I hosted a dinner party on Friday. Well, I’m going to call it a dinner party. It was really just having a couple friends over, but that is more than I have done previously in my current residence. The food was simple, a beef stew cooked in the crock pot served over rice with a side of roasted bell peppers. Are those complimentary? Maybe not, but that’s what I had so that’s what I made. The food wasn’t really the point anyway.

The purpose instead was live, in-person social interaction. I had very little of that during most of July and so have taken some steps in August to add more. Not much more, mind you, but more than zero. We discussed topics ranging from the mundane to the comical to the serious. I wasn’t the only one who had suffered from COVID during July, so we commiserated about that. They told me about a blowout wedding they had attended and the possibility of expanded social connections in the Triangle for all of us as a result. They did their best to get me to finally purchase a new set of golf clubs and join them on the course, something I haven’t done yet. I told them about the vision for the law firm over the rest of 2022 and about my efforts to sink some roots here so that I don’t feel compelled to leave again as I have lived the last decade mainly in 2 and 3 year stints in different places.

The conversation lasted several hours and was just the sort of thing I needed. There were even pastries from one of Raleigh’s local bakeries for dessert (and breakfast on Saturday morning). It was the sort of evening I’d like to have more of in the future.