What a Day

It's been such a nice day. I think Lag B'Omer is becoming my favorite Jewish holiday. Despite it being slightly chilly and being unable to wear my flip flops, I went to the parade. There were lots of people marching and mingling. Surprisingly, I only saw a couple people I knew.

After the parade, I had two barbecues conveniently located at the same park to attend. Between the attendees of both barbecues, there were a large portion of my friends, a few guys playing guitar, football, and ridiculous amounts of food.

What a day.

The day brings back the memory of Lag B'Omer a few years ago when I was living in Baltimore. At some point in the afternoon, my friends and I decided we should have a barbecue. We bought a little barbecue, put it together, grilled some chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggies, all on the front porch of the apartment. It was a day that lies in the memory of all of us, and it was memorialized by a picture that each of us still has. It was the beginning of the halcyon summer in Baltimore, the one we all recall fondly and wish could exist again, but it can't quite. But today gave us another breath of that summer.

Things are a little different these days. A couple of my friends are married or engaged, some of the participants have changed. There were more of us today than there was a few years ago. A friend or two is still in Baltimore. But these snatched of contentment and fun remind me why I'm not in Baltimore.

You can't go back, and I wouldn't want things to be stagnant forever. I'm in a different place now than I was, I've seen some of the harder parts of life. I've made big steps in accomplishing some of my aspirations. And I've managed to keep these friends and grow with them. And I'm happy.

What a day.