) and fresh mozzarella, then add a few basil leaves and sprinkle with finely chopped tarragon.  Drizzle with the best extra virgin olive oil you have, season with flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper... And eat!!!