My sister, Fran, and I sat across from each other in the booth, eating a giant hamburg and huge side of fries.
It was quiet in the diner, after dinner and before the people coming to eat after a movie or a night of drinking. It was dark outside, but brightly lit inside and such a new experience, the two of us being out together, at night, eating in a restaurant. It made me feel like I could have been anyone, anywhere.
It was the first time I understood the feeling of safety that can come with anonymity.
Fran was 17, two years older than me and she had recently gotten her driver’s license. Her being able to drive meant a freedom that I’d never felt before. Even though her car was old, and broke down often, I felt like we could go anywhere we wanted to.
It was in that diner, with Fran, that I was aware of having my first real conversation.
I think I recognized it because it was so different from the way I’d ever talked to anyone before. And because it was something I’d always wanted.
What I remember about it was that Fran would talk and I would listen. Then something she said would spark an idea in me and I’d talk and she’d listen. And we’d go back and forth like this, eating our hamburgers and fries, talking and thinking and listening.
I remember feeling free to say whatever came to me, having a sense of being an independent thinker, being excited by what I was experiencing and having something to say that someone else was interested in hearing.
Maybe it was that newfound freedom that allowed me to talk so openly, but as I grew older, my ability to express myself diminished.
That’s why I was so surprised when I first met Jon and found him so easy to talk to.
Until meeting him, I only dreamed of the kinds of conversations we have. For me good conversation is always a pleasure, always something to be treasured. It’s creative and emotional and intellectual nourishment.
Only us humans have this way to communicate and connect with each other.
It’s the idea of conversation that has me really excited about Jon’s and my new Podcast, Katz n Wulf on Bedlam Farm.
Right now the conversation is between me and Jon. And we really hope to make it a conversation. One that begins at a place we determine and goes to a place we didn’t expect.
We also hope, eventually, to include some of you, our listeners in the conversation. Maybe by taking questions through email that you have or ideas you’d like to talk to us about.
Today we made our first full length Podcast.
We don’t have all the technical stuff worked out yet. Chris at Mannix Marketing is helping to figure that all out. But we do know how to make the recording and that’s what we did today. It went about 8 minutes over the 20 minutes we planned it to be.
And it’s rough in some ways, Jon clearing his throat, my forgetting the point I was trying to make. But, much like our blogs and my work, we’re learning as we go. Figuring it out by doing it. And anyone who listens will be able to join in on the journey. You’ll be able to listen to our mistakes and hear us as we (hopefully) improve over time.
If you click here it will take you to Jon’s blog where you can hear the first full length Podcast of Katz n Wulf on Bedlam Farm.
That was so beautifully written. It called memories from my past up that I haven’t examined in over a half century. Thank you
It always happens Margaret, when I write sometime personal that has meaning for me, there is someone else who connects to it. thank you.