THE LONG LOST RETURN

What should I title this blog? A lot of interesting (and strange) things happened tonight. Who knows how or why?

I've been indoors all weekend (except for a couple of brief soirees to the buy stuff). Did a lot of writing, watched some entertaining TV (mainly music shows). A nice relaxing time. No chocolate Easter bunnies or coloured eggs. That might be a first!

Today I was invited for dinner to a friends, a new friend of mine, and it was a lovely get-together. I'd saved myself all weekend, didn't go out, because we intended to go to the Sunday night Salsa at the LQ. All psyched up for it. But when we got there, alas! there was no music. Rats! So my friend suggested we mosey on up the road and check out another place. And there, were found live music (Latino) and settled in for the night. Not only that, but we commanded the attention of the musicians and their friends and ended up having an excellent night laughing, dancing, having fun.

Now the strange, unusual thing that happened...I was up paying my bill and there was a guy in the hallway who spoke to me in a familiar way. I didn't recognize him. It turned out to be a man who I knew more than 10 yrs ago, an Afro-Moroccan who was at that time quite the suave, handsome fellow. I had a brief fling with with. I saw him several years later and he looked terrible. I was almost worried that he had the dreaded virus. He was no longer a chef (he'd been trained in Europe and at the time I first met him had very good credentials and a good job). He was selling plants and doing gardening. I recall buying some plants from him and getting advice for my bougainvillea. Well, it's been a number of years and I had thought he was no longer on the planet. So when I saw him there at this restaurant tonight I was shocked. He recognized me immediately (I'd never have known him). He had just come back from New York, he said. And did I want to buy some palm trees? My god!

It's weird how things turn out for some people, eh? He used to be so handsome, now he has lost his teeth and looks very broken down and old.

This is the second long-lost person I've run into in the last two weeks. I wonder who the third one will be?