"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."

Living Life task #2: contact old friends. For this one, I was to think about three friends I haven't contacted for over a year, and pick one to reach out to. It's all about time getting away from us and actively trying to not let that happen - a great reminder that we could all use every so often.

Of the three people I thought of, I didn't have a phone number or email for one, I didn't actually want to talk to the second, and I was afraid of what I would get back from the third. But I had the third's contact info handy so I shot her an email.

Sure enough, her life has been a tumultuous mess since we last spoke a few years ago. She unloaded on me over the course of a few emails, I said I was sorry to hear about all that, and that was it.

It's strange to think that this is a person I spent a good chunk of my spare time with between ages 11-17. Our lives are exactly opposite - she stayed put, not I; she got married (twice), not I; she's gone uber-conservative, obviously not I. The other people I spent a good chunk of time with during those ages also stayed put and got married, but I keep in touch with them and they voted my way this last election.

Maybe not strange. I met her in church. I met the other people in places other than church. I wonder if there's a connection...

Task #3 is to push myself with exercise. I think the 6-mile run that nearly killed me the other day counts. Excellent - next!

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Re: subject - L. P. Hartley said that.