Since it’s August, I’ve been thinking about the County Fair. Several years ago, one summer day, my brother started a conversation with me:
“I was kinda thinking about going to the fair this year.” [Neither of us had been there in decades.]
“Me, too! Did you want to go on some of the rides?”
“No…”
“Oh. Did you want to look at the animals?”
“I mean, I guess, if I’m there…”
“Did you want to look at all the exhibits?”
“Mmm…not really.”
“Well what did you want to do there?!”
After thinking for a minute, he answered, “I kinda just wanted to walk around and eat a bunch of food that’s bad for you.”
We did go to the fair that year. We went on some carnival rides, saw the farm animals and local vendors, looked at prize-winning vegetables and 4-H projects, and bought cotton candy. It became a tradition for a number of years.
His reason for wanting to go seemed funny at the time, but it also reminds me of the best friendships: you don’t have to arrange some special activity in order to get together. Just being there, hanging out, is enough.