the weekend

We warned them about the dog, but they came for dinner anyway - Nate and Rebecca. Our new tactic is to distract Daisy with a bone just before the knock on the door. This way, she won't attack our guests with overwhelming friendliness. And it worked.

Nate just came home from South Africa, and he had pictures to share and plenty of stories for us. He stayed in Mamelodi, a township that was my home-away-from-home when I went to South Africa last year. Vincent and Gloria took good care of him - I knew they would. So we sat down to oven-fried chicken and mashed potatoes and traded experiences. The Grannies at the Y, Basani with the voice - the incredible singing voice, Sunday service at the Powerhouse. I knew the streets he named, he knew the women I taught.

After dinner, the three of us crowded around Nate to see his photos, his beautiful, poignant photos - because he is a documentary photographer who went to South Africa to tell a story, and his photos are wholly intentional. In the shuffle of images, we discovered panoramic views of Cape Town from Lions Head. Cape Town is breathtaking from every angle. "This is making me homesick," Ben sighed.

On Saturday, we both woke up eager for a project...something around the house maybe? But we didn't get far - it turned out to be only a whim. Instead, we met Luke and Sherry out for drinks and delivered their birthday presents - hopelessly late. It had been a long while since we had last seen Luke and Sherry, so we drank champagne (half-price by the glass) and caught up on all the time that had passed us by. When we left, we made promises all around to see each other more often, and Ben and I drove home, reminded of why we love Luke and Sherry.

Sunday, we met my parents for brunch at Crook's Corner. Biscuits. Cheese grits. Coffee. And more coffee. My youngest brother just moved out of the house, and we all agreed that it was a good move for him - though my parents said it was strange to have an empty house. Dad is convinced that the image on his new wide-screen television is blurry, so he asked us over for our opinion. Looked fine to us, but we're no experts - although it was Ben's excuse to watch a European soccer match on the new television. Meanwhile, Mom and I assembled a new stroller for her new grandson. "So I can take him for walks!" she said.

As anecdote to our all-too-busy minds, we went for a long run last night, coursing along a trail in the near-dark until our bodies wouldn't allow a minute more. And then we split a late dinner of chicken-spinach pizza on the Brixx patio (and thought of how James and Michelle and Gerry and Gill were regulars at Brixx when they were here in January). We stayed up later than usual to watch Ray, which was already two days overdue. And now here we find ourselves, at the start of another week. Monday comes all too soon.