Zen stability.

Last week, a-musings worked her first (I think) shift as a newly-trained bartender and I decided to drag my carcass downtown to cheerlead a bit; besides, we hadn't seen each other in ages. Oddly enough, I wound up renewing a couple more friendships along the way.

When I got to the bar, I walked in the top floor and found myself in the middle of a poker frenzy: a half-dozen tables, maybe 25 people, the click-clack of chips lazily ricocheting around and a steady murmur of noncommittal grunts. Even weirder, an old chum of mine was standing off to the side, watching the action. I haven't seen the guy in over a year, but he cuts through the crowd and we pick up our conversation like nothing happened; I find out these games've been held on the bar's top floor every Thursday night for months and he stops in whenever he can. No sooner have we caught up than another old friend, someone I also hadn't seen in many moons, peels himself away from an intense game and sidles over to join our conversation.

After trading updates and learning that friend #1 was now happily married and ensconced in a little house out in the 'burbs, I asked him how he felt: about peace, about safety, about sameness and stability. He grinned, "what do you think? It's fuckin' awesome."

I concur, padawan. I concur.