Friends

WARNING - this post may result in introspection and deep thoughts - WARNING

T and I leave for the NATA Annual Meeting in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday morning. There will be familiar faces that we haven't seen in any number of months. There will also be familiar faces absent due to any variety of legitimate reasons.

This has started me thinking about the topic listed in the title of this blog.

I've lamented to both of you reading this that this past year has been a struggle professionally and socially. Professionally has been covered in a previous post.

So, this one is about the social aspects of our adaptation to life in West Michigan. In a nutshell, haven't made a lot of friends. Have made plenty of acquaintances, but just a very small number of friends here locally.

We haven't been able to find our niche. But to be honest, we haven't put forth a lot of effort. Unlike past situations coworkers have not resulted in the friendships and regularity of spontaneous interactions. Maybe part of it is the location we actually live in...while we tell people we live in Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids proper is about a 15 minute drive. We're really out in a rural area on the very outskirts of Grand Rapids.

Not a horrible place to live, just not the kind of place to which T and I would naturally gravitate. Lots of churches around us, not a lot of local neighborhood restaurants, 99.9% of our food options are chain restaurants,
and virtually no neighborhood bars. I would kill for a place like Cornucopia in Eugene. A place you could decide to go to, get there in five minutes, and then call friends to join you for a drink.

Back on topic - so we haven't found a place to meet new people with similar interests that we can interact with on a personal level here in Michigan. "here in Michigan" the key part of the previous phrase. I've mentioned a few times before the online running community that I am an active member of (ok, I like to think I'm an active member), www.coolrunning.com, and more specifically the group of 30-somethings that post on a daily thread in the newbie forum.

Great people, a lot of them are from Minnesota - go to my post "Nice People" to see the difference at least one of them from Minnesota made - and have a great interaction with everyone there. I've really made some great friends there. Unfortunately they aren't the kind I can call up and say "hey, come on over, I've got a growler of Mad Hatter" without giving them at least a month or twos notice so they can check airfare and to see if they have any vacation left. Kind makes it difficult to have a drink with them.

So while my face-to-face interaction has been limited, I'd just like to say thank you to all of them for making this past year a bit more friendly.

You know who you are, I don't need to bother listing your names.

Thank you.