Diversity

Yesterday, I went for a long walk on the beach. One of things I love about my favorite beach walk is all the dogs. I said hello to many labs, a wheaten terrier, a chihuahua, a border collie mix, an australian shepherd, a newfoundland-aussie mix, and more than one Heinz 57. One woman went by carefully keeping her pit bull close until I said "hey gorgeous" to him, and she relaxed and let him come over and get petted. "Not everyone wants to greet him," she said, and I commiserated; I had met people who were terrified on principle of my german shepherd, who was the calmest, sweetest-tempered dog ever. Their loss! As one man said as I petted his fuzzy little mutt, "just think, you are lowering your blood pressure!"

Then I went downtown to enjoy the madness of the annual Wooden Boat Festival. On the way down I took a picture of all the boats anchored in the bay and amused myself by noticing the different varieties - sloops, schooners, ketches, a yawl, a trimaran, kayaks, fishing boats, and a beautiful old motor yacht. I was hungry after my walk, so I went to Water Street Creperie to have a gluten-free crepe stuffed with goat cheese, artichoke hearts, pesto, pine nuts, and spinach. Both the owners, Jim and Brandon, were there. I met Jim at my gym. I was hoping for a while that he was single so I could match him up with someone in my own family, but he and Brandon have been solid for years now, so nothing doing and I have to pay to eat his cooking :)

Then I went to the arts-and-crafts show to drop by my friend Debra's booth. Debra is a Filipino-American who makes the most beautiful hand-painted silk scarves, which you can see here. I bought a painting by her years ago and I remember having a wonderful conversation about what it meant to both of us. This last year I joined a walking group that Debra helped start, and about the third time we walked together I figured out that she was that artist! I bought a scarf from her last year to give to my sister when she graduated with her master's degree in social work.

Then I went uptown to read to my friend Doug. Doug is legally blind and right now is facing the challenge of Stage IV colon and liver cancer. He is a fantastic guitarist and singer and he and I have sung together many times at the Unity church. He's having chemo right now and finds the day after to be tough, so I go read to him to help take his mind off it, and then we chat. While I was there another friend, Lane, a lovely older man who is married to our minister, dropped by to organize all Doug's meds for the next week. Lane plays guitar too, and they often play together. Doug's got a huge support system going - people make him food, drive him to his appointments, clean his house, give him massages. He is feeling pretty loved right now.

Today, it occurred to me what a wonderful experience of a diverse community I had had in those few hours, and how it represented in a nutshell my life here. I'm not talking about how my friends are of more than one species, all ages, healthy and not so much, gay and straight and in-between, and various colors. What I love is that they are all creative in different ways. My day included the beauty of nature, mutual regard, yummy food, art, music, and intellectual stimulation. How boring life would be if everyone was the same, if there was only one type of dog or one kind of boat or one kind of food or one style of art or music.  Give me diversity!